The principle of free speech is what matters

This Beer Biceps Guy saga gets worse and worse.

I did a column about it last week and in any case, you probably know the story so far. But even so here is some background to refresh your memory.

 

Ranveer Allahabadia, who calls himself The Beer Biceps Guy has become public enemy number one for right wing (or Hindutva- supporting) social media activists and is the target of various police forces (mostly from BJP-ruled states) for comments made on an odious YouTube show called India’s Got Latent.

 

   There are many ironies to this. For a start, Beer Biceps has been an enthusiastic bootlicker of this government, prostrating himself before powerful figures while conducting “interviews” (using the term in its loosest sense) with them. He has been so eager to ingratiate himself with the establishment that he has asked Right Wing types the sorts of questions that only vile trolls ask: “Who are the people you would like to see thrown out of the country?”

 

   India’s Got Latent is a show that tries to be edgy and cool. We have some idea of how deluded its creators are because its main man, a guy called Samay Raina once tweeted “fear of cancellation from the left is why we don’t have comics like Andrew Schulz, Jimmy Carr, Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais on the Indian comedy scene. Don’t worry, I am here to change that! Janta saath hai. Yeh log kuchh nahin ukhad sakte hain.”

 

   Famous last words.

 

   Like many hypocritical right wing “comedians” who function in a society where the right is totally in control and calls all the shots, he pretended that he was bravely defying throngs of imaginary left-wing activists who were powerful enough to cancel people like him.

 

   So eager was this self-styled courageous champion of edgy comedy to follow in the footsteps of foreign comics that he and his pals decided that the best way to be like them was to steal their jokes. I guess they thought it wasn’t plagiarism if they used cruder Hindi translations.

 

   For instance, in the aftermath of the Roe v Wade judgement in the US, Raina took inspiration from right wing American comedians and made fun of women who wanted abortions. He joked “If I asked my girlfriend to get an abortion tomorrow, she shouldn’t say ‘my body, my choice’. “

 

   Abortion is not even an issue in India. So the joke had no context and it was clear where this faux-valiant activist against the forces of the left was actually stealing his jokes from. He got away with this misogynistic, woman-demeaning garbage because his fans (presumably those on the right since he was battling the left), thought he was funny.

 

   All went well till his show plagiarised a joke about watching your parents have sex and possibly joining them yourself. I thought the joke was disgusting but then I am also nauseated by many of the other things that these professional brown-nosers of the government routinely say. Beer Biceps’ interviews, for example, were mostly puke-inducing.

 

   But then something strange happened. The very right wing that these guys so proudly identified with suddenly kicked them in their faces even as they were licking its toes. Not only was there a huge social media campaign against them but they now face prosecution and persecution.

 

   I wrote last week that this could be due to four possible reasons. One: the outrage was spontaneous and not part of any orchestrated campaign. (Ha!)

 

"You don’t have to like these guys —let alone laugh at their jokes— to stand up for their rights as citizens."

   The other three explanations were more plausible. Perhaps Beer Biceps and his pals had fallen out with the government for some reason. Or could it be that the government needed a distraction from the bad news that was breaking all around us including the latest stampede?

 

   And the fourth, which I found the most plausible, was that the outrage was manufactured to give the government a justification for imposing stricter controls on digital media and the Internet.

 

   If that was indeed the intention, then things are going very well for the regime. Allahbadia approached the Supreme Court to ask for the many FIRs that had been filed against him all over India to be merged into one case and to seek protection from arrest.

 

   The court said yes to both. But in its oral remarks, it went full Angry Uncle on him.

 

  I yield to nobody in my respect for the Supreme Court and I am conscious that it remains one of the last hopes for liberty and for protection of our rights. So I don’t think it helps the cause of freedom of expression greatly when the Court says things like “there is something dirty in his mind” and “Why should the court entertain such a person?”

 

   The Court went on, “just because somebody says I am popular I can speak anything? Can he take society for granted? The entire society will feel ashamed! The perversion you and your henchmen have exhibited!”

 

   But most worryingly, it asked the government to inform it whether it plans to impose a legal regime for regulating YouTube channels and social media content because it has become “a complete nuisance”. It added, “If the government of India is willing to do it, very well. But we make it clear that we want something done… Something has to be done and we will do it. We are not going to leave it like that. “

 

   If my suspicion last week that the whole controversy had been engineered to give the government grounds for further crackdowns on free speech and for extending its hold on digital media was accurate, then the regime has much to celebrate. The Supreme Court has said exactly what the government wanted it to.

 

   So what happens to Beer Biceps and to what the Supreme Court calls his henchmen?

 

  Well, Allahbadia has been prevented from making any more comedy show which may be a relief for lovers of quality comedy but does nevertheless, constitute unjustified interference in his right to make a living. None of the others have secured any protections from the Supreme Court yet so it is possible they will be hounded, raided and arrested.

 

   As you can tell, I hold no brief for these humbugs, hypocrites and sycophants. They give comedy a bad name with their imaginary battle against non-existent leftist forces that are out to cancel them.

 

   But two points need to be made. No citizen of India should have the full weight of the state used against them only because of a joke, no matter how crass and distasteful. You don’t have to like these guys —let alone laugh at their jokes— to stand up for their rights as citizens.

 

   And besides. the individuals are not the important part of the story. The principle of free speech is what matters. And it has not been a good week for freedom of expression.

 

   These setbacks to our freedom affect all Indians not just the bubonic plagiarists who have disgusted all of us and served the government’s purposes so well.

 

   And when it comes to free speech Indian citizens expect much more in the way of protection of our rights from both, the government and the Supreme Court.