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, Kirtish Bhatt takes a jibe at news outlets for spreading awareness about hypertension and high blood pressure on World Hypertension Day, while also airing news about the record-breaking inflation in India, which is giving the common man sleepless nights.
Satish Acharya takes a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for claiming that regional parties “lack the ideology” to defeat the BJP. He made the remark at his party’s ‘Chintan Shivir’ in Udaipur earlier this week, where ironically, the Congress had also said that it is committed to establishing a dialogue with like-minded parties and would keep its avenues open in terms of forging alliances in the run up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Manjul illustrates a bulldozer tearing through the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, a 1991 legislation that prohibits conversion of any place of worship and provides for the maintenance of its religious character as it existed on 15 August, 1947.
Fresh litigations to claim ownership and prayer rights at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque complex in Varanasi and the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah Masjid in Mathura by Hindu parties and surrounding controversies have brought the law back into the limelight. Growing voices in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are demanding a re-examination of the Act, while the Congress had backed the law.
Sajith Kumar draws on the leaked video survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque to bring attention to the worrying state of the country’s economy amid rising prices and its impact on common households. Earlier this week, the petitioners in the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi legal tussle had claimed that a ‘Shivling’ (a symbol of Hindu god Shiva) had been found in the mosque premises, while the mosque’s managing committee disputed the claim.
Sandeep Adhwaryu comments on the state of affairs in Sri Lanka where angry protesters are calling for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for mishandling the island nation’s worst ever economic crisis. In the last week, protesters have set fire to houses belonging to the Rajapaksas, many of whom have gone into hiding.