What’s happening to India is anything but funny.Why is a 52-second toon such a threat?Put out on February 7, across all The Wire’s social media handles, the toon is a sharp, musical take on the recent parliament impasse, springing from the prime minister’s refusal to discuss the government’s role during the 2020 border crisis with China. But it appears to have become a threat only on February 9, after it got popular. Why is censorship of a satirical cartoon happening with so much fervour that The Wire’s Instagram account was blocked in toto and then notices sent to X to ensure that the video went off that platform too?A laugh at the government’s expense appears unaffordable. Perhaps a reminder to the powers that be of the fact that Article 19(1)(a) of the constitution still allows expression of views that make people laugh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said in a marathon Lex Fridman podcast last year, “I have a strong belief that criticism is the soul of democracy. If democracy truly runs in your veins, you must embrace it.” He said there should be more criticism. “We should have more criticism, and it should be sharp and well-informed… In our scriptures, it’s said: ‘Always keep your critics close’. Critics should be your nearest companions because through genuine criticism, you can improve quickly and work democratically with better insights”.Of course, none of this is visible in how his government conducts itself in the real world.The Maharashtra government and ruling party’s treatment of satirist Kunal Kamra after his last show in Mumbai, the jail time suffered by comics like Munawar Faruqui for jokes they had not even been able to tell, and the latest clampdown on a 52-second video show that laughs at the regime are to be gagged.For a government that leverages the information environment on the basis of its stranglehold over most big media and aggression on social media, any alternative idea, however small, is seen as a potential needle which can bring the balloon of propaganda and silence down.History has borne witness to the power of satire and comics to tell the truth in ways that the serious metier finds hard to do. That is why it is such a threat today. Things weren’t always like this in India. The legendary cartoonist Shankar was famously asked by the country’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to not “spare” him. A film on Nehru telling him this was made by the government of India’s Films Division and you can see it here. We are light years away from that spirit. Even during Indira Gandhi’s despicable 18-month Emergency – the first faced by independent India – she had the political courage to own up to enforcing a formal system of censorship.Today, there is no holds barred for anything that ruling party supporters want to do. Rape and death threats to anyone opposed to the ruling regime are par for the course, chief ministers like Himanta Biswa Sarma can put up videos of themselves shooting down opposition leaders and Muslims. ‘Authorities’ have nothing to say. The entire edifice of mood creation against the opposition rests on deep snarks and comic putdowns galore, both publicly and on dark social media. But that is okay.The moment anyone starts drawing outside the lines that the ruling regime has laid down, the IT Rules, prohibition, and ‘emergency’ takedowns are invoked. In India’s dark journey into authoritarian terrain, recounted by several indices, the government’s control over the public sphere and the media are cited as major reasons for the decline. Arguing for a free press is not about protecting journalists. It is about ensuring that the government of the day is kept honest, with constant questioning, interrogation and demands for accountability.When 52 seconds of animation require emergency powers to suppress, the joke has clearly landed. Right on the Modi government.