As the 2019 Lok Sabha polls draw closer, the fourth estate finds itself in a precarious position — keep mum on the establishment’s failures or suffer consequences. Political cartoonist Satish Acharya faces the latter.
On January 22, Acharya took to Twitter to point out what he sees as either funny or tragic: “One of my clients(daily newspaper) says they have decided not to carry political cartoons till the 2019 elections,” he wrote.
This is either funny or tragic! One of my clients(daily newspaper) says they have decided not to carry POLITICAL cartoons till the 2019 ELECTIONS! 😂
— Satish Acharya (@satishacharya) January 22, 2019
Acharya’s cartoons have been unabashedly critical of the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government. And this is not the first time he’s paid a price for that. In August 2018, the India Today Group’s daily, Mail Today, dropped his cartoon in favour of a photo.
In a blog titled “Why Mail Today Will No Longer Be Carrying My Cartoons,” Acharya had explained that “For many days now, I have been battling to protect my freedom, to protect the sanctity of a cartoon column. Perhaps for the editor, a cartoon is just three column spaces, but for a cartoonist, it’s a whole world. A world where the cartoonist is free to express his opinion. A world to challenge his own creative boundaries.”
Acharya had also claimed that several other cartoons of his were dropped from Mail Today that were critical of cow-based violence, mob lynching and Modi.
Here are a few of Acharya’s cartoons.
Jab they met Modiji! @Bollyhungama cartoon pic.twitter.com/Zfd714cEDY
— Satish Acharya (@satishacharya) January 22, 2019
Bachao! Bachao! @sifydotcom cartoon #2019Elections pic.twitter.com/u9sZC77wBx
— Satish Acharya (@satishacharya) January 21, 2019
Increasing unemployment, inflation, says RSS Chief! @newssting1 cartoon #RSS #ModiSarkar pic.twitter.com/UtDDDh7f0w
— Satish Acharya (@satishacharya) January 20, 2019
Modiji's caged parrots! @newssting1 cartoon pic.twitter.com/DE5XlgTK7r
— Satish Acharya (@satishacharya) January 13, 2019
CBI Chief removed! @sifydotcom cartoon #CBI #AlokVerma pic.twitter.com/V1TVv6aGlu
— Satish Acharya (@satishacharya) January 11, 2019
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