Mamata Banerjee Funny Speech
Skye Severy
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, quite uncharacteristically, reshared a post on X which contained an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated meme video. The post was originally put up by an X user who goes by the handle @Atheist_Krishna. "Like all of you, I also enjoyed seeing myself dance. Such creativity in peak poll season is truly a delight! #PollHumour," the Prime Minister captioned his post while resharing the video.
Earlier, the handle @Atheist_Krishna, in a clear reference to West Bengal police sending a notice to a person for uploading an AI generated meme video of WB CM Mamata Banerjee, wrote in the caption, "Posting this video cuz I know that 'THE DICTATOR' is not going to get me arrested for this."
It looked like a day of political memes as earlier, a similar video featuring West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the background remix featuring words from her old funny speech "Ramba ramba", elicited a different response from the West Bengal Police. A notice was sent to the user who shared the video on X.
The Cyber Police Station, Kolkata, issued a notice over the AI-generated meme and asked the user to delete the post. The police also directed the user to refrain from sharing such posts. The police also said that strict penal action will be taken under the relevant provision of the law against the user if the post is not deleted.
The fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared the video on the same day as a similar video on WB CM Mamata Banerjee went viral and was in the news was not lost on X users. A number of handles took to the social media platform and discussed the "dictator" charge hurled at PM Modi.
The timing of PM Modi sharing the meme also led to questions if the Prime Minister was taking a veiled jibe at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during elections. The caption by the user whose post PM reposted and commented on was clearly aimed at the West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee's viral video on PM Modi and dictatorship.
Kolkata: An artificial intelligence (AI)-generated meme video of West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mamata Banerjee has gone viral on the internet. The meme video showed Mamata Banerjee entering a stage and dancing on a remix made using her funny speech. The video was shared on the social media platform X and is being widely shared and viewed on social media. The Cyber Crime Division of the Kolkata Police also reacted to the viral video.
The funny meme video was shared on social media on Saturday (May 4) and has garnered many views after being shared. The video has garnered over 20k views, and it has also been widely shared on social media.
The Cyber Crime Division of the Kolkata Police reacted to the funny post and asked the social media user to reveal his true identity. The Kolkata Police said, "You are directed to immediately disclose your identity, including name and residence. If the information sought is not revealed, you shall be liable for legal action u/s 42 CrPC. Cyber PS, Lalbazar, Kolkata."
The user has shared an image of the notice he received for sharing the post on social media. He said, "Kolkata Police is giving notices just for posting memes on Mamata Banerjee. Those who say there is no democracy under BJP government in India, they should sometimes visit West Bengal. So much Freedom of Speech in Bengal!!"
The Cyber Police Station, Kolkata, issued the notice and asked the user to delete the post; the police also directed the user to refrain from such acts. The police also said that strict penal action will be taken under the relevant provision of the law against the user if the post is not deleted.
During a debate at the Oxford Union on 28 May 2015, the Indian Member of Parliament, diplomat and writer Shashi Tharoor delivered a speech supporting the motion "Britain owes reparations to her former colonies". Tharoor was the seventh speaker in the debate, the final speaker from the proposition, and spoke for about fifteen minutes. While criticising the opposition, he argued that British colonial rule damaged the Indian economy.
Tharoor began his speech by arguing that the economic progress of Britain from the 18th-century onwards was financed by the economic exploitation and deindustrialisation of British India. He cited other negative effects of colonial rule on India, such as famines and the mandatory contribution of Indians toward the British war effort during the First and Second World Wars. Tharoor argued that supposed benefits of British colonialism, such as railways and democracy, were either constructed for the purposes of furthering economic exploitation or devised by Indians themselves. He ended his speech by suggesting that Britain pay one pound sterling per annum for the next two centuries as symbolic reparation. The side in favour of the motion won, with 185 votes to 56.
Once the debate was uploaded onto YouTube, Tharoor's speech went viral, especially in India.[a] The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's brief comments on the debate were seen as endorsing reparations from the British by some commentators. Several responses to the speech were subsequently published; these included charges of hypocrisy and criticism of Tharoor's claims. Tharoor wrote the non-fiction work Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India (2017), expanding upon the arguments in his speech.
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to as the Oxford Union or the Union, was formed in 1823 as a debating society in Oxford, England.[4] Life membership is paid-for and restricted to students and alumni at the University of Oxford,[5] though students at Oxford Brookes University and several other educational institutions in the city can pay for membership for the duration of their studies.[6] Though most students purchase life membership upon arriving at the university, few regularly attend debates; the society has been described as not figuring "very prominently in the life of the average Oxford undergraduate".[7]
Soon after its foundation, members realised that debating popular and controversial topics would help to ensure the society's survival. One of the most significant debates concerned the motion "That the present ministry is incompetent to carry on the government of the country". Taking place in 1831, it established the Union's reputation for engaging with topical political issues and nurturing the oratorical skills of future politicians; a young William Ewart Gladstone was offered a seat in parliament because of his performance in that debate. During the 19th and early 20th century, the national press often reported on controversial Union debates,[4] most prominently the "King and Country" debate of 1933. Despite concerns over the society's elitism, in 2007 The Guardian noted that "if most students care little about the Union ... the rest of the world certainly does, and always has done".[7] It continues to attract a diverse range of speakers, including politicians, singers, sportspersons, scientists and actors.[8]
Shashi Tharoor is an Indian politician, diplomat and writer who serves as a Member of Parliament in the House of the People of the Indian Parliament,[9] having formerly been the Under-Secretary General of the United Nations.[10] In an interview with Elle in 2017, Tharoor described his debating career at St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi; participating in debates from his first year onwards, he said that he went to compete at Hindu College, Lady Shri Ram College and the Delhi School of Economics.[11] Also a best-selling author, he wrote a quiz for BuzzFeed in which readers were able to test their vocabulary against his.[12]
We have recently seen former colonies demanding reparations for centuries of abuse: from the Mau Mau survivors in Kenya to descendants of slaves in the Caribbean. David Cameron made controversial remarks on the issue in Amritsar; William Hague said outright that there should be no post-colonial guilt; and Ken Livingstone gave a heartfelt apology for London's role in the slave trade. Do British politicians owe more than just their words?
Guests invited to speak for the proposition included the Jamaican politician Aloun Ndombet-Assamba, Ghanaian economist George Ayittey[b] and Tharoor.[13][9] The opposition included the English politician Sir Richard Ottaway, Scottish historian John M. MacKenzie and American historian William Roger Louis.[14] Student speakers included Henna Dattani and Ssuuna Golooba-Mutebi (for the proposition), and Alpha Lee (against the proposition).[15] Tharoor was the seventh speaker in the debate, the final speaker from the proposition, and was allotted eight minutes to make his speech.[c][15] The debate was scheduled to be held on 28 May 2015 at 8:30 p.m.[14]
Arguments in favour of the proposition began with the first speaker, Dattani, who argued that reparations "go far beyond cash payments" and were "centred on recognising past injustices and redressing the moral imbalance brought on by colonisation".[15] Golooba-Mutebi, the second speaker for the proposition and the third to speak, pre-empted claims that the British colonisation of Africa was carried out to provide modern infrastructure; calling this "fallacious", he noted the existence of "languages, kingdoms and intellectuals" in Africa prior to colonisation.[15]
Ottaway, arguing for the opposition, said that it was impossible to quantify reparations. He argued that demands for reparations were part of an "inferiority complex" among formerly colonised countries: "to ask today's tax payers to finance reparations to the free citizens of independent states merely assuages at 21st century guilt". His speech was interrupted by an attendee claiming that Ottaway's rejection of claims for reparation was part a "superiority complex" that "allowed colonialism and imperialism to happen in the first place".[17]
The next speaker from the proposition, Ndombet-Assamba, gave examples of non-monetary forms of reparation, based on the 10 point plan for reparatory justice proposed by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).[d][15] Making his speech after Dattani, Golooba-Mutebi and Ndombet-Assamba, Tharoor was the seventh speaker in the debate.[15] During Ottaway's speech, two students raised a poster with the words: "Who will speak for ME? #RhodesMustFall"; across the room, another two students held a banner, on which was inscribed "Brutality should not be DEBATED". A doorman attempted to remove the protestors, but they were allowed to stay when it was confirmed that they were not violating the Union's rules.[15]