Hasan Minhaj attempts balancing act in his 'crash course' on Indian politics

With a knack to turn drab news headlines into a jocular fest of 20 minutes, Indian American comedian Hasan Minhaj established his spot in the niche space of comedic journalism back in October 2018, when he broke into the scene with his Netflix show Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj. Covering all the latest topics demanding relevance in the global socio-political landscape, this witty genius presents news to his audience in a digestible format, interlaced with knee-slapping moments of wit.

From the Harvard admissions scandal to journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s death, immigration policies under the Trump regime to the rising burden of student loan debt in the United States, one might think this comic has analysed and explored it all… that is until he dropped his latest episode on the upcoming Indian general elections.

Introducing his intent to cover this delicate topic, the episode starts with a clip of Minhaj being dissuaded from committing such an error by Indian elders in the US, who tell him that “you are an American Born Confused Desi” and that “you don’t know Indian politics”. “Politics is like a jalebi, round, round, round; you don’t know where it ends, where it starts” and “There is lot of garbage outside; and that garbage is going to come on your face if you open your mouth on Indian politics” are a couple other examples of attempts made by these elders to counsel Minhaj, who went ahead and did the episode anyway. He has also managed to pack a lot of significant events in India’s recent history into his 30-minute performance. While trying to maintain an obvious neutral stance, Minhaj makes a conscious effort to unleash an equal amount of raillery on both major parties of India.

Starting his show by diving into a dicey topic like the Pulwama attack and the subsequent surgical strike raises many eyebrows, least likely because it comes across as a bold move, but because it seems insensitive. Another issue regarding the same was that it propagates a biased viewpoint. One user on Twitter put forth the following argument regarding Minhaj’s take on the issue:

However, his presentation of Pakistan’s retaliation on the air strike by attempting to file a case against India for 'eco-terrorism' does elicit laughs. Further, following in the wake of this issue, the parallel he draws between the famous Newshour Debate and “every desi living room talking about politics” is spot on.

But moving forward, the episode presents more opportunity for inviting accusations that it presents facts in a biased manner. For instance, one of the bits in the episode has Minhaj stating that “since Modi came to power, India has grown more hostile towards minority groups; among a vocal minority there’s been a resurgence in nationalism, specifically Hindu nationalism, the idea that India is a Hindu nation, which completely goes against secularism, which is enshrined in the Indian Constitution”. Further into the show, Minhaj is seen critiquing such a nationalist agenda on multiple counts, by bringing up the disenfranchisement issue in Assam and talking about how UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has “systematically used fear of minorities as a cultural wedge issue”. Whilst Minhaj is not entirely wrong on any of these issues, the qualms arise from the fact that he isn’t entirely right about them either. There is utilisation of only certain aspects of an issue, which fit his needs so that he can thread together a comprehensive episode, whilst leaving out aspects of the same issue that pose an inconvenience to his narrative. Twitter erupted with comments such as the following soon after:  

Some of his jokes referencing popular culture and other one-liners are pure gold. On Modi’s lack of ever having held a press conference in India, he says that Modi is just following Lil Wayne’s rule that “Real Gs move in silence like Lasagna”. And while putting across the message that this election will test what it really means to be Indian, a Nickyanka wedding picture crops up as he goes “No, you cannot marry into it”. Another catchphrase that got birthed in this episode is ‘If Trump’s a Tugger, Modi’s a Hugger’, referencing the politicians’ styles of greeting people!

In an effort to maintain balance, Minhaj also targets the opposition party throughout his episode, be it in introducing Rahul Gandhi or 'India’s Michael Buble' or in cautioning voters to not get carried away by the words of the ‘wise old moose’ Shashi Tharoor, who mentions that the Congress is an inclusive party, as is seen in an interview taken by Minhaj.

Since the show is primarily targeted at an American audience, he then goes on to explain about corruption charges against Congress leaders, specifically the 2G scam. Tharoor’s response on being asked why almost every politician in India seems to be associated with a murder or killing makes a joke of itself. Tharoor’s advice being “you’ve got to essentially leave it to the wisdom of the voters to reject people who have credible charges and accusations against them”, Minhaj can only respond “Great advice, Shashi!”. The above are used as fuel for the other half of Twitterati to counter that the episode is not really biased: 

Overall, the episode is a recommended watch for anyone wanting to familiarise themselves with the happenings of India these days. However, it is also recommended to exercise one’s own judgement based on facts collated from other sources, if you are one of the 900 million exercising your vote this election season. Ultimately, watching the episode through the lens of entertainment, and with the intent of deriving 30 minutes of leisure can help one keep calm and enjoy the show!