French And Indian War Political Cartoons

Whats's Left of Hinduism after Nick Cohen?

In 2006 Hindu Human Rights Group wrote, in the most respectful manner, to Nick Cohen of The Guardian, following his attack on us as religious bigots. Needless to say Mr. Cohen declined to reply and certainly skirted around any idea of an open debate. The futile dialogue was the result of Cohen defending the right of the late MF Husain to exhibit art denigrating Hindu sacred imagery. While attacks and even insults to religious sentiment should ideally be allowed in a free and open society where democracy is the norm, HHR drew attention to the fact that Husain’s artistic endeavours were happening in an environment where Hindus are being attacked with impunity, not just on the level of verbal insults, but actual physical annihilation in places such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Kashmir. Cohen however continued to avert his gaze from Hindu victims of genocide and indeed on 12 June 2011 once again made Hindus the target of his vitriol in his piece in the Guardian. He claims that Husain was driven into exile by “Hindu national extremists” which have also been allowed to flourish in Britain . While not explicitly naming HHR, Cohen’s What price freedom of expression now? nevertheless clearly alludes to us.

The whole anti-Hindu outburst is very interesting because on 12 February 2009 Nick Cohen wrote Hatred is turning me into a Jew in the Jewish Chronicle. In the light of rising new wave anti-Semitism Cohen has suddenly rediscovered his Jewish roots. It is a well argued article which exposes the Left’s indulgence of radical Islam and its hypocrisy towards Israel especially in how it lambasts anyone defending that beleaguered state, the only democracy in the Middle East, is labelled as “tools of the Zionists” – as if “Zionist was even a pejorative term in the first place. But it is also a poignant article which exposes Cohen’s very own double standards which he throws at the Left. Back in 2006 HHR explained to him why we as an organisation were formed. If he once again needs reminding, assuming he even read our correspondence in the first place, it was to highlight the very persecution, discrimination and marginalisation of Hindus worldwide, which he himself ignores.

In fact Cohen’s anti-Hindu hatred reaches such levels that he sheds tears over the late MF Husain having to be “exiled” from India . And where did Mr. Husain go? Dubai , where freedom of expression is severely curtailed, Israel is rubbed off every atlas, sex trafficking is rife, and poverty stricken Third World labourers are exploited in a country where slavery was only abolished in 1963. Which nation then offered him citizenship? Qatar , the headquarters of news channel Al-Jazeera. In his book The Confrontation, Lebanese born Walid Phares exposes this Doha based news channel as helping to foster jihad ideology. Of course even its milder English version brooks no criticism of Qatar ’s absolute monarchy, and is saturated with anti-Israel propaganda. What would Mr. Cohen say to that? In fact what would he say to the even more uncomfortable fact that Al-Jazeera has been praised by notorious American “designer look” neo-Nazi, the former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke who makes anti-Semitism look as American as apple pie and Huckleberry Finn, for breaking the alleged Jewish stranglehold over the media? Indeed Fuhrer Duke appeared on al-Jazeera’s talk show Without Borders spewing out how Mossad used its prior knowledge of 9/11 to ensure that Israelis escaped the World Trade Centre carnage. Such are the delightful friends MF Husain was associated with. The artist also thrived in India even after the lawsuits against him. Rather strange for someone who is somehow being persecuted? Also why did Husain wait until his twilight years before choosing to undertake exodus from the land of his birth where things were apparently so ‘dire’ that he made millions? His exile has more to do with suspicious business transactions, financial impropriety and money laundering schemes linked to his wealthy customers than him seeking political asylum. It is a line of investigation which once again Cohen is either ignorant of or deliberately ignores. After all does it not beg the question as to how many artists, for whom free expression is a non-negotiable facet of their often bohemian lifestyle, would wish to quit the world’s largest democracy known for its demographic diversity for the plastic, hedonistic and claustrophobic cartoon style Brave New World of the absolute monarchies which infest the Gulf region?

Cartoon Fairy - Fairy Things and More

A cartoon is described in the dictionary as being a ‘simple drawing showing the features of its subjects in a humorously exaggerated way’. Cartoons have evolved from their origins as preparatory drawings to satirical sketches in newspapers and periodicals in the 1800s, and more recently to an exaggerated representation of human life as shown by modern examples such as The Simpsons.

Although the satirical types of cartoons sketches do still exist, with controversy often surrounding the artist and subject matter, the term cartoon has evolved massively in the last 150 years. A cartoon means something completely different today as TV shows, films, advertisements and comics rely heavily on cartoon characters and the art of illustration in place of realistic drawings or life-like art.

Cartoons, as humorous drawings, originated in 1843 when satirist magazine, Punch, used the term to describe the sketches by artist John Leech. Leech’s Cartoon no. 1: Substance and Shadow, shows the first use of the term cartoon in relation to a humorous drawing or satirical sketch.

The political or humorous cartoon had been used for years previously, but Leech was the first to coin the phrase. As early as 1754, Benjamin Franklin created the drawing of a snake in various pieces with the caption ‘Join, or Die’ to encourage unity amongst the colonies prior to the French and Indian War. The use of editorial cartoons to promote a specific message originated in the early 1700s. Cartoons were often used to promote political or social awareness, as they would appeal to people of all levels of education with a simple message. An easy-to-understand message would prove invaluable as a persuasive tool and so posters and editorial cartoons would use cartoons with a strap-line create a brief, concise meaning.

The Franklin cartoon was the clever use of an iconic image with a single line to portray a strong message. This type of cartoon became regularly used in the 1900s when gag cartoons would be published in popular magazines including Punch and the New Yorker. One of the key artists, Peter Arno, is widely credited for inventing the gag cartoon when working for New Yorker magazine.

As well as the single-caption gag cartoon, comic strips became popular around this time. Comic Strips originated in the late 19th century in American newspapers. The difference between comic strips and the gag cartoons of the same era, is primarily that of length. The comic strip will tell a story in a series of images with text attached in speech-bubbles or captions.

The French & Indian War

The French and Indian War, Deciding the Fate of North America

The Americans

Encyclopedia of Journalism

The war that made America, a short history of the French and Indian War