Cartoon Wars !!

11th May, 2012 : Politicians create an uproar in parliament over a cartoon featuring Dr. Ambedkar. This cartoon depicts Dr. Ambedkar in a manner which is supposedly demeaning to the father of the Indian constitution. HRD minister is forced to apologize. A group of youths belonging to RPI, ransack the office of an ex-member on board of NCERT, which is responsible for publishing the cartoon. All parties unanimously claim that, this cartoon is a big blow on the image of Dr. Ambedkar.

13th May, 2012 : We celebrate 60th anniversary of Parliament and Parliamentary form of democracy. The same politicians go ga-ga over how we are one of the very few surviving democracies in the world, in spite of being a multicultural society and how we should uphold the freedom of expression to preserve democratic principles.

Irony at its very best!

Political satires have been mainstream since times immemorial. We have had great artists like R.K Laxman, Shankar, who have made us look at the unattractive world of politics with humor-tinted glasses. We even have had politicians who take a dig at other politicians and governments through their caricatural masterpieces. Then what was so offending about this particular cartoon (in which Dr Ambedkar is merely shown sitting on a turtle named "Constitution" with a whip in his hand) that made our revered politicians go berserk? Was it

  • Their love for the Constitution
  • Their undying affection and respect for Dr Ambedkar (which the cartoon had nothing to do with)
  • Playing the card of caste politics

You obliviously don't need to be a rocket scientist to answer that.

Using the names of iconic figures like Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlalambedkar1 Nehru, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, etc, for petty personal gains is an art that our current politicians have attained a mastery in. Its a matter of utter regret and shame that, they have not realized the vision of modern India that these great leaders had dreamt about. Our founding fathers had envisioned a country, that, is free from all socio-economic barriers; is free from social evils like fascism, fundamentalism, authoritarianism that plague the society; takes into consideration views and opinions of all its people, irrespective of their caste, creed or religion and is self-sustaining economy where no countryman sleeps hungry. This was the very same reason why it took such a long time for an intellectual personality like Dr. Ambedkar to frame our constitution. He wanted to incorporate all of the above and much more. He wanted a state where a person, dalit, under-privileged or otherwise, can live amicably and prosper; a community where woman, children and old are all treated equally with honor and respect; a society where a person is not “identified” by his last name and a country where every Indian puts his nation and its people before self. This is exactly what the cartoon along with its sub-titles was implicitly intending to portray. But, leave it to our genius politicians to misinterpret it, twist it and weave a story to ignite mass sentiments.

To cut a long story short, in a modern day India, all it takes is a facetious cartoon for all our politicians to unite and raise their voice in protest. On the other hand, acts involving money laundering, million dollar scams, corruption, land grabbing, terrorism etc, are all perspicaciously brushed beneath the carpet.

Sometimes, I wonder, if Dr. Ambedkar (or any of our great freedom fighters) would have been alive today! Would he be more angry on the cartoon or deeply worried about the saddened state of current leadership of this nation? A nation, which he loved so immensely and wanted it to be one of the greatest and fledgling democracies of all time.

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Hello and welcome to my blog.

My name is Ganesh Parab and I am a writer, techie and guitarist based out of Mumbai, India. I love photography and am passionate about travelling, exploring the unexplored on my trusted bike and capturing all the candid moments on my Nikon.

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