Humour, friendship, politics: leaders reflect on laughter and respect

“A joke is a very serious thing,” Communist Marxist Party leader CP John said, inaugurating a panel discussion on ‘Humor in Politics’ (Rashtriyathile Chiri) at the fourth edition of the Kerala Legislative Assembly International Book Festival (KLIBF) organized by the Kerala Legislative Assembly here on Friday.

Moderated by presenter Nishanth MV, the session brought together Mr. John as well as politicians PK Basheer of the Indian Union Muslim League, K. Muraleedharan of the Congress and Pannian Raveendran of the Communist Party of India.

While recounting personal and historical events, they reflected on the evolution of humor, political correctness in jokes, the state of political friendships, and the impact of social media.

social consciousness

Commenting on the evolution of humor over time, Mr. John noted that many jokes that once evoked laughter often do not today. “In contemporary society, people tend to laugh, guided by their social consciousness.”

Emphasizing that humor is always present in politics, Mr. Muraleedharan recalled a funny incident when his father K. Karunakaran decided to suspend five Opposition MLAs. While he was reading the names, an Opposition leader snatched the paper. Anticipating the move, Mr. Karunakaran took out another piece of paper from his pocket and said humorously, “Don’t let them take my glasses too.”

Reminiscent of actor Sreenivasan, Mr. Ravindran pointed out how Sreenivasan’s humor encourages the audience not only to laugh but also to think, thus reinforcing the underlying idea. “The jokes we tell have to be closely tied to the topic we’re discussing; otherwise, what’s the point of a joke?”

their harmony

Although the panelists represent different political parties, they also drew attention to the close relationship between them.

Politicians in his father, P. Seethi Haji’s time, Mr. Basheer said, maintained a stable relationship across parties, going out to dinner and movies together, while maintaining close ties with each other’s families. “There are no such friendships anymore,” he said.

Emphasizing the harmful effects of social media on political relations, Muraleedharan described an incident when a photo taken while chatting with MP AA Rahim was published on the internet. This post caused malicious comments in the public. Such comments suggested that people with differing political ideologies should not speak to one another, he said, asking if it would not lead to loss of human ties.