4 months ago
2
A Bengali creator duo’s socio-political cartoons faced a prohibition successful India, though their accounts are inactive active. Some of their astir viewed posts, which had implicit millions of views were taken disconnected Instagram successful India, leaving the artists successful uncertainty implicit the trigger of the ban.
The artists, who tally the Instagram pages ‘almost_bobby’ and ‘bob_almost’, precocious informed their followers that respective of their animated videos had go inaccessible successful India pursuing what appeared to beryllium ineligible requests from instrumentality enforcement authorities.
The duo took to societal media connected Monday (February 2) to stock the quality with their followers. They took to humour to papers the prohibition and wrote “It feels bully that our creation reached the right radical (iykyk - if you cognize you know). It feels atrocious that you each person to present publication planetary flights to spot immoderate of our works.”
Still from 1 of the videos that were banned. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Over the years, Bob (Susruta Mukherjee) and Bobby (Saswata Mukherjee), who are illustrators, filmmakers, and animators by profession, are duplicate brothers from Kolkata who person talked astir galore societal issues done their art. They often trust connected satire and humour successful their storytelling to shed airy connected pressing issues successful society.
“Not definite what triggered it. All the videos were connected fictional characters. If you had seen, the characters were wholly antithetic looking from anyone living, with antithetic hairstyles and appearances,” Bob told The Hindu pursuing the station connected societal media astir the ban.
“We made harmless animated shorts connected fictional characters, without immoderate notation of a existent sanction oregon place. And they got banned,” said Bobby, erstwhile asked whether creator look was becoming progressively hard successful the contiguous socio-political environment.
The artists besides shed airy connected the expanding inclination successful nine and artforms to go apolitical. However, “I deliberation its Because arsenic a nine we person been made to hide that successful a functioning ideology it’s a mean happening to question power,” Bobby added.
The duo added that they person received threats earlier arsenic well, but nary of them amounted to getting banned connected societal media and that this was their archetypal brushwood with a ban.
Despite the restrictions connected their work, the artists reiterated that they volition proceed making creation and made backup societal media accounts to archive their enactment successful lawsuit further enactment is taken against their superior accounts.
The prohibition notification artists revieved. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
An onslaught connected cartoons
The censorship of cartoons has been a agelong conflict betwixt artists and radical successful power. Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi was arrested successful 2012 for his cartoon bid which had a satirical instrumentality against corruption. His apprehension led to wide protests arsenic galore called it an onslaught connected state of expression.
Veteran cartoonist Manjool who goes by the sanction Manjool Toons faced akin issues when, successful 2025, constabulary asked X to region 2 posts from the Manjultoons X relationship connected grounds that it “violates the law(s) of India”. The 2 posts were captious of the Mamata Banerjee government. Manjool has faced galore akin issues implicit the years.
Not conscionable creating cartoons, but sharing them besides got radical successful occupation sometimes. Jadavpur University’s Chemistry Professor Ambikesh Mahapatra was arrested successful 2012 for forwarding a cartoon that allegedly showed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee successful a antagonistic light. Prof Mahapatra fought an 11-year-long conflict and was yet acquitted successful 2023.
