“At this point, if you say anything against the government, you are automatically considered either from the Congress or anti-national”, standup comic Anirban Dasgupta told The Quint after Vadodara’s MS University cancelled a show by fellow comedian Kunal Kamra, reportedly for his “anti-national content”.
The university’s decision was prompted by a group of 11 former students who claimed that Kamra was “anti-national” and “supported the Tukde-Tukde gang”.
In his standup special ‘Take It Easy’ on Amazon Prime Video, Dasgupta spends an ample amount of time talking about the pressures faced by standup comics, and offence-happy interest groups.
So what is the list of things that comes under “anti-national comedy”?
In his Facebook post sharing the news of the cancellation of Kamra’s show, Dasgupta blamed “this regime” and its cheerleaders. Does he feel that it’s more difficult to criticise the Modi government than others?
“There is no doubt that it is the worst currently. But I also feel that no political party inherently supports freedom of speech, especially a political party in power. The only difference is that the current government has made it mainstream. It's boast-worthy [for them]. Other people in the past, who are in the Opposition now, they used to do it slyly, whereas the current regime is like, ‘There's nothing to be sly about this, we will make it a mainstream issue to deflect attention.’”
Also, with the increase [in usage] of social media, which is really big now, it's become much easier to spread and manufacture hate. Most of the things we see online are just manufactured offence. Nobody is really offended. It's just instructions that are being followed.”
Are more and more comedians choosing to stay away from political jokes?
But he adds, “Yet I feel that, knowing most of the comedians personally... I think that everybody's heart is in the right place. Everybody is just figuring their own way out. Nobody will be silenced in the long run.”
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)