Comedian | SabrangIndia News Related to Human Rights Fri, 17 Jul 2020 14:33:21 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.2 https://sabrangindia.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Favicon_0.png Comedian | SabrangIndia 32 32 Terrorised by trolls, comedians apologise for hurting religious sentiments https://sabrangindia.in/terrorised-trolls-comedians-apologise-hurting-religious-sentiments/ Fri, 17 Jul 2020 14:33:21 +0000 http://localhost/sabrangv4/2020/07/17/terrorised-trolls-comedians-apologise-hurting-religious-sentiments/ Many comedians reported that their numbers and addresses had been leaked and that they were getting threats to life and that of their families too

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Image Courtesy:indiatimes.com

It all started with the vilification of comedian Agrima Joshua. The rape threats and verbal abuse aimed at her for joking about the misinformation surrounding the statue of Shivaji Maharaj, that she encountered on a QnA platform by one Shubham Mishra, opened the floodgates for hatred for right-wing trolls who followed in his footsteps and unleashed an organised attack against her on social media, forcing her to apologize for her video and take it down from all platforms.

The pattern of hate spread by right-wing trolls has now become very predictable and racial slurs, communal slurs, rape threats and threats to life are all part of the mix. A look at the trolls, their armies and affiliations will show that they have appointed themselves to be gatekeepers of nationalism.

Abuses and apologies

Recently, the government of India banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok which was a means of income to thousands in India. The move was lauded by many as a fitting answer to the Chinese government, currently with whom there is an ongoing conflict at the LAC. However, when stand-up comic Kenny Sebastian questioned the apathy coming in from some because the ban didn’t affect them directly, he was trolled and subject to communal slurs where he was called a ‘rice bag convert’ – a derogatory term used by some right-wing Hindutva followers to shame Christians saying that they don’t follow the religion due to their religious belief but have converted for the proposed benefits that come with following a religion.

 

After Joshua was villified, more comedians came forward to issue apologies after being targeted by trolls, reported Scroll.in.

On July 14, comedian Sahil Shah saying that years ago when he had centred a joke on Shivaji Maharaj, he didn’t know it would offend people and hurt their religious sentiments. Sahil was called a ‘jihadi’ by a Twitter handle called ‘The Hindu Voice’ and followers of this handle had tagged everyone from the CM of Maharashtra to the cyber cell and MNS officials to take action against him.

 

Tweeting, Shah apologised profusely for the same and said that he would make responsible comedy in the future.

 

Soon, comic Aadar Malik too released a video apologising for an 8-year-old video which had been dug up to target him. People questioned him for making jokes on Hindu gods but not on other faiths questioning whether the Indian minority would tolerate the same.

 

 

In his video, Malik said that there was a lot of hate he was receiving on social media, including threats to his family and that it had become a very scary atmosphere to live in.

 

Rohan Joshi, one of the co-founders of the former comedy group AIB too put out an apology on Instagram after he too was targeted.

 

Saying that he was going offline for a few days and that his number and address had been leaked. He mentioned that the last few days had been a circus of abuse, threats, 2 A.M calls and anxious spirals. Apologising for offending anyone’s sentiments, he pleaded for his family to be left alone.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Rohan Joshi (@mojorojo) on

In the same vein, comedian Azeem Banatwalla for his tweets made many years ago and said that while he was not looking to make an excuse, people had been pouring the vilest of Islamophic slurs at him.

 

Comedian Sapan Verma too apologised for a wrong, immature and distasteful tweet.

 

Throughout these attacks, one thing was common – comedians were accused of being anti-Hindu. However, in bid to bust that narrative, comedian Abijit Ganguly took to Twitter to point out that branding all comedians as anti-Hindu was wrong because no content of two comedians was alike.

 

Comedian Saurav Ghosh was recently brutally beaten up with a helmet for making a joke on confusion arising about which airport people had to report to due to both airports being named after Shivaji Maharaj.

 

The comedians also faced open threat to their safety with some comparing them to hate offender Kamlesh Tiwari who had made controversial remarks against Prophet Muhammed in 2015. He was allegedly shot at in his home in 2019. Now right-wing trolls are comparing comedians to him and demanding that Hindus show their intolerance towards them.

 

Comedians like Vir Das also put out sarcastic videos targeting the outrage towards stand-up comics, pointing out how there were a selective number of people focusing on digging up instances of offensive comedy instead of questioning the more pressing topics.

 

In response to trolls and abusive misogynists, a group of female comedians too put out a sarcastic video titled ‘Women Finally Apologist For Everything’, to show the continuous vilification they suffered at the hands of those sitting behind keyboards and issuing open rape threats with impunity.

 

A political pattern to the organised abuse?

Speaking with Scroll.in, Ravina Rawal, editor of DeadAnt, an online publication that tracks the Indian comedy scene said, “Comics have a young, captive audience running into the tens of millions, they have the power to influence new voters and set a narrative. To add to that is the impression that all comics are liberals or lefties.”

A pattern observed in all the trolling is that it comes from many who claim to be nationalists and followers of Sanatan Dharm or are affiliated to the right-wing. All of these trolls have dug up old videos of comedians and tagged the MVA Maharashtra government to take action against them, even though the videos were made during the time of the previous government. One can question if this too is in a bid to pressure  the current state government to prove their affiliation towards the majority community and move away from the liberal image it is trying to create by connecting with the youth in its causes.

This could be the reason why the Maharashtra government, even while issuing an inquiry against those who threatened Joshua, also said that they would review her video too. Instead, the government should look at the above evidence and stop this targeted hate campaign, stop people from taking law into their own hands and curb the anarchy that is ready to brim over.

Nobody could’ve fathomed that comedy and laughter would become resistance movements in India. With comedians being increasingly targeted, especially for their jokes revolving around politics, it is now to be seen if comedy as a form of resistance will take a more defined shape or be hacked out by right-wing guards of nationalism.

Related:

Why social media sites must exercise social responsibility and nip hate speech in the bud

 

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]]> Feminist comedians are laughing at privilege – and it’s funny https://sabrangindia.in/feminist-comedians-are-laughing-privilege-and-its-funny/ Mon, 17 Dec 2018 09:12:16 +0000 http://localhost/sabrangv4/2018/12/17/feminist-comedians-are-laughing-privilege-and-its-funny/ Comedy that targets oppressed groups is outdated. These feminists are using humour to speak truth to power.   Comedian Tig Notario at the Family Equality Council’s Impact Awards (California, 2017). Photo: Family Equality/Flickr. CC BY-ND 2.0. This summer, an old debate broke out again in Spain: should we put limits on humour? This time it […]

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]]> Comedy that targets oppressed groups is outdated. These feminists are using humour to speak truth to power.
 

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Comedian Tig Notario at the Family Equality Council’s Impact Awards (California, 2017). Photo: Family Equality/Flickr. CC BY-ND 2.0.

This summer, an old debate broke out again in Spain: should we put limits on humour? This time it was prompted by a monologue from comedian Rober Bodegas in which he mocked gypsies that steal cars, don’t know how to write, and marry 13-years-old girls.

The comedian was accused of racism by gypsy people, whereas some of his colleagues defended him, arguing that humour’s purpose is to provoke and transgress social rules. Even if Bodegas was laughing at archaic stereotypes, they said, people should have taken it with humour and as a simple joke.

After receiving more than 400 death threats, according to Bodegas, and thousands of angry comments on Twitter, he apologised and the video of his monologue was removed – but the questions it raised remain live.

Jorge Cremades previously provoked a similar debate. He became famous with comic videos featuring a raft of sexist clichés. On Facebook, he has seven million followers. In June 2017, feminist groups asked people to boycott his show at a Barcelona theatre, calling him “macho and patriarchal”.

What’s the right answer? Should we stop making or ban jokes about groups that experience discrimination, or should we give comedians complete freedom to laugh at whatever and whoever they’d like?

According to presenter and comedian David Broncano, jokes can’t be limited as there will always be someone offended by them. I understand his point: censuring some topics is contrary to the transgressive nature of humour.

But who says we must censure topics? When oppressed groups react against a joke, it doesn’t mean they want to put up limits in humour. The demand is rather that comedians bear in mind from which position are they making these jokes, and understand the effect of such a powerful weapon as humour.
 

‘Such a powerful weapon’

Humour is instrumental. That is, it can serve different purposes depending on how we use it. Usually we think about it as a way to make someone crack up by destroying social rules, but it can be used to marginalise people too.

“Who are the protagonists of most jokes? People that are excluded… Humour is used also to put people in [their] place”, said Asunción Bernárdez, director of the Instituto de Investigaciones Feministas, earlier this year.

In other words: when a comedian laughs at discriminated groups from a privileged position, what he is doing is re-emphasising difference and relativising the oppression that these groups suffer.

What outrages people is not the single jokes of a single comedian; it is the pervasive discrimination that comes to light through these jokes. The problem is not a comedian making a racist or sexist joke, the problem is a racist and sexist society that puts him on prime time and laughs along with him.

When you understand the violence behind humour that, using the excuse of being transgressive, plays with racism, sexism or homophobia, it starts to provoke anger instead of laughter. And you realise that making fun of oppressed people is the least transgressive thing you can do.


Maysoon Zayid in her TED Women talk (San Francisco, 2013). Photo: TED Conference/Flickr. CC BY-NC 2.0.

Against easy humour that uses stereotypes to laugh at others, the feminist writer Brigitte Vasallo proposes to “point inside or to point up” – and laugh about yourself or those who are more powerful than you.

This is not utopian; there are already feminist comedians that can make you cry with laughter like Patricia Sornosa, Ali Wong or Tig Notaro. And some of them talk about minorities and oppressed groups too.

“If there was an Oppression Olympics, I would win the gold medal. I’m Palestinian, Muslim, I’m female, I’m disabled… and I live in New Jersey,” is how actor Maysoon Zayid starts I got 99 problems and palsy is just one.

Zayid can make fun of her conditions and express irony that is actually empowering. This is what feminist humour is about.

Making fun of the privileged is not new for Spanish comedians who openly mock governments and establishments. But most are men who seem to have forgotten to laugh about themselves – and patriarchy.

Artist Lula Gómez commented on this in one of her feminist videos called “Eres una caca” (You are poop): “Maybe unconsciously, maybe not, but they aren’t able to make jokes about their own privileges as men”.

Some people might not agree with my analysis. At least, you should agree with me that humour consists of distorting reality and, to do this, we need to start from the same reality, from the same common point.

When we make a joke, we must take into account the social context in which we make it, and we know that a lot of people are still discriminated against in our reality. That should be our common starting point.

Rocío Ros Rebollo is a Spanish journalist and entrepreneur. Her startup, Proyecto V, is a digital magazine specialised in feminist journalism. Find her and Proyecto V on Twitter: @rociorosreb, @ProyectoVmag.

Courtesy: https://mondoweiss.net
 

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]]> Germany Bows to Turkish Pressure: Allows Prosecution of Comedian who Mocked Erdogan https://sabrangindia.in/germany-bows-turkish-pressure-allows-prosecution-comedian-who-mocked-erdogan/ Sun, 17 Apr 2016 13:39:02 +0000 http://localhost/sabrangv4/2016/04/17/germany-bows-turkish-pressure-allows-prosecution-comedian-who-mocked-erdogan/ German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has bowed to Turkish pressure –for which she has been  criticised by members of her own cabinet —after she acceded to a request from Ankara to prosecute a comedian who read out an offensive poem about the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Erdogan’s regime has become synonymous with curbs on freedoms, […]

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]]> German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has bowed to Turkish pressure –for which she has been  criticised by members of her own cabinet —after she acceded to a request from Ankara to prosecute a comedian who read out an offensive poem about the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Erdogan’s regime has become synonymous with curbs on freedoms, attacks on minorities and a stifling of dissent.

While Merkel has defended her decision, trying to stress that it did not amount to a verdict on whether Jan Böhmermann was guilty or not, but should be understood as a reaffirmation of the judiciary’s independence, she is facing increasing criticism for the act. Merkel was left with the final decision on whether Germany’s state prosecutor should start proceedings against Böhmermann after Erdoğan requested the comedian be prosecuted. Under an obscure section of Germany’s criminal code, prosecution for insults against organs or representatives of foreign states requires both a notification from the offended party and an authorisation from the government.

PEN International has issued a strong statement in condemnation of the decision.  

“The German government’s authorisation for the prosecution of comedian Jan Böhmermann for broadcasting a crude poem that allegedly insulted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in accordance with a German law on insulting foreign leaders, infringes on the fundamental right to freedom of expression, German PEN and PEN International said today.

'The decision by Chancellor Angela Merkel came after the Turkish Embassy lodged a formal request with the German foreign ministry to prosecute Böhmermann, after the comedian read a poem in a late-night programme screened on the German state broadcaster ZDF at the end of last month that accused president of Turkey of, among other things, “repressing minorities, kicking Kurds and slapping Christians”.

‘There has been some discussion about the vulgarity of Böhmermann´s mock defamatory poem. We trust in our judicial representatives to know that freedom of expression is not about taste or the quality of literature. It´s about freedom and civil rights,’ said Regula Venske, General Secretary, German PEN

‘As Josef Haslinger, president of German PEN, has pointed out, Jan Böhmermann´s action can be understood as a paradoxical intervention. By adding one defamatory cliché after the other, Böhmermann drew our attention to some obscure paragraph criminalising lèse-majesties in German criminal law. We call upon the German government to quickly proceed with its abolition.’

'Merkel made the decision today on whether Germany’s state prosecutor should start proceedings against Böhmermann, after Erdoğan pressed charges against the comedian. Insulting heads of state is illegal under an obscure section of Germany’s criminal code, which requires authorisation from the German government. If found guilty, Böhmermann could face up to five years in prison or – more likely – a fine.

'Merkel has indicated that the law will be repealed by 2018.

'President Erdoğan has made extensive resort to Turkey’s criminal defamation laws to silence critics and opponents, having lodged over 1800 personal insult suits since he became President in 2014.

'International human rights standards put a high value on uninhibited expression in the context of ‘public debate concerning public figures in the political domain and public institutions’. The Human Rights Committee, which oversees the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Germany is a state party, has made clear that the ‘mere fact that forms of expression are considered to be insulting to a public figure is not sufficient to justify the imposition of penalties’. Human rights bodies have also pointed out that heads of state and public figures should tolerate a higher degree of criticism than ordinary citizens.

‘The test of a nation’s commitment to freedom of expression comes when its government has to decide if it should use an obscure law, which protects only one class of people (in this instance foreign heads of state), to prosecute the author of what is clearly a satirical poem. Germany has decided to do so because a foreign government – Turkey, which is hardly a beacon of freedom of expression, which has an appalling record in protecting free speech, and has prosecuted writers and journalists over the years – wants Germany to act the way Turkey itself would in similar circumstances,’ said Salil Tripathi, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee.

‘The question is not whether Jan Böhmermann is a good poet, whether his work has aesthetic value or whether it was deeply offensive – that remains a matter of individual taste. The question is whether Germany – which has pledged to repeal the law by 2018 – should use the law as if it had no other choice. Robust democracies thrive on sharp debate and biting satire, even if it is in poor taste. Germany must act consistent with its own, European, and international standards of free speech and drop all charges against Böhmermann immediately.’

PEN International opposes the criminalisation of defamation in all cases, calling for defamation and insult to become civil offences. PEN also calls on the German authorities not to bring any charges against Böhmermann and to implement the decision to overturn the law criminalising the insult of foreign leaders as soon as possible.

Salil Tripathi, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee told Sabrangindia, “‘The test of a nation’s commitment to freedom of expression comes when its government has to decide if it should use an obscure law, which protects only one class of people (in this instance foreign heads of state), to prosecute the author of what is clearly a satirical poem. Germany has decided to do so because a foreign government – Turkey, which is hardly a beacon of freedom of expression, which has an appalling record in protecting free speech, and has prosecuted writers and journalists over the years – wants Germany to act the way Turkey itself would in similar circumstances.’

‘The question is not whether Jan Böhmermann is a good poet, whether his work has aesthetic value or whether it was deeply offensive – that remains a matter of individual taste. The question is whether Germany – which has pledged to repeal the law by 2018 – should use the law as if it had no other choice. Robust democracies thrive on sharp debate and biting satire, even if it is in poor taste. Germany must act consistent with its own, European, and international standards of free speech and drop all charges against Böhmermann immediately".
 
Meanwhile, in a lighter vein, a satirist blog based in the United Kingdom commented that the “World stunned by revelation that Germany has a comedian!

The decision is also being criticized on account of the recently agreed refugee deal between Turkey and the EU has made the chancellor reliant on the whims of Turkey’s strongman leader. Merkel was one of the main drivers of the agreement, under which migrants arriving in Greece are now expected to be sent back to Turkey if they do not apply for asylum or their claim is rejected.

“Merkel is kowtowing to Turkey’s despot Erdoğan and sacrifices freedom of the German press,” said Sahra Wagenknecht, a senior politician for the German Left party said in a statement to the media.

The chairman of the Turkish Community in Germany, Gökay Sofuoglu, also criticised the German government’s decision, saying: “I would have wished the chancellor had not allowed the trial to go ahead.” Erdoğan had also filed a personal lawsuit against Böhmermann, and Sofuoglu said Merkel should have waited for the outcome of that trial first.

A demonstration in front of the Turkish embassy in Berlin, scheduled for Friday afternoon, has been banned by Berlin police. Activists had announced that they were planning to read out Böhmermann’s poem in front of the embassy.

Böhmermann himself has not commented on the affair since the programme was aired last Thursday. Cologne authorities have confirmed that the comedian and his family are under police protection.

Sabrangindia has been tracking the developments in Turkey that have seriously endangered personal freedoms.

References
1. ‘Statement of Concern by Professors of Turkish Studies and Ottoman History Regarding Diminishing Academic Freedoms in Turkey’

2. Turkey: Crushing the dissenting voice

3. Turkey: Mind numbing violence in a country where even “insulting President” is a crime

 

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