Indian Stand up comedians and the art of displaying convenient ignorance

Aisi Taisi Democracy (left), Atul Khatri (right)

The stand-up comedy scene is relatively new in India as compared to the West, but within its short span of existence, it has managed to get infested by supposed comedians, who either knowingly or unknowingly given the art a bad image.

We had earlier pointed out how some of these so-called comedians have been seen showing more interest in spreading political propaganda comprising of lies and fear-mongering, all the while being claiming to be ‘neutral’. This propaganda also extends to hurling insensitive insults almost exclusively against Hindus.

While a section of these comedians is more than ready to dole out a heavy dosage of almost unfair criticism, some of them are overtly reluctant to receive it back and resort to threatening their critics, to stifle dissent.

Apart from displaying intolerance and an almost obsessive knack for propaganda, the Indian stand up comedy has now been tainted by the convenient ignorance displayed by some so-called comedians.

The comedy troupe named Aisi Taisi Democracy – whose member Sanjay Rajoura is well known for threatening people after being triggered, today posted a tweet attacking the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan:

https://twitter.com/AisiTaisiDemo/status/991532262540820480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
As per the so-called comedy group, the Modi government’s flagship Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a flop as 14 of the world’s most polluted cities are in India. While the pollution levels in the country are certainly concerning, it would be malicious to attack the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan for it as it has been envisioned to tackle sanitation and waste management, as pointed out by Twitter user Spaminder Bharti.

The lack of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’s jurisdiction when it comes to air pollution is also proven by the fact that TERI has been calling for a clean air mission along the lines of the said government scheme.

This wasn’t the only recent instance when the so-called comedians had overlooked basic facts to possibly further their agenda. Just yesterday, a comedian known as Atul Khatri had tried to take on newly appointed Tripura CM Biplab Deb, but displayed his lack of general knowledge in the process:

Supposed comedian Atul Khatri. Screenshot via

Here it can be seen that Khatri wasn’t aware of Biplab Deb being the Chief Minister of Tripura and not Arunachal Pradesh. He later deleted the tweet, but it wasn’t before people took a screenshot and lampooned him for his ignorance:

https://twitter.com/GappistanRadio/status/991403653771735041?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/VishakhaJ18/status/991401935667417088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/Category5Moron/status/991525197508464640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
With such traits being displayed by some of our Desi stand up comedians, it raises the question whether they resort to such agenda peddling because of their ulterior motives, or simply because of their inability to be funny at a regular basis.

OpIndia Staff: Staff reporter at OpIndia