The Hindu Cartoonscope and Amul butter cartoons continue to be a great way to capture news in India with humor and satire. This Year in Review presents a montage of cartoons from the two sources to present highlights of what happened in India in 2011.
Reports of political scams and corruption continued to surface throughout 2011. 2G allocation, hoarding of black money and illegal mining at Bellary were some prominent ones.
The media and public focus on corruption had two important fall-outs:
1) Some prominent leaders involved in corruption scandals were arrested
2) Anna Hazare, the Gandhian leader proposed and continues to wage agitation for anti corruption JanLok Pal Bill
At the regional level, West Bengal, Telangana and Gujarat captured headlines. Assembly elections in 5 states resulted in some interesting surprises
UPA Government’s populist announcements coupled with halfhearted policy changes were widely criticized. The seems to be focusing on short-term political gains by avoiding difficult decisions and long-term planning.
Freedom of speech, expression and personal choice were curtailed or threatened in numerous ways during 2011
The high-points of 2011 for Indians were:
1) The World Cup victory by India’s men in blue
2) Civil society outrage against political corruption