Loaded cartoon
Last week Headlines Today carried a Tom and Jerry-style cartoon mocking the rivalry between Nitish Kumar and chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi. In this “politoon,” Manjhi was depicted as a rat who gets the better of the Nitish cat, who made him CM thinking it a safe thing to do. Some responses on social media pointed out that Manjhi is a musahar, a poor caste often ridiculed for their rat-eating habits, and a cartoon like this further stereotypes the man and the community. Headlines Today, meanwhile, continues to telecast it, and surprise, surprise, there is little outcry over this casteist depiction.