Agrima Joshua, a stand-up comedian, has had a tough couple of days. After a clip of one of her performances went viral on social media, she was greeted with tons of criticism and calls were made for her arrest. In the said video clip, the comic could be heard mocking the Shiv Smarak, the memorial dedicated to the legendary Hindu monarch Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
A lot of intriguing events transpired following the chain of events. She offered an apology through her Twitter account but it was not directed towards the people whose sentiments she had offended but political parties. She apologised to the NCP, Shiv Sena, the Congress party and the MNS. The whole saga was quite hilarious but unfortunately for the comedian, it was not intentional.
The apology might just be the highest point of her career as a comedian as until then, she was blaming the BJP for unleashing a legion of trolls on her. Agrima Joshua even tagged Aditya Thackeray and asserted that she was convinced that it was BJP supporters trolling her in the guise of Shiv Sena. The climax of the extended comedy was the apology, in which it was obvious that she had finally realised that it was not the ‘BJP trolls’ who were abusing her.
The apology also highlights the abject lack of integrity that such ‘Woke’ comedians suffer from. They constantly pontificate from their high horses about the need to oppose state power and denigrate those who share a favourable opinion of the current ruling dispensation at the center. They constantly claim that the government is fascist and has no respect for freedom of expression. This government, however, always is the central government led by PM Modi.
Their delusions are such that even when Agrima Joshua was being harangued by Shiv Sainiks, she proclaimed that these were BJP supporters in the guise of Shiv Sena men. It appears that the vandalism of the studio where she performed by MNS workers finally knocked some sense into her awfully thick skull.
A person with even an ounce of integrity would have conceded that she was wrong to blame the BJP for the trolls that were attacking her. A person with a shred of integrity would have admitted that she was wrong to accuse the BJP of being fascist as no BJP worker had ever attempted to vandalise studios she had performed in. A person with integrity would have stood by the values she advocated in times of distress because it’s only in times of distress that our values matter.
Everyone can advocate anything they want when it is easy. It’s only when there’s the very real threat of personal sacrifice that we can demonstrate our allegiance to the values we advocate. And the fact is, when such a moment came, Agrima Joshua chose abject surrender. She did not restrain herself to a perfunctory apology but made sure that she scrubbed the ground with her nose thoroughly to demonstrate how sorry she truly was.
Her conduct also demonstrates that for the woke secular-liberal brigade, only opposition to the central government is considered revolutionary. Opposing state governments and their atrocities does not excite them. It is for this reason that states with non-BJP governments get away with a reign of terror. Because these ‘comedians’ are actually terrified of hurting these leaders’ sentiments.
There is good reason for this. The central government is opposed only because the BJP is perceived to be a party that serves to protect Hindu interests. The ‘Woke’ camp is not averse towards regional chauvinism, caste chauvinism and chauvinism along ethnic or linguistic lines. It is only Hindutva that they are against and that is why the Maha Vikas Akhadi alliance government gets a free pass even when they commit atrocities while the BJP is demonised for crimes it did not even commit.
Thus, their ‘speaking truth to power’ is only for those occasions when Hindu interests can be undermined and Hindus can be demonised. The political parties that are perceived to not represent Hindu interests are given a free pass. Even Shiv Sena, until it was seen as a party of Hindutva, was opposed vehemently. The moment they took a so-called secular turn, all crimes were forgiven. Not just that, despite the fact that Maharashtra is the worst hit state amid coronavirus pandemic, the same ‘woke’ people are hailing the Thackeray government for brilliant management and controlling the infection.
It further confirms that the ‘Woke’ camp has no values apart from its morbid opposition towards Hinduism. Agrima Joshua would not have issued any apology for her insult of the Shiv Smarak if only the BJP was opposed to it. When she realised that her insult had angered the ones in power, she immediately grovelled before the ‘secular’ parties.
Going forward, it is to safe to say that Agrima Joshua will be careful not to offend the sensibilities of her ‘allies’ in the fight against ‘Hindutva fascism’. It does not matter that there is no fascism in this country and the opposition parties are the ones who have no respect for freedom of expression. But such minor compromises have to be made for the larger battle against Hinduism. Because the Woke brigade does not really care about FoE and opposing tyranny, their main goal is the obliteration of Hinduism and that alone.
