The Editors Guild of India on Tuesday urged the Union government to unblock the Tamil news website Vikatan, describing the move as a “brazen instance of overreach by the authorities”.

On Sunday, Tamil media group Vikatan said that several of its users were unable to access its website after it published a cartoon in the digital magazine Vikatan Plus depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with his hands and legs chained, sitting across from United States President Donald Trump.

Published on February 10, the cartoon came against the backdrop of the US deporting several Indians as part of Trump’s wider crackdown on undocumented migrants.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Tamil Nadu unit chief K Annamalai had complained about the cartoon to the Press Council of India and Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan, reported The Indian Express.

“The Editors Guild of India is deeply shocked by the recent blocking of the Tamil magazine web portal Vikatan.com, without any prior due process, by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology over the publication of a cartoon depicting the prime minister,” the press body stated on Tuesday.

It added: “Cartoons have always been a legitimate means of journalistic endeavour and the sudden blocking of the Vikatan website is a brazen instance of overreach by the authorities.”

The guild also said it was saddened to learn that the cartoonist behind the work was trolled harshly on social media and sent death threats.

The press body said the “abrupt manner” in which the website was blocked, on a complaint by the “state head of a political party”, is “deplorable”.

“No prior notices were issued and no opportunity was given to Ananda Vikatan – the group behind the web portal – for a fair hearing,” said the Editors Guild.

It also stated that due process was initiated only after the blocking order was “arbitrarily implemented”.

“The entire episode smacks of high-handedness and militates against the cherished ideals of a free press,” said the press body. “The blocking of the website, coming amid growing concerns over media freedom in the country, does no good to India’s democratic traditions that value fair play and transparency.”

Vikatan had stated on Sunday that it was investigating the reason behind the website becoming inaccessible and that it had reached out to the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for clarification.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin had criticised the Union government, stating that it is not fitting for “a democracy to block the media over their opinions”.

“It is only another example of fascist nature of the BJP government,” Stalin said in a social media post. “Vikatan has been in the journalism industry for about a century.”