Of Cartoons and Corruption

Imran H. Khan

And we should call every truth false, which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.

-- Friedrich Nietzsche

In a world where everyday headlines flash “27 dead,” “war,” “hatred,” “explosion” and similar depressing topics, one may find it hard to laugh about anything. When I was young, I remember indulging in the works of Georges Remi, better known by the pen name Hergé, a Belgian comic writer and artist. The name might not hit any nerves at first, but his was one of the most famous comics of all time. He is the writer and the illustrator of the comic, 'The Adventures of Tintin,' which probably set the foundation for thousands of comics and cartoons of today. Tintin was one character who never grew old, and even today, his stories still have an air of suspense about them. Captain Haddock's “blistering barnacles” and other innocently innovative swears still have the ability to make me smile.

Cartoons do that: make you smile, or even laugh if they're good. Cartoons with their simple-lined drawings, depict humorous situations and are often accompanied by a caption. Just as in literary satire with the use of humour and wit is used to criticise with the purpose of reform, cartoons use humour to poke fun at social and political issues. In a sense cartoon is used by the media in an attempt to reform society.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) recently organised a cartoon exhibition to commemorate International Anti-Corruption Day on 9 December, 2006. The exhibition was entitled, “Cartoon Against Corruption” and the event took place from December 7- 9, 2006 at Drik Gallery in Dhanmondi. The main competition took place from the November 2 to November 20, 2005. The judges for the competition were renowned cartoonists from Bangladesh, the likes of Mustafa Monwar, Rafiqunnabi, Shisir Bhattacharjee, Shahriar Khan and Ahsan Habib.

The objective of the exhibition was to display anti-corruption cartoons that received award and praise in a Cartoon Competition organised by TIB. The event marks the 3rd International Anti-Corruption Day. Three seems a magical number this year round as TIB had named Bangladesh as only the third most corrupt country in the world, although Bangladesh won the title of the most corrupt nation in the world for five consecutive years until 2005. Maybe, just maybe, this is exactly where this exhibition has found its roots.

Two-hundred participants from all over Bangladesh took part in the first of its kind anti-corruption cartoon competition. Advocate Sultana Kamal, Advisor to the Caretaker Government in charge of Ministries of Industries, Science and ICT, Textile and Jute was the Chief Guest. His Excellency Einar H. Jensen, the Danish Ambassador to Bangladesh, did the honours and cut the ribbon to open the ceremony. The choice of the Danish Ambassador was an interesting one given the recent cartoon fiasco in the Danish newspaper Jyllandds Posten (but that is another story…).

The whole exhibition was divided into two groups, where group A included 13 to 18 year-olds (namely students), and group B included seniors and professionals between the ages of 19 to 35. The best sixty cartoon were put on display. For both the categories the prizes were: Tk 15,000 for the first place, Tk 12,000 for second place and Tk 10,000 for the third place.

Sumon Wahed of Group B won the first prize in his category. His cartoon shows a person driving a corruption car full of booty, bought abruptly to a stop. The name of the car “Durniti Express” and its plate number “ -420” blends humour with fact and shows how openly corruption moves around us. The cartoon caption uses the language of politicians. No one claims that corruption is good or should be allowed. Everyone chants in one voice, “Stop corruption” while participating in it or looking the other way when their colleagues are neck-deep in it.

Md. Mahdeenur Rahman bagged the first prize in group A. The inset caption reads, “Flush down corruption”. The general public is shown in green and red (smart choice of colours!) and sees corruption as dirtier than faeces and would rather flush that than the normal toilet waste. Perhaps the cartoonist did not intend this but “Durniti” in the picture could also resemble a foetus in a womb, showing how invasive corruption is and has become so much a part and parcel of our society that we carry it around.

With the world embroiled in political upheaval, religious turmoil and corruption, it is not surprising that social satires like “The Simpsons” and “South Park” are so popular in the West. We have our own, the very popular, “Tokai” by R. Nabi, where social problems and political cataclysm are brought into light through the simple eyes of a street urchin. The cartoon exhibition enabled us to bring out the woodworm in our society - corruption - and air it for a few days.

In a world where everyday headlines flash “27 dead,” “war,” “hatred,” “explosion” and similar depressing topics, one may find it hard to laugh about anything. When I was young, I remember indulging in the works of Georges Remi, better known by the pen name Hergé, a Belgian comic writer and artist. The name might not hit any nerves at first, but his was one of the most famous comics of all time. He is the writer and the illustrator of the comic, 'The Adventures of Tintin,' which probably set the foundation for thousands of comics and cartoons of today. Tintin was one character who never grew old, and even today, his stories still have an air of suspense about them. Captain Haddock's “blistering barnacles” and other innocently innovative swears still have the ability to make me smile.

Cartoons do that: make you smile, or even laugh if they're good. Cartoons with their simple-lined drawings, depict humorous situations and are often accompanied by a caption. Just as in literary satire with the use of humour and wit is used to criticise with the purpose of reform, cartoons use humour to poke fun at social and political issues. In a sense cartoon is used by the media in an attempt to reform society.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) recently organised a cartoon exhibition to commemorate International Anti-Corruption Day on 9 December, 2006. The exhibition was entitled, “Cartoon Against Corruption” and the event took place from December 7- 9, 2006 at Drik Gallery in Dhanmondi. The main competition took place from the November 2 to November 20, 2005. The judges for the competition were renowned cartoonists from Bangladesh, the likes of Mustafa Monwar, Rafiqunnabi, Shisir Bhattacharjee, Shahriar Khan and Ahsan Habib.

The objective of the exhibition was to display anti-corruption cartoons that received award and praise in a Cartoon Competition organised by TIB. The event marks the 3rd International Anti-Corruption Day. Three seems a magical number this year round as TIB had named Bangladesh as only the third most corrupt country in the world, although Bangladesh won the title of the most corrupt nation in the world for five consecutive years until 2005. Maybe, just maybe, this is exactly where this exhibition has found its roots.

Two-hundred participants from all over Bangladesh took part in the first of its kind anti-corruption cartoon competition. Advocate Sultana Kamal, Advisor to the Caretaker Government in charge of Ministries of Industries, Science and ICT, Textile and Jute was the Chief Guest. His Excellency Einar H. Jensen, the Danish Ambassador to Bangladesh, did the honours and cut the ribbon to open the ceremony. The choice of the Danish Ambassador was an interesting one given the recent cartoon fiasco in the Danish newspaper Jyllandds Posten (but that is another story…).

The whole exhibition was divided into two groups, where group A included 13 to 18 year-olds (namely students), and group B included seniors and professionals between the ages of 19 to 35. The best sixty cartoon were put on display. For both the categories the prizes were: Tk 15,000 for the first place, Tk 12,000 for second place and Tk 10,000 for the third place.

Sumon Wahed of Group B won the first prize in his category. His cartoon shows a person driving a corruption car full of booty, bought abruptly to a stop. The name of the car “Durniti Express” and its plate number “ -420” blends humour with fact and shows how openly corruption moves around us. The cartoon caption uses the language of politicians. No one claims that corruption is good or should be allowed. Everyone chants in one voice, “Stop corruption” while participating in it or looking the other way when their colleagues are neck-deep in it.

Md. Mahdeenur Rahman bagged the first prize in group A. The inset caption reads, “Flush down corruption”. The general public is shown in green and red (smart choice of colours!) and sees corruption as dirtier than faeces and would rather flush that than the normal toilet waste. Perhaps the cartoonist did not intend this but “Durniti” in the picture could also resemble a foetus in a womb, showing how invasive corruption is and has become so much a part and parcel of our society that we carry it around.

With the world embroiled in political upheaval, religious turmoil and corruption, it is not surprising that social satires like “The Simpsons” and “South Park” are so popular in the West. We have our own, the very popular, “Tokai” by R. Nabi, where social problems and political cataclysm are brought into light through the simple eyes of a street urchin. The cartoon exhibition enabled us to bring out the woodworm in our society - corruption - and air it for a few days.

Copyright (R) thedailystar.net 2006