“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”.
This is a very immature way for a democracy to work but this is the norm now. Trust me, it’s not surprising to Kunal for sure, and probably not for most of the comedians. This is just going to increase now. There is so much manufactured hate on the internet. Comedians are easy targets.Anirban Dasgupta, standup comedian
India: No Country For Political Comedy?
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.
You cannot have selective standup. Selective standup is no standup. Usse accha kuch poetry kar ke nikal jaate. Plus, even if we decide that there are some topics you can’t touch in standup, India is so diverse – who makes the list?Anirban Dasgupta, in his standup special ‘Take It Easy’
So what is the list of things that comes under “anti-national comedy”?
Dasgupta laughs, “There’s just one thing, there isn’t a list. There’s just one thing. You cannot be critical of anything related to the government. That’s it. You can win the Nobel Prize but just tweet something against the government and you’re an anti-national! You can win five Olympic golds but one tweet can make you anti-national.”
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.”
Comics Shying Away From Political Jokes?
Are more and more comedians choosing to stay away from political jokes?
Comedians staying away from political jokes is a conscious choice that they make. Because for everybody, a peaceful state-of-mind and mental well-being are the most important, and all this hate and outrage just gets to you.Anirban Dasgupta, standup comedian
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.”
For the sake of India’s comedy scene, and indeed the health of our democracy, we can only hope he’s right.
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