On March 30, a giant toilet in gold, approximately ten feet tall, appeared in Washington D.C. near the Lincoln Memorial, a hallowed spot for Americans. It was discovered that the toilet was placed there, surreptitiously, by a shadowy group called The Secret Handshake as a satirical comment on the renovations of the White House. It was called a Throne Fit for a King and visitors were invited to sit on it and take photos.The toilet is a pop-up installation which the group is known for. Their previous one showed Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in the classic pose of Jack and Rose in the Titanic, implying their proximity.Such installations are quickly removed by the authorities as will the toilet soon. No one is usually arrested or charged.It is worth speculating what if something like this had happened in India. Think of a publicly placed statue of Narendra Modi and say, Gautam Adani near India Gate.The following would have happened:A large police contingent would have surrounded it, civic workers would have demolished it brutally, investigations would have been launched, the perpetrators – or some suspects, it doesn’t matter – would have been arrested and charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and their homes demolished by a bulldozer. All within 24 hours.Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.It didn’t matter if those arrested eventually turned out to be innocent. The police had to show it had done ‘something’ and the idea was to send out a message – that the PM was beyond any criticism and satire.Then, any tweets or Instagram posts about either the installation or the demolition would be taken down, as would satirical cartoons or animations. The government would send out orders and the platforms would have no option but to comply.After all, the Ministry of Home Affairs itself orders daily take-downs of approximately 290 posts per day, and the Modi government obviously has a very efficient team which is very vigilant about anything that it finds critical of the prime minister, which would soon be termed anti-national or seditious.Of late the government has been targeting cartoons, animation videos, comedians and any and everything that mocks and satirises the prime minister. The Wire‘s entire Instagram account was blocked for a few hours because the government disapproved of an animated cartoon. Now Dr Nimo Yadav, an X account known for jokey tweets that mock the government, has been blocked.But the government now wants to go further. The new draft amendments to the IT Rules released on March 30 are viewed by experts and activists as extremely problematic. You can read the analysis by the Internet Freedom Foundation here, but to put it simply, the new rules, if and when greenlit, will make every one – news organisations, content creators and even common citizens – liable to having their posts taken down or issuing an apology if they pass critical (or even humorous) comments against the prime minister. If you say something that some government babu finds offensive, you could be silenced or worse.The chilling effect of this is obvious. Citizens are going to become very careful about what they say and may stop commenting on politics, politicians or the government altogether. Any comment deemed adverse or implying a failure on the part of the administration would be shut down.In the US nightly shows by comedians are full of sharp jokes and comments against Trump. Trump frets and calls them names and one of them, Stephen Colbert, even had his show cancelled by his network. But no arrests, no one jailed, no homes razed to the ground.Satire is one thing that strongmen cannot deal with. Ridicule is not tolerated. Till now, political criticism was just about accepted, but even that door is closing. With the economy in trouble, foreign policy a mess and a general sense of drift in the country, the Modi government wants to shut down any and all dissenting voices.The media, especially television channels, were compromised a long time ago. Similarly, the Hindi film industry has also capitulated. Social media was one avenue where genuine dissent could be expressed. Now there is an attempt to shut that down too. The critical question is – is our freedom to joke about and criticise the government, going down the toilet?This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.