The call came late on Friday night. Government primary school teacher Saket Purohit was told that he had been suspended.
In a village 170 kilometres from Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri town, Purohit’s family had already seen the video. They had watched Purohit, a school teacher and in-charge of the local chapter of the state’s “Happiness Department” initiative, mimic Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cadence for a few seconds at a social gathering. He was suspended soon after the video went viral.
His father, a kathavachak — a reciter of religious stories from sacred texts — began to pray. His brother and sister-in-law, both teachers themselves, fell silent. “They think something will happen to me,” Purohit said, his voice steady but his words carrying the weight of a family’s fear. “They are scared for my life.”
Purohit, himself, is harder to rattle. “It is the people’s right to raise their voice,” he said.
“Teachers have the right to speak. In the last few years, I have seen that satire and comedy have restrictions,” he said, adding, “People are getting offended, and there is action on it.” After a pause, he continued, “If people have a fear of speaking out, then it’s their issue. I felt I should speak my mind.”
The video was from a gathering at the local Anand Bhawan, which comes under the Happiness Department, where Purohit chose to perform a mimicry act on the recent LPG supply crisis. “People come to entertain. Some sing, some act. I did a mimicry act,” he said.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.
