Freedom in the cage was a creative protest by Save Your Voice which got a huge public attention in New Delhi with demonstrators symbolically locked in cages to help raise awareness about the problem of web censorship in India. Artists, Journalists and bloggers had caged themselves to give the message to the government that artistes inside a cage playing the guitar or painting a canvas was equal to the government's IT rules that have "caged" the freedom of the people granted by the Constitution of India. The motive behind the protest was to explain that the newly notified Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules-2011 prescribing principles to be observed by the Internet companies was unconstitutional as it provided for a system of censorship by private parties, adversely affected the right of privacy, would hamper the growth of the Internet and slow down economic growth in the process and limit the growth of IT-related services and industries in particular.
Freedom Fast Save Your Voice supported the annulment motion brought by the MP P Rajeev and to put pressure on the government, two of the movement's campaigners, the cartoonist
Aseem Trivedi and journalist Alok Dixit started a hunger strike. People from various streams and in favour of this cause have visited the campaigning activists at Jantar Mantar, and helped to keep their motive intact.
Arvind Gaur, Director of Asmita Theatre (New Delhi) also joined them with his associates and assured that he would extend his support for the fight for 'Freedom of Speech & Expression' in a full-fledged manner. The seven day long hunger strike was ended when both were forced to end a hunger strike they began on 2 May. Their health had deteriorated considerably and they were hospitalised. The annulment motion in the
Rajya Sabha could not be passed and India joined the league of dictator nations where internet is not free. However, the hunger strike successfully highlighted the issue in the global media. "The government is bringing censorship through the back door and we will oppose it," says Alok in one of his interviews with
The Asian Age. To register their protest, campaigners have also hacked the website of state-run telecom provider MTNL and pasted the logo of the
Anonymous group, the mask of 17th century British revolutionary Guy Fawkes, on mtnl.net.in. MTNL's corporate website could not be accessed for over four hours, following the attack, but its individual city-specific websites (for Delhi and Mumbai) remained unaffected.
Arrest of cartoonist Aseem Trivedi Police in
Maharashtra arrested
Aseem Trivedi, a political cartoonist and the co-founder of the Save Your Voice campaign, on Saturday, 9 September 2012. He faced charges of
sedition, violating Internet security laws, and insulting national honour for publishing cartoons mocking national symbols and criticising corruption on his website,
Cartoons Against Corruption. After Trivedi's arrest, Save Your Voice ran a nationwide campaign against the arrest of the cartoonist. The campaign received massive public support from civil society groups and artisan communities across borders.
Mahesh Bhatt, a prominent Bollywood figure and film director, joined the press conference at Mumabi Press Club with Save Your Voice co-founder Alok Dixit supporting Trivedi's case. Dixit has also mediated between the Home Minister
RR Patil and Trivedi when Trivedi refused to take bail. ==Hunger strike against Sec 66A of IT Act==