Ten years ago, on January 7, 2015, two gunmen stormed the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine, and killed 12 people.
Right now, Vikatan, a century-old Tamil magazine in India, faces the prospect of a digital ban after a cartoon sparked controversy.
From the French Revolution to the Emergency in India to the Arab Spring, cartoons have been used effectively as a tool of dissent.
But in this age of rising authoritarianism, satire is increasingly seen as a threat.
Watch the full Deep Dive to know more.
Reporter: Rani Jana
Camera: Suresh Pandey
Editor: Divya Tiwari
#PoliticalCartoons #Politics #Cartoons #FreedomofExpression #Censorship #Satire #PressFreedom #TamilNadu #Tamil #TamilMagazine #AnandaVikatan #CharlieHebdo #Paris #France
Right now, Vikatan, a century-old Tamil magazine in India, faces the prospect of a digital ban after a cartoon sparked controversy.
From the French Revolution to the Emergency in India to the Arab Spring, cartoons have been used effectively as a tool of dissent.
But in this age of rising authoritarianism, satire is increasingly seen as a threat.
Watch the full Deep Dive to know more.
Reporter: Rani Jana
Camera: Suresh Pandey
Editor: Divya Tiwari
#PoliticalCartoons #Politics #Cartoons #FreedomofExpression #Censorship #Satire #PressFreedom #TamilNadu #Tamil #TamilMagazine #AnandaVikatan #CharlieHebdo #Paris #France
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NewsTranscript
00:00On January 7, 2015, two gunmen stormed the Paris office of the magazine Charlie Hebdo,
00:07killing 12 people, including some of Hebdo's star cartoonists.
00:12The brutal attack, a direct assault on freedom of expression, sent shockwaves across the world.
00:19The magazine had been targeted for publishing satirical cartoons of Prophet Muhammad.
00:24But even before and after the Charlie Hebdo attack, political cartoonists have paid a heavy price for their work,
00:31some with their freedom and others with even their lives.
00:35Welcome to Deep Dive with Outlook. Today we will discuss satire and freedom of expression.
00:41Right now, Wiketan, a century-old Tamil magazine in India,
00:45faces the prospect of a digital ban after a cartoon-sparked controversy.
00:51Cartoons are more than just doodles. They have challenged kings, dictators and leaders of democracies alike.
00:58From the French Revolution to the emergency in India to the Arab Spring,
01:03cartoons have been used effectively as a tool of dissent.
01:07But in this age of rising authoritarianism, satire is increasingly seen as a threat.
01:13Take British cartoonist Steve Bell, fired from the British newspaper The Guardian in 2023
01:20over an unpublished cartoon of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
01:25Bell was accused of anti-Semitism.
01:28In Turkey, Musa Kaat was jailed for drawing cartoons critical of President Erdogan.
01:34In China, Jiang Yefei was arrested even after fleeing to Thailand.
01:39In Bangladesh, Ahmed Kabir Kishore was jailed for 10 months for his life in the time of Corona series,
01:46critical of the government's handling of public health during the COVID pandemic.
01:51He fled the country in 2021 and now lives in exile.
01:56Ugandan cartoonist Jimmy Spire Sentango faced online harassment after exposing the corrupt authorities.
02:04Kashmiri cartoonist Mir Suhail, who is now in New York, fears he would have been jailed had he stayed in India.
02:12Indian cartoonist Rachita Taneja still faces contempt of court charges
02:17over her satirical online comic strip Sanitary Panels.
02:21The crackdown on cartoonists isn't just about censorship.
02:25Political satire exposes corruption, hypocrisy and injustice in eloquent ways.
02:31Authoritarian governments fear it. Right-wing groups take offence and create a furor.
02:37Even those who are in power in many democratic nations find it hard to tolerate satire when it targets them.
02:45So, are we now witnessing the death of political cartoons? Not quite.
02:50Digital comics, meme culture and AI-generated satire are evolving tools of dissent.
02:56But cartoonists remain at risk. They are not just fighting censorship.
03:01They are fighting for their lives and their freedom.
03:04As the world debates the extent of freedom of expression, one question remains.
03:10If a society cannot take a joke, can it really call itself free?
03:14You can read more on this issue on our website.