On Christmas Day in 1887, a Mumbai paper, Parsee Punch, ran a cartoon depicting India striking a gong of Congress by the ear of a slumbering John Bull. “Rousing the sentinel,†ran the caption. It was only one of thousands of politically charged illustrations that would be carried in the weekly, which first appeared in July 1854 and was still being published well into the 1930s under the name Hindi Punch.
On Wednesday, as the cartoonist Aseem Trivedi was released from jail after being charged with sedition for allegedly insulting national symbols, the prominent historian Mushirul Hasan noted that the editors and contributors to Parsee Punch and other colonial-era satirical journals had never faced persecution from the British authorities.
Mr. Hasan, the director-general of the National Archives of India, is the country's leading authority on colonial-era cartoons. Earlier this year, he put together a collection of cartoons from the Mumbai satirical paper, titled “Wit and Wisdom: Pickings from the Parsee Punch.†It is a companion to his “Wit and Humour in Colonial North India,†a 2009 compilation of work from Lucknow's The Avadh Punch.
“The remarkable thing is that the British never took exception to the critical content†in these journals, Mr. Hasan said. “There's not a single instance of the Press Act being used to prosecute the editors or contributors. In fact, there was great appreciation†of these cartoons by some colonial administrators.
Parsee Punch and The Avadh Punch drew their inspiration from the British Punch magazine, which made its appearance in 1841. “These were not a timid subservient pro -government lot,†Mr. Hasan said. “They were eloquent, articulate and independent-minded individuals who spoke their mind through wit and humor. They played a considerable role in shaping public perceptions†on a range of issues.
Among the controversies highlighted by the Parsee Punch collection are debates about land revenue, taxation and taxes on liquor. “Because the viceroy was involved in the legislation about alcohol permits, the criticism extended to him too,†Mr. Hasan said.
Both journals, Mr. Hasan said, were characterized by the subtlety and sophistication of their cartoons and articles. “The quality of the writing is reflective of the quality of cultural and intellectual life,†he said. “Cartooning is really an expression of that style and refinement. There was a nuanced way of expression even as criticism that was very strong. They didn't use abusive language. They were part of a feudal culture where stridence wasn't considered desirabl e, where derision of the sort we see today simply wasn't on.â€
Mr. Hasan said that Mr. Trivedi's arrest and other recent controversies regarding cartoons in India demonstrated how attitudes toward cartoons had changed over the last century.
“When there is general uncertainty in the political system, when there is growing instability, when there is erosion in the credibility of the ruling elites, these are the kinds of things that happen,†he said. “This would be a generalized way of looking at all such incidents. It would be a mistake to treat them as individual incidents. They're reflective of a society that is growing through a turbulent period.â€
Naresh Fernandes is a freelance journalist who lives in Mumbai. He is a Poiesis fellow at New York University's Institute for Public Knowledge. He is the author of “Taj Mahal Foxtrot: The Story of Bombay's Jazz Age.“
