A state that silences comics is an insecure and juvenile state.

In his 1900 book Le Rire (Laughter), the philosopher Henri Bergson describes laughter and humor as a tool to correct “socially inconvenient” attitudes. We laugh at rigidity and inflexibility so that we can evolve. Laughter is a means to survive as a society. 

Where a fascist state rules by weaponizing fear, humor disarms it. Satire is searing. It’s powerful not simply because it burns, but because the burn lingers. It can instantly scorch layers of ancient ignorance, manipulation, fabricated realities, and longstanding beliefs. Satire’s observations can never be unseen.

And so, satire has always been revolutionary—it’s a one-way ticket to the truth. 

A state that silences its comics is afraid not only of satire’s excoriating nature, of being exposed by its cold glare, but also of the unity it engenders among those who get the joke, against those the joke is on. To laugh at a joke means that we (the laughers) see what the joke-teller sees. Humor creates intimacy—it allows for a moment of shared perspective, a shared point of view, a meeting of minds. 

Naturally, the Indian state targeted The Savala Vada’s Instagram account over the weekend.  Perhaps India’s most biting satirist today, The Savala Vada has nailed down that pitch-perfect mix of memes and jokes that exposed the rotten core of local and global geopolitics, the states and lackeys, in all their absurd, gaslighting, narcissistic glory. 

At The Polis Project, we are irreverent of power. We are not merely a platform for dissenters and critics; we are an incubator of their thought and work. We are the home of The Savala Vada’s bi-weekly column, because we cultivate—not extract—the potency of their radical political imagination.

Over the past few months with us, The Savala Vada has been able to create scenarios and universes that have mirrored the dystopian times we live in, from chronicling a bromance love triangle between Musk, Trump, and an often-on-the-outside Modi, to creating new plotlines for TV shows like “White Lotus: Lakshadweep”, and “Operation Sindoor.” 

In fact, their piece titled “India Launches Ministry of Comedic Affairs” was so remarkable at exposing the Orwellian Indian government’s persecution of comedians, that our Instagram was flooded with people asking us if this was real reportage. A part of me truly believes that there is some legislator in Delhi kicking themselves for not thinking of the “One Nation, One Comedy Act” before The Savala Vada did.

As an editor, I often think about the relationships we nurture with the writers who put themselves, and their names, on the line for the story. Especially as we witness the ease with which once-eminent institutions abandon their own—from universities to media houses. 

At Polis, we stand in solidarity with all our contributors, whose work we are grateful to shape and host.

Together with The Savala Vada, we will continue to harness humor to hurl back at the state. You can find all their columns and future work for us here. The archive of their memes is available here.

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