A nation that is afraid to let its
people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is
afraid of its people - John F. Kennedy
“Govt to ban cartoons from school text books” (Deccan Herald, May 14)
The above is one of the cartoons.
It is sad a controversy kicked up on Ambedkar-Nehru cartoon in the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) text book of Grade XII. The cartoon depicts Nehru, with a whip in his hand, behind Ambedkar seated on a snail. The caricature attributes to the "delay in drafting the Constitution". It is plain insipid to utter something as "educationally inappropriate" because it is "politically sensitive".
“What is extremely
disturbing is the manner in which the Education Minister Mr. Kabil Sibal
apologised in Parliament and conceded to the demands of the MPs by stating that
he has directed the NCERT to remove the so-called objectionable caricatures and
stop the distribution of books. He also stated that he had taken action by
setting up a committee to look at the entire gamut of cartoons in textbooks and
their content to ensure material of this nature is taken out of textbooks”. (The Hindu,
May 18, 2012)
None of these cartoons would be banned in any other democracy. Clearly, an assault on freedom of expression!
Creating a wrangle out of a cartoon has become a political phenomenon. The point the cartoon is trying to make has
been misunderstood (or, as often, wantonly misinterpreted for political
mileage).
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| Courtesy: Wikepedia |
Cartoons in general, political cartoons to
be more specific, are indispensable.
R.K. Laxman, a genius political/social cartoonist has brought in the
common man’s woes through Common Man. In his own words, Mr Laxman says, “What
you have today is not democracy… Our politics is so sad that if I had not been
a cartoonist, I would have committed suicide”.
Such is the passion of the great man, who found himself the ideal
partner, his simple ‘common man’.
The beauty of a cartoon is that it makes a point, breaks the monotony of
reading the mass of words and also gets entertained in the bargain. When it is informative and entertaining, the relaxed
reader gets clarity that helps him interpret.
Cartoons should not be taken literally and should not be understood as
an exaggerated comment. Even in some TV
channels, puppet shows inspire political satire, and we have witnessed amplified
animations and imitated voices that are employed to bring out humour. The visual impact is too great to miss. Politicians have no sense of fun, nor they
accept reality. Cartoons, you keep it or
remove it; the truth of the matter will remain no matter what. This reminds me of a tamil movie “Citizen”,
where the politicians and bureaucrats manipulate to wipe out a village itself from the map.
“To develop scientific temper” is one of the fundamental duties of Indian
citizens, according to the Indian Constitution.
Discussion,
argument and analysis are vital parts of scientific temper. Elements of fairness, equality and democracy
are built into it. The purpose of education is to
create a quest for enquiry. Providing diverse points of view becomes essential
to the educational process, which should have comprehensive outlook.
The fables of Panchatantra have long
established that education need not ever be bitter medicine. Cartoons and
sketches do like-wise. They supplement and at times supplant the printed
word. It is not a magnified opinion that
what a pompous editorial finds it hard to target is more instantly and
adequately achieved by a few strokes of the brush, much to the likes of
Shakespearean adage “brevity is the soul of wit”. “A picture (cartoon) speaks
more than 1000 words” is equally, if not more, valid for caricature. A creative
medium to express one’s impressions!
During Emergency, in the Indian context, cartoonists played a significant
role in dishing out their opinions, while editorials were gagged. A cartoon is best comprehended when the issue
is in vogue and the impact is sensed instantly. It is believed that editorials
are biased to the extent of the management policy of the respective
publication, whereas a cartoon is
unbiased. Editorials are more said to be
the opinions of the intellectuals, whereas cartoons articulate the feelings and
expressions of the millions of common man.
It is left to the imagination of the reader to interpret the cartoon.
Make no mistake! Political cartoons have become integral part of the
society. The more you resist, even more
it will explode, all the more thanks to the
access and availability of greater social media networks like internet,
FB, blogging………
May be you can even attempt to control inflation, but not, never
corruption. It may be redundant yet relevant to remind that today’s politics is
tomorrow’s history. Indian history can be proud to present that
Political Science as a subject will undoubtedly cover Corruption as a major
option!! In India, politician and
corruption are made for each other.
After all , politics without
cartoons would be like face without eyes.
In fact all the shame and scandals and scams must be vividly recorded in
our academic texts with all the supporting documents using all the tools like
cartoons, photos, diagrams, graphs .... for the future generations to know how
the nation was administered and how tax payers’ money were looted!
This is also an excellent occasion
to take up the creative hobby of “cartooning”.
