Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj (created by Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam) was a marvellous addition to the talk show genre back in 2018. In a format similar to Last Week Tonight with JohnOliver , Minhaj provides a crash course on contentious issues, laced with tongue-in-cheek humour and eye-grabbing visuals that aid his frenetic storytelling style.
Minhaj’s most powerful episode yet followed the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi — a critic of the Saudi Arabia government who was found dead in the Saudi embassy in Istanbul.
But his March episode about the Indian general elections continues to trend. It begins with family members of Minhaj warning him against speaking about the elections, and why his Muslim identity could magnify the possibility of him having an ulterior motive. “You’re may be… a Pakistani agent,” a concerned aunt says, not ironically. In the longest Patriot Act episode yet (clocking at 29 minutes), Minhaj takes on an improbable task — to encapsulate the state of democracy in India.
Minhaj spares no one. From right-wing ideology-spouting news channels that hold irrational debates resulting in comical shouting matches, to the reputation of the Congress party, responsible for several scams that led to them being ousted five years ago, from the growing communal hatred under the leadership of the current government, to finding parallels between prime minister Narendra Modi and US president Donald Trump — he performs a fine balancing act. It’s important to note that Minhaj is primarily addressing Americans, which warrants the exposition an Indian audience wouldn’t need.
And yet, it’s that very facet that makes the episode intriguing. How would a neutral audience react to the discovery that a former godman (or, as Minhaj refers to him, “a monk with a gun”) was appointed chief minister of Uttar Pradesh? Or that citizens get lynched over their preference for a specific kind of meat? The feeling is similar to finding out about the atrocities of an Arab prince — you’re amazed that something as heinous goes unchecked in another part of the world, but you’re secretly glad it’s not happening in your own country.
In 2014, after the BJP swept the polls, John Oliver touched on similar talking points in an episode that drove Indian netizens into a tizzy, because we weren’t fortunate enough to find similar nuance among homegrown comics and satirists then (the Indian comedy scene has slightly grown in stature since).
Minhaj’s takedown comes at a more crucial juncture. What was a possibility five years ago is a reality now, and the fate of the country — literally — hangs in the balance.
Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj is streaming on Netflix.
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