Cartoons, Caste and Politics

The controversy over the Ambedkar cartoon in school textbooks is more a refl ection of the hurt sentiments of the political class rather than of the dalits. It seems that an artifi cial hurt has been created through a misreading of an innocuous cartoon from six decades ago. In a context where the social justice agenda is often neglected, such emotional issues provide political players with an opportunity to maintain their popular support.