POLITICAL CARTOONS: Adding Spice and Meaning to the Discourse
Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee
Cartoons liven up.
Energizes. It makes people sit up and notice-with a smile or may be a smirk. It
lampoons and thereby elicits humour. Through lampooning it shows the follies
and foibles of the high and mighty and also of the system. Cartoons may range
from benign humour to biting satire.
Political cartoon, as
described by Thomas Knieper, is a drawing (often including caricature) made for
the purpose of conveying commentary on politics, politicians and current
events. Such cartoons play a role in the political discourse of a society that
provides for freedom of speech and of the press. Their subject matter is
usually that of current and newsworthy political issues, and in order for these
to be understood, they require that readers possess some basic background
knowledge about their subject matter, ideally provided by the medium in which
they are published.
Political cartoons are
spaces in which negotiations of power and confrontation are expressed. They
provide insights into power relations, key social issues and events. By mocking
or ridiculing the excesses and failings of the elites, cartoonists can hold the
leaders accountable. That probably makes the ordinary readers happy. They get a
kind of pleasure in finding the high and mighty being pulled up and lampooned.
That is one of many reasons of the popularity of cartoons.
Political cartoons have
long been the most eye-catching part of a newspaper. Through animation it has
gotten onto visual media. It has flooded social media in present times. Memes
(the amalgamation of photographs and graphics with funny or satiric captions)
are the recent and as many media pundits say ‘uber-democratic’ avatar.
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| Cartoon: Kesu Das |
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| Cartoon: K.K.Rath |
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| Cartoon: Chudamani Das |
Political or editorial
cartoons are a key indicator of democratic health of a country. They are
somehow uniquely powered with an art that raises questions and speak the truth,
which is denied to others. The critical voice of the political cartoonist can
provide a vital safety valve for society. They can give expression to
frustrations, grievances and dissent.
Political cartooning in
India is a British export and it has taken strong roots in the politically
fertile soil of India. In India there is no dearth of subject matter and
persons to be lampooned. Therefore cartoonists are having a field day.
Elections come with all the colours of emotions that body politics and vote
politicking can bring about. India with
its 80 million voter and 2300 plus political parties and countless number of
candidates seeking votes is a mahakumbh of elections. The political leaders,
the idiosyncrasies of the political parties, the mad race of getting tickets
from established political parties, the intrigue that goes with it, the culture of begging for votes by offering sops
and the colourful campaigning- all are fodders for the cartoonists.
Odisha has had a long history of caricature. Humour and satire
occupy an important place in Odia literature. But unfortunately, there is no
documental evidence as to when cartoons first appeared in media in Odisha. It appeared
that Niankhunta (Editor: Godavarish Mohapatra, 1898-1965), a satirical magazine in
the line of Shankar’s Weekly first started to publish cartoons
regularly. Niankhunta (The Firefling) was first published in 1938 and
continued till 1964. Samaja and Prajatantra also used to publish
political cartoons occasionally in 1950s. Omkar Nath Panigrahi of Bolangir used
to draw fine cartoons in 1940s. Faturananda (Ramchandra Mishra 1915-1995) the well-known
satirist was a fine cartoonist too. He used to draw cartoons in his magazine Dagara
till his eyesight failed. Dibakar Mishra of Talcher (founder of daily Khabar)
used to draw cartoons in the Samaja in 1970s and 80s. He used a penname:
DKM. Nityananda
Mahapatra used to draw cartoons in Dagara. He used his initials as the name of
the cartoonists. Satirical magazines like Niankhunta
and Durmukha used to print several cartoons. In fact socio-political
cartoons with highly satirical content were its major attraction. Niankhunta
ceased publication long back. Durmukha continues to publish and
cartoons are still its major attraction.
Though
Odisha has had a long history and tradition of caricature, and cartoons have
been used in newspapers and periodicals, yet cartoonists have never got the
kind of opportunity to work and credit and acclaim they deserve. It is only after
1980s that cartoonists got recognition. Some of them became household names. There
is a practical reason for this. Offset printing
came
to Odisha only in mid-1980s. Before that metal blocks had to be made to print
any kind of visuals. It was expensive and time taking. Hence visuals were avoided
unless it was absolutely necessary.
Cartooning in Odisha came
of age after offset printing came to Odisha in mid-eighties. Cartoonists of
Odisha caught up with their counter parts in other states in no time. Sudhanshu
Deo, Kishore Rath, Gyan Rath, Silpee Ashok, Kesu Das, Kamalakanta Rath- all of
them drew fine cartoons in different newspapers and periodicals. Young
cartoonists like Paresh Nath, Utkal Gaurav, Chudamani Das, Siba Swastick and
others followed. Some of them have moved to visual media.
Coming to 2019 elections,
In Odisha, cartoonists have mostly
drawn on local leaders and local issues. Nabin Pattnaik is their all-time
favourite. They have lampooned Nabin Pattnaik’s halting Odia, his schemes and
his fetish for kicking out senior and influential leaders from the party.
Baijayanta
Panda, a very powerful political leader has been kicked out of BJD. Panda
joined BJP. The Panda-Pattnaik fight has been a favourite topic of cartooning.
The party-hoppers have attracted attention of many cartoonists. So has the mad
race for party tickets. Kamalakanta Rath has drawn an excellent cartoon on the
leadership dilemma of BJP in Odisha after Aparajita Sarangi, a former
bureaucrat joined BJP creating possibility of an alternative to Dharmendra
Pradan.
From
political party’s internal squabble and intrigue to general comment on the
avarice of the netas, to the plight of the common voters bamboozled by
the high octane publicity – cartoonists of Odisha have drawn on many subjects. Many
of them are very active in social media too. But surprisingly not many memes
are found in Odisa, though political jokes abound on social media.
Unlike
in Bengal and Kerala funny graffiti and wall writings by political parties are
not very common in Odisha. Major political parties also have hardly used
cartoons against their rivals. But this time BJD is publishing a series of
cartoon strips highlighting ‘the neglect of Odisha by the BJP ruled Centre’.
These cartoon strips make fun of the BJP leaders’ promises and urge people to
elect BJD candidates for parliamentary seats- so that they can demand and get
better deal for Odisha.
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27.4.19
Published in: https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/india-news-political-cartoons-adding-spice-and-meaning-to-the-discourse/329450
