Latest news with #Manjul
The Hindu
2 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
X writes to Manjul about cartoons on Mamata Banerjee posted six years ago
Following a request sent to X by the West Bengal Police Cyber Crime Wing, the social media platform informed renowned cartoonist Manjul on Wednesday via a letter that it had received such a request. The issue concerns two cartoons of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by Mr. Manjul shared on the platform (then Twitter) six years ago, in 2019. The police have asked X to remove two posts from the Manjultoons X account on grounds that it 'violates the law(s) of India'. The social media platform has neither removed the posts, nor directed Mr. Manjul to take them down. Over the course of a career spanning almost four decades, Mr. Manjul said he had gathered enough knowledge to know what his cartoons could feature to keep them safely within the parameters of Indian laws, and not violate any rights. The two cartoons under scrutiny are among the many satirical cartoons he has published over the years in various news outlets. 'I have been drawing cartoons for the past 36 years. But the kind of backlash I have faced in the last 10-11 years is unprecedented. Even before that, I got many requests from powerful people who wanted to push their narratives through my cartoons, but I never thought someday they would come after the cartoon itself,' Mr. Manjul told The Hindu. He has previously received notices from leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and from the Mumbai Police for his satirical work. 'It is funny that I have always been criticised for not speaking against Mamata Banerjee, and then this happens. If politicians claim they are loved by the people so much, then why do they fear small cartoons? What harm can a cartoon do?' Mr. Manjul said, adding that he may have to face police action at any time for cartoons he drew six years ago. The censorship of cartoons in West Bengal can be traced to over a decade ago, when Jadavpur University's Professor of Chemistry Ambikesh Mahapatra was arrested in 2012 for forwarding a cartoon that allegedly showed Ms. Banerjee in a negative light. Prof. Mahapatra fought an 11-year-long battle and was finally acquitted in 2023. 'I was arrested under a criminal case for simply forwarding a cartoon. They used all State machinery to crackdown on me. I had to stay in jail. Why?' Prof Mahapatra said, adding that there could be no redemption for the years of abuse he had faced. One of Mr. Manjul's cartoons shows the BJP and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) as two branches of the same tree, Prof. Mahapatra said, adding the TMC could be trying to distance itself from the BJP ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly election by taking issue with Mr. Manjul. 'This is an attack against expression and freedom of speech,' Prof Mahapatra said, an emotion that was echoed by Mr. Manjul as well.
The Wire
11 hours ago
- Politics
- The Wire
Mamata Banerjee's Censorship Efforts Continue as Bengal Police Asks X to Take Down Manjul's Cartoons on CM
The spirit of democracy is the spirit of criticism and satire. But not exactly in West Bengal. On June 18, political cartoonist Manjul revealed that he received a takedown notice from X (formerly Twitter), acting on a request by the West Bengal Cyber Crime Wing. The agency asked for the removal of two of Manjul's cartoons, posted back in 2019, alleging they violated Indian law. The cartoons in question featured Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, lampooning the mass defections from Trinamool Congress (TMC) to the Bharatiya Janata Party and the party's alleged role in the chit-fund scams that rocked the state several years ago. Satirical, sharp, and unmistakably his own style, the posts are political commentary – nothing more, nothing less. The very act of seeking to remove two cartoons from a social media platform years after they were posted underscores discomfort with critical commentary, even when expressed through satire and artistic interpretation. Manjul's situation is not isolated. It's a clear symptom of a broader, troubling trend of intolerance toward dissent in Bengal, both online and offline. Bengal police filed an FIR against former CPI(M) politburo member Mohammad Salim and BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya. The complaint stemmed from their sharing a video on X depicting the public flogging of a woman by a local Trinamool leader in Chopra, North Dinajpur, an incident that ignited widespread outrage across the state. Just as in Manjul's case, the state police requested the posts be taken down by X. The blueprint for this crackdown goes back years. Way back in 2012, Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra experienced this firsthand. He was arrested for forwarding an email containing a cartoon depicting the chief minister. Mahapatra endured a decade-long legal battle before finally being acquitted, a period during which he had to renew his passport every year. That same year, Banerjee had made news after publicly commanding police to "catch" a farmer, Shiladitya Chowdhury, who had asked her about fertilizer prices at a public meeting. She branded him a "Maoist", initiating a legal case that dragged on for years. Sanmoy Banerjee, a former Congress spokesperson and an outspoken critic of the Trinamool Congress and its leader's nephew, was arrested from his home. He faced multiple serious Indian Penal Code sections, including forgery and defamation, for criticising the government. He required hospital treatment post-release. Kaustav Bagchi, another former Congress spokesperson, was arrested for allegedly making derogatory comments Both Banerjee and Bagchi subsequently joined the BJP. controversial YouTuber Anirban Roy, widely known as 'Roddur Roy', was arrested by Kolkata Police from a resort in Goa for allegedly making abusive comments against Banerjee and her nephew. Scores of social media users routinely face intimidation and arrests that often go beyond standard legal procedure. The frequent use of legal provisions under the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), such as sections 353 (public mischief), 352(intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and 196 (promoting enmity between different groups), against social media critics highlights a clear willingness to employ legal avenues to suppress dissent. This pattern extends beyond the digital sphere. Last year, during protests related to the rape and murder of a young doctor at the R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, a faction of the TMC leadership publicly advocated for a boycott of artistes critical of the West Bengal government and chief minister Banerjee. The boycott call, initiated by TMC leader and state general secretary for the party, Kunal Ghosh, received support from other prominent party figures, including Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee and state education minister Bratya Basu. Basu, himself an acclaimed actor and playwright, declared that artistes critical of the government had no right to accept state grants or permission for their shows. There are also reports indicating increased difficulty for theatre and film directors critical of the ruling party in booking performance halls. Despite public outcry, Banerjee did not make any public statement against the boycott call. Her silence on such a controversial issue can be interpreted as tacit approval or a strategic move to allow aggressive tactics by party members while maintaining deniability for the party's highest leadership. This subtle yet potent form of suppression has become a new normal in West Bengal, actively undermining cultural freedom, artistic independence, and critical thought. It fosters a pervasive climate of fear and self-censorship, eerily similar to the environment under the Narendra Modi regime in Delhi. Manjul in his post noted, 'For those who think Mamata is different from the BJP.' The latest overreach, along with many others, affirms comedian and writer Varun Grover's assessment of the TMC supremo: 'Mamata Banerjee is Narendra Modi in a cotton saree.'
