In search of Ambedkars Parliament

Below is the interesting Article is written by GAUTAM PATEL published in Bangalore Mirror on 18th May 2012

GAUTAM PATEL 

who according to "Bangalore Mirror" WHEN HE's NOT ON FACEBOOK,HE CLAIMS TO BE A LAWYER

The uproar in Parliament over a 60-year-old cartoon lacks objectivity and a sense of proportion 

The conceit of Indias Republic is founded on one major premise: equality.It is this premise that underlies the thinking of our Constituent Assembly,and it is this premise that,perhaps in the interest of retaining its collective sanity,led the Constituent Assembly to believe that the elected representatives of the people who were to form Parliament would be not materially different from themselves : men and women of understanding,some learning,stature,maturity,committed,with a sense of purpose and public service,and also with the ability to laugh at themselves.

A look at the Constituent Assembly Debates (CAD) of over 60 years ago and the Parliamentary proceedings of today shows just how far wrong we have gone,just how wrong the Constituent Assemblys assumption was.The Assemblys debates show remarkable intellectual rigour,discipline,intensity,concern for a common future,a shared vision.There is also a certain distancing of the self from the subject,an objectivity,and a sense of proportion.Today,all this seems lost.What else can explain the absurd spectacle of the uproar in Parliament over a 60-year-old cartoon and the claim that it insults Dr Ambedkar,and a craven governments capitulation to populism The cartoon was published in Dr Ambedkars lifetime.There is nothing to indicate that he was upset by it.Our Parliamentarians claim umbrage by a proxy that was never given to them.

Cartooning dates back to the Middle Ages when it referred to a preliminary sketch for a larger artwork.In that sense,the stained glass windows of cathedrals,Ajantas frescoes and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were all based on cartoons;and,arguably,they are cartoons in that limited sense even now.The modern usage,of humorous or mocking art,coincides with the advent of newspapers and magazines.And such is their power and influence that no newspaper does without them.

Cartoons exaggerate to emphasise: facial features and bodies are bigger or smaller than the actual.Incidents are given an importance they do not otherwise deserve.Typically,they contain text that is short,simple and easy to read and grasp.In the social and political arena they are of special value for,more than any other art form,they force us to confront ourselves and see our foibles and gaucheries.They hold up a mirror to ourselves.This is a distorting mirror to be sure,but within it lie truths about the way we are.In joco veritas: In jest there is truth.Cartoons teach us civility by forcing us to laugh at ourselves.

A cartoon by R K Laxman.Cartoons teach us civility by forcing us to laugh at ourselves 

Except for a 22-month hiatus between 1983 and 1984,Garry Trudeaus Doonesbury comic strip has chronicled social and political life in America for over four decades.Many of the satires are explicitly political and use existing political players,and their depictions are delightfully wicked.Gerald Ford and Henry Kissinger were faceless voices.George Bush was shown as a floating Stetson hat,Bill Clinton as a waffle,Dan Quayle as a feather with nothing under it and Schwarznegger as a groping hand.One entire series was later compiled into a book called In Search of Reagans Brain where Reagan was shown as an artificial intelligence.So strong was its reception that some papers moved it to the editorial page.When others (notably the Guardian) dropped it due to space constraints,the protests led to its reinstatement.

Berkeley Breatheds Bloom County ran from 1980 to 1989.In 1987 it won the Pulitzer for editorial cartooning.Breatheds characters,including the irresistible penguin,Opus,was also irreverent: feminism,cinema,pop culture,cults (Bill the Cat became Bhagwan Bill ),politics,labour unions and,of course,the US Presidency.

Nobody thought to ban these strips altogether.Certainly nobody who hadnt read them.And yet that is precisely what our Parliamentarians seek.On television,four politicians were asked if theyd actually read the text book in which the so-called offending cartoon appears.Three had not.One said he was proud of his ignorance.This,it seems,is to be the standard of debate in the house that Ambedkar built.

Cartoons and illustrations have a particular importance in teaching for the very reason that makes them appealing: they simplify,they distil the essence.A 10th standard civics text book has this memorable line regarding the right to property : the right to property is no longer a fundamental right.It is a constitutional right. What on earth is anyone,let alone a student,to make of this Or take the phrasing of Article 14: equality before the law and equal protection of laws.Why two phrases How do they differ Why would one not suffice How do you get this across to a 15-year-old student And Article 19: every citizens right to the indefinable freedom of speech and expression.Expression of what A thought,an idea,a story,a joke 

If you could illustrate this,a student would understand it and never forget it.And then perhaps become a better lawyer.Or a better Parliamentarian.Perhaps of the kind Dr Ambedkar imagined.




http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/getpage.aspx?pageid=14&pagesize=&edid=&edlabel=BGMIR&mydateHid=18-05-2012&pubname=&edname=&publabel=MM