A Bengali artist duo’s socio-political cartoons have been banned in India, though their accounts remain active

A Bengali artist duo’s socio-political cartoons faced a ban in India, though their accounts are still active. Some of his most viewed posts, which had over millions of views, were removed from Instagram in India, leaving the artist in doubt over the trigger of the ban.

Artists who run Instagram pages’almost_bobby’ And ‘Bob_Almost’recently informed his followers that many of his animated videos have become inaccessible in India following legal requests from law enforcement officials.

The two took to social media on Monday (February 2) to share the news with their followers. He used humor to document the ban and wrote, “It feels good that our art reached this level Correct People (iykyk – if you know you know). It sucks that now you all have to book international flights to see some of our work.

Still from one of the videos that was banned. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Over the years, Bob (Sushrutha Mukherjee) and Bobby (Saswata Mukherjee), painters, filmmakers and animators by profession, are twin brothers from Kolkata who have spoken on many social issues through their art. They often resort to satire and humor in their stories to shed light on burning issues in society.

Bob explained, “Not sure what caused it. All the videos were about fictional characters. If you noticed, the characters looked completely different from any living person, with different hairstyles and appearances.” The Hindu Following posts on social media about the ban.

When asked if artistic expression was becoming increasingly difficult in the current socio-political climate, Bobby said, “We made harmless animated shorts on fictional characters, without mentioning any real names or places. And they were banned.”

The artists also highlighted the growing trend of being apolitical in society and art forms. However, “I think it’s because as a society we’ve forgotten that questioning authority is a normal thing in a functioning democracy,” Bobby said.

Both said they had received threats before, but neither of them had been banned on social media and this was their first encounter with a ban.

Despite the ban on their work, the artists reiterated that they will continue to create art and have created backup social media accounts to archive their work in case further action is taken against their primary accounts.

Ban notification artists were revived. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

cartoon attack

There has been a long battle between artists and those in power over the censorship of cartoons. Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi was arrested in 2012 for his cartoon series, which satirized corruption. His arrest sparked widespread protests as many saw it as an attack on freedom of expression.

Veteran cartoonist Manjul, better known as Manjul Toons, faced similar issues when, in 2025, police asked Both the posts were critical of the Mamata Banerjee government. Manjul has faced many similar issues over the years.

Not only making cartoons, but also sharing them often lands people in trouble. Ambikesh Mohapatra, a chemistry professor at Jadavpur University, was arrested in 2012 for forwarding a cartoon that allegedly showed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in a negative light. Professor Mohapatra fought a long battle of 11 years and was finally acquitted in 2023.