Hasan Minhaj is right. His detractors are also (far) right

Demonetisation. Pulwama. Jobs. Lynching. Narendra Modi. Rahul Gandhi. Yogi Adityanath.

And much more.

Indian-origin American comedian Hasan Minhaj has managed to provide an apparently fun-filled 30-minute umbrella show to address all one needs to know ahead of India’s 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

'Apparently', because the joke is on India, as he rightly said.

A section of the Indian audience has not taken this 'take-down' in good humour. They want Netflix to pull this episode out. They must have heard that Netflix did the same when Saudi Arabia opposed Hasan Minhaj's episode on Jamal Khashoggi.

Well, that was what Hasan was apprehensive about.

Now, in this 30-minute show, Minhaj decimated a number of stereotypes.

Like, 1. NRIs don’t know anything about Indian politics — Hasan has researched a lot for the show. He knows that we know that he knows. His stuff.

2. All NRIs are Modi-supporters — Hasan Minhaj is absolutely not one. 

3. Comedy is equal to Modi-bashing — Hasan equally bashed the Congress, the West's perception of India, Donald Trump, etc.

4. All those who talk about Indian politics (read: against Modi) are killed — Well, he is alive and tweeting funny videos of how he stumped Congress MP Shashi Tharoor with cool, millennial English words. 

Minhaj talked about the Congress and the 2G scam. He also talked to Congress' Shashi Tharoor, who, with his characteristic candour, said that in India, no party has any monopoly over virtues or vices (corruption).

In another place, Tharoor said voters get the leaders they deserve.

So yes, the joke is actually on us, the voters.

But, if you haven’t found yourself laughing your lungs out during those 30 minutes, you have company.

Because Hasan's a bit behind on a few things. Like, we already know that Pakistan has brought charges of eco-terrorism against India for apparently destroying trees in Balakot. Non-Indians may roll about on the floor laughing. But for us Indians, it's an old joke already.

If US President Donald Trump is a tugger (because of the way he pulls people while shaking their hands), Narendra Modi is a hugger (because of his iconic hugs). Yes, we laughed at that.

But Modi-fans didn’t like the comparison.

For them, Hasan had a word of advice at the end — we don't need nuclear wars between India and Pakistan to prove our nationalism. For that, we have cricket. 

So yes, the message is not of a harsh divide, dear Minhaj-haters. He mostly asked us to vote wisely (though he was not mentioned in PM Narendra Modi's tweets). 

But he failed to destroy one stereotype. 

The West, like its movies, sees India as a country filled with dirt and filth — from its streets to politics. And it laughs out loud hearing about Yogi Adityanath — a monk, apparently, with a gun.

Really, America? Funny, that?

Also Read: Hey New York Times, Pulwama was not an ‘explosion’, just like 9/11 wasn’t 'a plane crash'