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, E.P. Unny equates the Pegasus spyware to Greek god Zeus’ winged warhorse of the same name, as he calls upon the Modi government to ‘stop beating around the bush‘ in the Supreme Court over the probe into the surveillance scandal. This week, the government once again declined to file a detailed affidavit before the SC on whether it used the spyware, with Solicitor General Tushar Mehta saying the information sought by the various petitions would not be in national interest.
Manjul depicts a maze in PM Modi’s mind when asked by the SC about the Pegasus scandal. The Israeli spyware was allegedly used to target journalists, political leaders, and human rights activists.
Sandeep Adhwaryu comments on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s comment that those who say “Abba Jaan” had digested all the ration and ‘vikas‘ had only been made available to a particular community till 2017, when the BJP came to power in the state. The cartoonist highlights the ‘impartial’ behaviour of mosquitos in Firozabad in contrast — as many as 12,000 people are bed-ridden and 114 have died due to dengue in the area.
Sajith Kumar invokes the ‘original’ Abba jaan, father of the nation or ‘Bapu’ Mahatma Gandhi and his secular beliefs, in response to Yogi who has been widely censured for his comment.
R. Prasad recalls Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remark saying the GST revenue shortfall was an ‘act of God’, in the form of the Covid-19 pandemic. Sitharaman had later said that a “simple woman finance minister saying Act of God is taken sarcastically”, while the Latin phrase ‘force majeure’ (a contract provision unfulfilled due to unforeseen circumstances) is well accepted.