The selected cartoons appeared first in other publications, either in print or online, or on social media, and are credited appropriately.
In today’s featured cartoon, Manjul takes a dig at the Indian media, suggesting that the way it makes scams disappear from the screens is nothing short of magic. The reference seems to be to the alleged fraud involving ABG Shipyard Ltd, which purportedly made away with almost Rs 23,000 crore from banks between 2012 and 2017.
Sajith Kumar takes a shot at the news media, suggesting that ‘hate news’ distracts citizens from bread-and-butter issues, such as food inflation hitting a 14-month high of 5.43 per cent in January 2022, according to data released by the Government of India.
Satish Acharya pays tribute to singer-composer Bappi Lahiri, who passed away Wednesday aged 69. Lahiri, who was famous for his love for gold, is shown singing part of his famous composition ‘Yaar bina chain kahan re‘ from heaven.
R Prasad comments on the Afghan Taliban regime’s decision to name a special military unit ‘Panipat’. The move is widely seen as a reference to the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, in which an invading Afghan army led by Ahmad Shah Durrani defeated the Marathas near Panipat in modern-day Haryana. Prasad also takes a dig at the Hindu Right-wing project of rewriting India’s history, and the continuous debate between historians over who won the battle of Haldighati between the Mughal Emperor Akbar and Maharana Pratap in 1576.
E.P. Unny depicts the appointment of Ilker Ayci as the chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) of Air India, after its sale to Tata Group. He was previously the chairman of Turkish Airlines. Next to the ‘Maharaja’, Air India’s mascot, Unny writes the popular Sanskrit phrase vasudhaiva kutumbakam, meaning ‘all the world is one family’.
Sandeep Adhwaryu takes a jibe at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s comment during an interview that “Ghazwa-e-Hind will not be fulfilled even till Qayamat“. Ghazwa-e-Hind is a prophecy of ‘holy raid on India’ found in some Islamic sources, while Qayamat is ‘judgment day’ in Islam. The last date of polling in Uttar Pradesh in the ongoing assembly elections is 7 March, after which fuel prices may surge.
Kirtish Bhatt takes a dig at former Union law minister Ashwani Kumar, who resigned from the Congress Tuesday. In the illustration, a politician’s wife tells him, “One gets more attention while leaving the party than what he has got in over 40 years.”