Along with Hitler, Mussolini, bin Laden, George W. Bush.
By The American Bazaar Staff
BANGALORE: Seven people at a government college in Kerala have been arrested for allegedly allowing and creating a negative image of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be printed in the college’s official magazine.
Four of those arrested are students at the government polytechnic college in Kunnamkulam, Thrissur, Kuzhoor while the other two currently in police custody are magazine design manager Rajeev, staff editor P.K. Gopal and the principal of the college, M.N. Krishnan Kutty.
The seven individuals were booked after being tipped off by a complaint lodged by K.K. Aneeshkumar, the Vice-President of Yuva Morcha State, a local BJP faction, reports the Press Trust of India.
The image in question has Modi surrounded by various “negative faces,” which include such historical luminaries as Osama bin Laden, Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, George W. Bush, and (for some reason) Lyndon B. Johnson, among others. The implication is that Modi is no better than these figures, some of who are among the most reviled in recent world history.
To make matters worse, the magazine featuring the black-and-white “negative faces” also had a full-color spread for more positive historical figures, such as Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and even Jesus Christ – but Modi was not featured on this piece of art.
Now, the arrested individuals face charges of concealing design to commit an offense, wantonly giving provocation, defamation, and knowingly printing defamatory materials, which could amount to very serious libel charges that could see them end up in jail or, at the very least, pay stiff fines.
Speaking to Telegraph India, one of the arrested students explained that the magazine was actually created in February, long before Modi was elected in a historic landslide last month, but that the magazine just didn’t get printed and distributed till June.
Now, officials have confiscated nearly 400 copies of the magazine at the Kuzhoor-based school, while the students and administrators wait for the next step in their legal processes to take place.