A puzzling cartoon dilemma

Santosh Kumar

The cartoon by KK Subhash Franco Mulakkal A view of the state-run Kerala
Lalithakala Akedmi A cartoon that was selected for the Kerala Lalitha Kala Akademi annual award has hurt the ruling CPM where it hurts most – minority vote bank.
A panic-stricken government threw its publicised stand on freedom of expression to the winds and has asked the Akademi to reconsider the award decision as it “hurts religious sentiments”. Though the Akademi has refused to budge, the government is mulling legal opinion to stall the award.

K K Subhash Kerala Lalithakala Akademi
chairman Nemom Pushaparaj The award-winning cartoon by K K Subhash, titled ‘Vishwasam Rakshathi’ (Roughly translated Belief to the Rescue) depicted controversial Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused in the multiple rape case of a nun, as a rooster holding a crosier with an innerwear dangling on it. The rooster can be seen perched on top of a DGP’s cap, with nuns weeping by the side. Two politicians can also be seen in the caricature, one a maverick Catholic MLA , who had openly came out in support of the Bishop, and the other a Left legislator, who was accused of sexual misconduct by a fellow female comrade.

Bishop Mulakkal, though divested of his duties as head of the Jalandhar diocese and is currently out on bail, continues to enjoy the support of the Church. Hence it was not surprising that the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council launched a protest against the Akademi, terming the decision “highly deplorable”. A spokesman for the Council said, “We question if the CPM’s review of the recent election that the Christian community did not stand with the party has influenced selection of the award.”

The anger of the Church was too much for the Left Democratic Front government to bear after the debacle in the Lok Sabha elections, when the Hindu majority community turned against the LDF on the issue of women’s entry into Sabarimala. The Left got a drubbing in Kerala, its last bastion, winning just one of the 20 seats from the southern state.

The cartoon has surfaced at a time when the CPM had pinpointed Sabarimala as one of the main reasons for erosion of its base in Kerala. The party’s central committee had observed that “the correct stand of the LDF government which was bound to implement the Supreme Court judgment on Sabarimala was utilised by the BJP and UDF to create misgivings amongst a section of believers.”

MK Stalin With no representation from its one-time fortresses, West Bengal and Tripura, the Left has practically withered away from national politics. The CPM and CPI got two seats each from Tamil Nadu, thanks to the benevolence of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief MK Stalin.
Kerala was the Left’s main hope in the general election. That hope was shattered as the Left’s main support base among the majority Hindu community turned against the government for its contentions stand on entry of young women into the Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.
This was not the case before September 28 last when the Supreme Court in a 4:1 verdict allowed entry of women of all ages into Sabarimala temple in central Kerala. Tradition has it that the deity there, Lord Ayyappa, will lose his celibacy if women of menstruating age enter the temple. It has been a contentious issue among believers and non-believers in the state for decades, but never a political one till that fateful September.

Pinarayi Vijayan While the top court never set a deadline for implementing its order, the state government led by CPM strongman Pinarayi Vijayan saw in it an opportunity to consolidate his party’s influence among the Hindu majority communities. This was perhaps the worst political gamble CPM had undertaken in the state. It completely failed to read the sentiments running among women devotees of Ayyappa while going ahead with preparations for the entry of women into the temple.
The cartoon has surfaced at a time when the CPM had pinpointed Sabarimala as one of the main reasons for erosion of its base in Kerala. The party’s central committee had observed that “the correct stand of the LDF government which was bound to implement the Supreme Court judgment on Sabarimala was utilised by the BJP and UDF to create misgivings amongst a section of believers.”

Considering that six Assembly byelections are due in the state within six months, CPM knows that it cannot afford to alienate Christian voters as Hindu “believers” are unlikely to come back to CPM too soon.

In fact, the LDF government had dragged its feet in arresting Bishop Franco, when the case came to light in October 2018, fearing a backlash from the Christian community. The government acted reluctantly only after fellow nuns staged a sit-in dharna, first in the history of the community, in front of the Kerala High Court in Ernakulam demanding the bishop’s arrest, rousing public opinion against government inaction. The bishop is on bail. The government is dragging its feet in the case, despite allegations that the Church is putting pressure on the victim nun to withdraw her charges.

However, this was not the case some time back. A year back in July 2018, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had come out eloquently in support of a Malayalam writer who was forced to discontinue serialising his maiden novel in the popular Mathrubhumi Weekly following threats from Hindu fundamentalist organisations.

“The government will not allow any infringement on their freedom of expression. Let the creativity flourish in an atmosphere sans fear. There will be no compromise on anything that will crush it,” Vijayan had said in a Facebook post at that time.

However, the novelist S Hareesh stood his ground, withdrawing his novel, ‘Meesha’ (Moustache), from the magazine fearing attacks on his family from Hindutva forces.

Political observers point out that at the time of the publication of the novel, CPM thought that it could gain politically by taking a tough stand against growing intolerance on the part of Hindutva forces.

Now that its ‘Sabarimala line’ has faltered, the party has to scramble back to minority support base to counter the communal forces gathering strength among the majority community. Freedom of expression can be sacrificed for political gains! Power comes from the ballot, CPM knows it well.