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 pokes fun at the extensive coverage of mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed’s conviction in the Umesh Pal abduction case. With TV channels covering the case’s every small development, a TV reporter asks her superior which term would be more appropriate in this situation — “big news” or “long news”.
Sajith Kumar alludes to Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification as an MP following his conviction in a 2019 criminal defamation case for a remark he made on the “Modi” surname. Soon after, the Lok Sabha House Committee directed him to vacate his 12, Tughlak Lane home.
In his cartoon, R. Prasad alludes to the ongoing tussle between the BJP and Congress after Priyanka Gandhi Vadra drew a parallel between Lord Ram and Rahul Gandhi, following the latter’s disqualification. She asked whether it was Ram who was ‘Pariwarvaadi‘ (dynastic) or were the Pandavas ‘Pariwarvaadi‘ “just because they fought for the culture of their family? Should we be ashamed because our family members fought for the people of the country?”
Sandeep Adhwaryu’s cartoon poses a relevant question: if insulting a portion of the population with the ‘Modi’ surname gets a two-year jail sentence, what will it take to punish the convicts in Bilkis Bano case? The Supreme Court Monday issued a notice to the central government, the Gujarat government and all the convicts on a plea filed by Bano challenging the pre-mature release of the 11 convicts who allegedly gang-raped her and murdered her family members during the 2002 Godhra riots.
Following an affidavit filed before the SC by the central government, which stated that same-sex individuals engaging in sexual relationships is “not comparable to the Indian family unit”, Nala Ponnappa’s cartoon proposes a two birds, one stone approach for the Modi government to consider for population control.