Have a look at the owner and managing director of the Ananda Vikatan group
The cartoon by Vikatan seems to be a reference to Modi’s failure to bring up the problem of illegal immigrants being handcuffed by US police and brought back to India during his meeting with Trump.
Hours after BJP Tamil Nadu head K. Annamalai said the party had complained to the Union government and the Press Council of India (PCI) about a cartoon of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the website of the Tamil monthly Vikatan was purportedly unavailable on Saturday.
Late at night, the publication wrote on X that it had not received any formal notification from the centre, despite other news sites and people claiming that its website was blocked and couldn’t be accessed in many areas of India.
Who is the founder and owner of Ananda Vikatan as Vikatan magazine’s website was allegedly ‘blocked’ for cartoon on PM Narendra Modi and Donald Trump
ஒரு கேலிச் சித்திரம் வெளியிட்டதற்காக விகடன் இணையதளம் முடக்கப்பட்டிருப்பதை நீங்கள் அறிவீர்கள். இணையதளத்தை மீட்க அனைத்துவிதமான சட்ட முயற்சிகளையும் விகடன் முன்னெடுத்துவருகிறது. எப்போதும்போல் கருத்துச் சுதந்திரத்துக்காகக் கைகோத்து, களத்தில் நிற்போம். ஒரு தகவல்… விகடனின் அனைத்துக்… pic.twitter.com/lgtAyhWed4
— விகடன் (@vikatan) February 17, 2025
Vikatan mentioned that it has stood in support of freedom of expression for a century. In case the site has been blocked by the centre because of the cartoon, they will fight it legally.
In a statement, the Chennai Press Club said it will support Vikatan and denounced the act. Tamil media house Vikatan has alleged that the magazine’s news website was blocked on Saturday night after it published a cartoon depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with his hands and legs chained, sitting beside US President Donald Trump.
Mr B Srinivasan (Srini) is the Managing Director of the 93 year old Vikatan Group and the third- generation entrepreneur joined his family business when Vikatan Group was print-only Magazine Publisher, in 1990.
Realising the significance of communities, advent of personalization, emergence of TV mediums and the surge of the Internet, Srini spearheaded Vikatan’s diversification through niche magazines, adopted internet publishing in 1997, went pay in 2005 and trending on social media since 2010 and he also entered content production for TV in 1998 and during the last 2 decades produced continuous number one rated shows in Tamil. Since 2016, the Vikatan Group has created and curated popular event properties and client-led activations and today the Vikatan Group is a diversified Media house with 12 magazine titles in Tamil boasting a combined sale of over 50 million magazines, 1 million books, over 2 billion annual page views from 8 million uniques on the internet, over 2 billion vide views in 2018 and interacting with its 20 million followers on social networks every month.
Having evangelized the digital first approach in content creation, curation and publishing at Vikatan Group, Srini is reengineering Vikatan’s culture by investing heavily in people, processes and workflows while ensuring that the consumer is kept at the heart of everything.
The Ananda Vikatan Group is now obsessed with becoming a full fledged content engine for OTT platforms and emerge as an independent digital media company by 2021. Ananda Vikatan was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 first as a monthly publication. Founded by media mogul SS Vasan in 1928, Vikatan Group carries the legacy of Ananda Vikatan Magazine (established in 1926).
It is classified as a private limited company and is located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and its authorized share capital is INR 10 lakhs and the total paid-up capital is INR 7.90 lakhs. Ananda Vikatan Publishers’s operating revenue range was INR 1 cr – 100 cr for the financial year ending on 31 March, 2023.
Its website can be accessed here.
We will stand strong in defense of freedom of expression…
For nearly a century, Vikatan has stood firmly in support of freedom of expression. We have always operated with the principle of upholding free speech and will continue to do so. We are still trying to ascertain the… pic.twitter.com/cjiq1YNEOU
— விகடன் (@vikatan) February 15, 2025
In a cartoon published in the Vikatan magazine on February 13, the Tamil daily criticized the cruel expulsion of illegal Indian immigrants from the United States in handcuffs, a practice that aroused outrage across the country. The caricature featured PM Modi and former US President Donald Trump in handcuffs.
After BJP followers criticized the caricature, Annamalai stated the party petitioned the PCI and MoS for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan to take action against the magazine.
According to Annamalai’s complaint, the cartoon was a purposeful depiction meant to undermine the PM’s US visit’s diplomatic value and placate the DMK administration in Tamil Nadu. His complaint urged the ministry to take appropriate measures against them, claiming that such a portrayal is unethical for journalists.
We will stand strong in defense of freedom of expression… #VikatanForFreedomOfExpression pic.twitter.com/VtBMBD1t2Y
— விகடன் (@vikatan) February 16, 2025
“We have always operated with the principle of upholding free speech and will continue to do so. We are still trying to ascertain the reasons behind the blocking of our website and are in the process of taking up this matter with the ministry,” Vikatan said in a statement said.