THE manner in which our parliamentarians have united across party lines in taking offence at a light hearted and benign cartoon of B.R. Ambedkar only speaks poorly of their understanding of democracy. As such there was no need for a furore in parliament. For no one with a sound mind can consider the benign cartoon offensive. Ironically, notwithstanding the outrage of the members of parliament, the two main characters featured in the cartoon- Jawaharlal Nehru and B.R.Ambedkar- do not seem to have gone on record protesting against the way they were depicted. The conclusion that Nehru is “whipping” Ambedkar is absurd as both share the same concerns about the drafting of the constitution. The political uproar over the six decade old cartoon by acclaimed illustrator Shanker included in the NCERT textbooks has lead to the resignation of eminent political scientists who designed the textbooks. That is bad enough. What is worse is that the office of one of them was vandalised by RPI activists, with their leader condoning the unwarranted voilence as an expression of their indignation. Does it make us any different from the fundamentalists who bayed for the blood of a Danish cartoonist?
The comments made by senior and learned ministers in parliament smacked of ulterior political motives. It is ironic that the absurd censorship was carried out in a book on the Indian Constitution. It is highly deplorable that parliament is strengthening the dangerous trend of muzzling the freedom of expression. Strong indignation from members only lays bare their intellectual immaturity. Although, we call ourselves democratic in thought and action we are intolerant of freedom of expression and speech. It is strange that nobody seems to have gotten the point that the cartoon reflects the slow manner in which the constitution was being drafted then. But rather than taking pains to explain the rationale behind the inclusion of such a caricature, the Union HRD Minister Mr. Kapil Sibal wasted no time in withdrawing the book with the newly controversial Ambedkar cartoon. Pranab Mukherjee followed suit by saying that books with cartoons will be withdrawn and “appropriate action taken against those who indulge in such acts”. The furore in parliament over a cartoon that was de-contexualised by our MPs displays zero tolerance and deep insecurities of our ruling elites. It is unnecessary exaggeration of simple matters and the hypersensitivity of a few that has caused the unwarranted row. It is time for leaders of all parties to uphold democracy and tolerance because that is what Ambedkar lived, struggled and died for. The outrage the parliament has shown over an old cartoon could have been directed at other serious issues riling the nation.
Cartoons are meant to depict moments in history with a sense of humour. Indeed, Ambedkar’s contribution to the constitution does not need to be certified by emotional outbursts or acts of violence by so called supporters. It is sad that our politics should lose all sense of context by making cartoons a political threat. First, an academic in Kolkata was arrested for circulating a cartoon on the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. And now we have a row in parliament over an Ambedkar cartoon drawn in 1949. One wonders why a cartoon which no dalit found offending in the past 60 years became disparaging to a select few. How is it that sentiments of Dalit leaders like Mayawati have been hurt only now? Such leaders need to show the same swiftness and sincerity on issues concerning the common multitude instead of taking umbrage at imagined insults.
By making a mountain out of a molehill, our MPs actually revealed themselves as intellectually bankrupt attention-seekers who survive by highlighting inconsequential issues. But what is more disturbing is that they have now launched into the exercise of cleaning our children’s textbooks by subjecting them to the process of expurgation. The reflex response of the government to delete the cartoon and revise all textbooks is not at all in the interest of education. Efforts to erase history by bans and withdrawal of textbooks are too primitive. What are we trying to protect the students from? Surely, a high school student has sense enough to differentiate between humour and humiliation. It is we adults who need to grow up.
Besides, blowing the controversy out of proportion will only heighten the curiosity of children to see the cartoon and look for the hidden message politicians are trying to ascribe to it. The real losers of such futile exercises will be the students themselves who instead of studying truthful history will now have to study censored textbooks. And the biggest irony is that the same textbook will propound the idea of freedom of speech and expression enshrined in our constitution. Having said that, politics finding a place in textbooks is not desirable as it could result in the promotion of political interests through the government machinery. Our children’s future is far too critical to be left in the hands of those who seem to have little more than nuisance value. Political interference should not be allowed to play spoilsport.
It pains us to see our parliamentarians make yet another mockery of the space they are elected to. The retrograde politics of agitation over issues that are mostly a figment of their crude imagination reveals our elected lawmakers as slaves of vote bank politics. It’s not a coincidence that a nondescript leader of a splinter party in Tamil Nadu raises the issue in parliament to revive his fortunes as his party was decimated after the last Assembly elections. And in order to sound politically correct, all parties jumped on the bandwagon. Playing vote bank politics with emotive issues is fast becoming a trend with our politicians which is being misused by antisocial elements.
The widespread public cynicism over the behaviour of MPs holding parliament to ransom is quite understandable. It is an indisputable fact that over the decades the quality of debates in both houses of parliament has deteriorated.
Our parliamentarians are ever enthusiastic in upgrading their salaries frequently. But they are shy of performing their duty of attending parliamentary sessions. Our MPs find one reason or the other to disrupt parliamentary proceedings. As it is, our representatives have achieved the dubious distinction of being unruly. They throw mikes at one another, use unparliamentary  language and watch obscene pictures on the mobile phone in the Legislative Assemblies. The way they react to the slightest provocation to their caste and religion arithmetic, as in the present case, is both deplorable and unnecessary. They should not forget the democratic principle of agreeing to disagree. We have every reason to be proud of the fact that parliament has completed 60 years. But issue- based confrontation finds no place in day to day proceedings. There is no dearth of serious issues confronting the nation today. Policy paralysis prevails and the economy is in a critical state. But ironically, these issues are laid to rest while a cartoon rocks the house.
Can a progressive society allow such hypocritical sentiments to hold sway? The need of the hour is to make parliament a truly representative institution.