Mangaluru: K. Annamalai, Superintendent of Police, Chikkamgaluru district, said on Saturday that cartoonists had the ability and skill to observe any situation minutely and portray it through their sharp lines.

He was speaking after inaugurating the four-day ‘Cartoonu Habba’ (cartoon festival) organised by Cartoon Kundapra and other organizations at Kalamandir on Board High School premises at Kundapur town in Udupi district.

He inaugurated the fest by writing the words: “Think, laugh, enjoy” on the board.

Mr. Annamalai said that a cartoonist elucidated beautifully through his small cartoon what would take several pages to explain. Hence, cartoons were still relevant and would remain so. Cartoons were a powerful medium of expression.

“Behind a moment’s smile that a cartoon brings on our faces, a cartoonist thinks and works for several hours. It is their (cartoonists) ability to see everything differently that is responsible for their ability to think differently,” he said.

He said that India was a country of contradictions. A cartoonist transcended these contradictions and borders. This sometimes created a situation for and against them.

“On such occasions, it is essential that we backed the cartoonists. We should back their freedom of expression and not allow their ‘cartoon humour’ to be extinguished,” Mr. Annamalai said.

P.V. Bhandary, psychiatrist, lauded the cartoonist, Satish Acharya, for taking to drawing cartoons inspite of holding a MBA degree. Though Mr. Acharya was doing well as a cartoonist in Mumbai, he decided to return to his native place of Kundapur. Now he was working to create awareness about importance of cartoons in the region, he said.

Over 120 cartoons by Satish Acharya, Jayaram Udupa, Panju Gangolli, Santosh Sasihithlu, Chandrashekhar Shetty, Suresh Kota, Kalaikar, Ramakrishna Herle, Dinesh Holla, Ravikumar Gangolli, Subrahmanya, Chandra Kodi, Ganesh Hebbar, Sudheendra, Pradeep Achar, and Raviraj, are on the display at the fest. Ramakrishna Herle, senior cartoonist, was felicitated on the occasion.

Ravikumar Gangolli, cartoonist, welcomed the gathering. Mr. Acharya proposed a vote of thanks. U.S. Shenoy, senior journalist, Udaykumar Shetty, President of Rotary Club, were present.