 "democracy, modi, dictatorship, authoritarianism")
Authoritarian regimes know how to handle criticism. It is comedy they have a problem with. During the 1975-77 Emergency, the government’s pressing concern was not the global condemnation of India’s suppression of civil liberties. Instead, the regime was busy with the destruction of the print of a satirical film called Kissa Kursi Ka.
Or take the more recent case of comedian Munawar Faruqui who was arrested on January 1 in Indore, on the basis of a complaint made by the son of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA. The complaint said that Mr Faruqui “hurt religious sentiments” by making “objectionable” remarks
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper
