From a sarcastic portrayal of the Supreme Court order on Patanjali’s ‘Covid cure’ ads to rebellions in political parties over denial of 2024 Lok Sabha tickets, here are The Hindu cartoonists , Vasini Varadan, Soumyadip Sinha and Mika Aziz’s take on the important events of the year 2024.
(Compiled by T. Arvind)
This cartoon appeared in The Hindu on March 1, 2024 following the February 27 Supreme Court order restraining Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved from discrediting allopathy in its campaigns, and from advertising products that claim to cure chronic conditions.
The cartoon appeared in The Hindu on February 17, 2024. The cartoon highlighted the farmers protest, government’s apathy and the iron barriers installed in the borders of NCR.
The cartoon was published a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the oath of office for a third successive term on June 9, 2024, along with 71 other members of his Council of Ministers. The BJP fell short of majority and now depends on its allies – TDP, JDS, JDU, LJP, Shiv Sena, RLD, RPI and HAM.
The cartoon appeared in The Hindu on August 30, 2024. It was a satirical take on the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh BJP government’s new social media policy to award cash prizes to influencers who promote its initiatives, schemes, and achievements, and to take legal action if online content has any reference against the government.
The cartoon appeared in The Hindu on August 24, 2024: Faced with one of the biggest challenges of her administrative career in containing the raging protests over the rape and murder of a doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did what she does best, which is hitting the streets. Many in the State could not fathom whom Ms. Mamata was protesting against when anger was directed at her government. The cartoon aptly portrayed this contradiction.
The cartoon appeared in The Hindu on the day of Lok Sabha results on June 4, 2024, wherein Prime Minister Narendra Modi led NDA won a third term in power even as the BJP fell 32 short of the halfway mark of 272 seats in the Lower House. The results came after weeks of fiery campaign by the Congress and the counter-attacks by the BJP over unemployment, inflation, corruption and hate speeches.
The cartoon appeared in The Hindu on March 15, 2024, the day where the Election Commission published the electoral bonds data released by the State Bank of India on the orders of the Supreme Court. Among parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party encashed electoral bonds worth ₹6,060.5 crore — the highest among all parties followed by the TMC, Congress, BRS, BJD and the DMK during the period between April 12, 2019 and January 24, 2024.
The cartoon appeared in The Hindu on March 3, 2024 amid rebellion, shifting loyalties and hectic bargaining by the candidates of leading parties following denial of tickets to contest the Lok Sabha elections.
The cartoon appeared in The Hindu on July 1, 2024 the day Centre’s new criminal laws came into effect. The Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.PC), Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), replaced the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the Bharatiya Sakshya (BS), replaced the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
Depicting the prevailing unsafe environment for doctors to carry on their duties, the cartoon appeared on the eve of India’s Independence Day when the CBI took over probe into the rape and murder of a doctor at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
Published – December 24, 2024 02:50 pm IST
