New Delhi: A controversy has erupted following a saffron-flagged Norwegian newspaper’s controversial cartoon of PM Narendra Modi as a snake charmer during his visit to Norway. The cartoon has generated a lot of discussion on social media and several individuals have compared it to racism and insult to India on the Nordic nation’s largest daily newspaper Aftenposten.
The cartoon depicted PM Modi carrying a pipe like a snake, amidst a musical performance on a traditional snake charmer’s musical instrument. This appeared along with an opinion piece that perhaps referred to him as “a man of clever faire and a little to much distraction.” This photo was said to represent out-of-date “colonial perspectives” on India that gave the wrong impression of India as a place of snake charmers being prevalent, according to many social media users.
It was an escalating matter due to PM Modi’s official trip to Norway during his five-nation foreign tour. We asked a Norwegian journalist if Modi doesn’t ask questions from the Indian media often, on a joint press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. The Prime Minister neither directly responded to the question, but later the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, strongly defended the Indian democratic system.
In India, multiple users have criticized the cartoon on the platform X and other social media platforms for being “blatantly racist.” Some said that western media still has a colonial mindset towards India. Others informed that PM Modi has made a number of statements about the change from the land of “snake charmers” to a technologically advanced country of India.
The furor has also reignited debate on the issue of free expression and if cartoons of world leaders are in breach of racial stereotyping. Some supporters say the newspaper has the right to publish political satire while critics say that the cartoon has outdated and offensive images from India’s past colonial image.
The Norwegian government so far has not made an official statement about the incident. The Indian government has not issued any official reaction on the cartoon article, either. But the controversy has sparked a great online debate as to the way that non-Western leaders and countries are represented in the international press.
