Hasan Minhaj, the renowned American comedian known for his Netflix show "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj," has gained both fame and controversy for his unique brand of comedy, often intertwined with political and social commentary. Minhaj, who originally hails from India and practices Islam, has frequently incorporated his ‘desi’ identity into his comedic sketches. He has frequently commented on issues related to politics and India. However, recent revelations have shed light on his dark side: taking on the role of pseudo-journalism and blurring the lines between entertainment and journalism.
The Quest for Truth in Comedy
While comedy has always been a means of providing commentary on societal issues, it is increasingly apparent that many comedians including Hasan are stepping into the realm of journalism, albeit informally. While there is nothing wrong with this transition, it raises a significant ethical concern—truthfulness. In journalism, truth is the cornerstone, and journalists have a moral duty to provide accurate information to the public. This responsibility extends to comedians who wield considerable influence over their audiences.
A recent expose in The New Yorker has unveiled a troubling aspect of his comedy career—heavily relying on outright lies and exaggerations in his Netflix special, "The Patriot Act." These fabrications ranged from falsely claiming his daughter's hospitalization due to an anthrax attack to inventing stories about FBI infiltration in his local mosque. When confronted, Minhaj defended himself by referring to these stories as "emotional truths." However, the core issue remains—Hasan lied repeatedly, disregarding the importance of fact-checking before presenting his material. He sidestepped and ignored basic facts in order to create his shows. Crafting a narrative that revolves around a baby girl's encounter with a dangerous pathogen like anthrax brings forth significant ethical dilemmas. Such a story risks reducing females to mere pawns in advancing Minhaj's objectives, rather than upholding their autonomy and dignity. This situation serves as a disconcerting example of how some individuals, irrespective of gender, manipulate females in their own family for their personal or professional gains.
Although it might seem when watching one of his episodes that they are well researched and correct, in reality they are not. It would have been easier to just ignore him and his program if not for the comments by many prominent personalities to take his show on ‘Indian politics’ as a reference for their voting. His episodes are being shown as the answer to the increasingly biased and polarized media. While it is true that our media is not perfect, Hasan's poorly researched shows are the last thing that a person should use to get information from.
The "70-30 Formula" and Artistic Liberty
In an attempt to justify his creative approach, Hasan said that he uses the concept of a "70-30 formula," where 70% of a story is based on truth while 30% is pure exaggeration. While such creative liberties are acceptable in regular stand-up comedy, the problem arises when comedians like Minhaj focus on political and real-world events. Labeling this approach as "artistic liberty" can be seen as a veil for promoting personal agendas and political ideologies.
Anyone with a reasonable perspective who tunes into his programs for more than ten minutes can readily discern the evident promotion of certain viewpoints and a clear bias. The tone he struck in each and every instance was designed to act as if he was conveying the truth, whereas in reality he passed off these lies for his own story. Hasan has been honored with Webby and Peabody awards and has even been included in the Time 100 list of the most influential people. However, in light of recent revelations about his web of lies, the use of pure exaggeration to elicit sympathy, and selective coverage of global issues, one might question whether he truly deserves the platform to express his opinions, often laden with negativity, and create stories that seem to emerge solely from his imagination, all in the name of conveying 'Emotional Truths'.
Playing the Race card
According to a social media post from New York Times reporter Kellen Browning, who attended the same school as Minhaj(Davis High), Browning tried to write an article on Minhaj’s falsehoods for his high school newspaper. In a Special named ‘Homecoming King’, Hasan talked about the struggles that he has faced as an immigrant kid in the US. While the show beautifully highlights the problems faced by people of color in the US, the worst part is that our society is now less likely to believe the true stories of other immigrants and people of color, because Hasan, in his position of power and influence, lied about his own personal experiences.
He goes on to recount the story of his high school prom, where he expressed interest in a white girl who reciprocated his feelings, and they even shared a kiss. He further mentions how on the day they were supposed to go to prom together, the girl’s family refused him because of his color and how they had to send the pictures to their families and he wouldn’t ‘fit in’. This is an extremely sad event, but there’s a slight problem, it’s all a complete lie! And the worst part is that Hasan took her full name during the show and she was later tracked down and mentally harassed and threatened. Hasan was rejected days before the prom by the girl herself who just lost interest like every other teen love story. He never went to her house and was turned down. The girl in question later confronted him and Hasan downplayed the whole thing and didn’t even make an attempt to apologize. It is clear that Hasan is so obsessed with victimhood that he fails to realize that he has actually become the abuser.
Hasan: The Political Guru
Hasan Minhaj's foray into political commentary, particularly his analysis of Indian politics during the 2019 elections and the Pulwama attacks, is another example of his hypocrisy. His portrayal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi echoes the Western media's tendency to adopt a self-proclaimed moral high ground when discussing India. This bias is not limited to Westerners but is also prevalent among Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) who settled in the West but continue to criticize India from afar. No man is perfect and the honorable PM has himself welcomed criticism in order to maintain a healthy democracy. But, criticism that is based on lies is unacceptable. A simple Google search can quash half of the lies that are peddled by him on a regular basis.
In one episode of "The Patriot Act," Hasan Minhaj took aim at the politics of India, focusing on the 2019 elections and the Pulwama attacks. He conveniently ignored the broader context of terrorism and the sheltering of terrorists in Pakistan. The episode was an attempt to paint Prime Minister Modi in a negative light. Hasan conveniently ignored the deaths of dozens of soldiers because of a country that has openly sheltered terrorists that have attacked not just India but the US as well. Did he forget where Osama Bin Laden was killed? Did he forget about the deaths of innocents in the attacks of 9/11 and 26/11? Instead Hasan chose to make fun of a man who has done much more for his country than he ever did. He went as far as to compare PM Modi to Trump. And what was the basis of this comparison? A sequence of clips that showed both of them saying “America First” and “India First” respectively.
The complete episode was an attempt by him to portray Modi as someone who is destroying India and our democracy. And like any other Western media personality, Hasan also talked about the RSS. It seems that the proverb ‘Preach before you Teach’ is above the grasp of the Western mind. They conveniently use and throw ideals whenever it suits them. Poking fun at the size of RSS Karyakartas was a cheap shot. Practicing basic self defense and taking part in regular exercise is somehow wrong for the public that brandishes Guns in public and call themselves as the protectors of Self-Defense.
The absolute abuse of his position is apparent throughout the episode. He lied about PM Modi evicting 4 million Muslims, whereas it was a process undertaken under the watchful eyes of the Supreme Court of India to remove illegal migrants who had entered India illegally and were living on lands that obviously didn’t belong to them. Perhaps now we know why Hasan called them “Illegal Migrants”. He did that to make the topic relatable to the American public who are divided on the topic of illegal migration from their bordering countries and thus gain the sympathy of the American left. Hasan has also sparked controversy by making a statement about yoga, suggesting he refrains from practicing it because of its Hindu origins. Millions of people from various religions and societies practice but once again Hasan showed the world how regressive his thought process actually is. Practicing Yoga doesn’t make one a Hindu the same way playing Cricket doesn’t make us British.
The hypocrisy of Hasan Minhaj is well known but it becomes even more obvious when his selective criticism comes to light. Hasan has time and again made fun of Hindu practices. But as much as he would like to call himself a secular progressive, we all know that he isn’t. Every religion faces its own challenges and as a well-educated follower of Islam who wields significant influence and ability to tell the stories of the untold, Hasan could’ve used his platform to help millions of fellow Muslims who face persecution because of abuse of power by their clerics. He was silent on Female Genital Mutilation in Africa and the Middle East. In his episode about India, he was quick to point out how PM Modi is destroying Indian democracy and abuses the rights of Indian Muslims, but he never pointed out how the Triple Talaq bill introduced by the same government has liberated millions of Muslim women from the constant fear of being given divorce by just saying talaq three times. Something that the modern Left has forgotten is that being a progressive doesn’t mean disrespecting non-abrahamic religions and the gifts that they’ve given to the world.
Now who’s the racist?
Allegations of mistreatment of ‘women-of-color’ at the sets of the ‘Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj’ have now surfaced on social media. The women who had previously worked on the show have chosen to come forward with their stories of mistreatment.
Now, consider this Ellen DeGeneres the famous talk show host also faced similar allegations recently. Numerous articles were written and Ellen was widely criticized and canceled online as she should have. But, that did not happen in the case of Hasan. Why? That’s because the left loves him. He is educated, wealthy, a Muslim and progressive, at least he portrays himself as a progressive in public life. His show Patriot Act was canceled by Netflix recently for unknown reasons. Minhaj has also claimed that he was not permitted to enter the Howdy Modi in Houston, Texas because of his views on PM Modi. However, it was later revealed that he had not registered himself for the event as a media personality and hence he could not enter the venue with a camera. He was instead offered a seat in the audience but he refused that. Hasan likes to talk about his “desi” qualities, if only he had inculcated the Indian habit of punctuality as well. It is clear how frequently Hasan resorts to lying whenever it is convenient for him and as a media personality and a person who likes to play journalist on Netflix, he should do better.
Conclusion
Hasan Minhaj's journey from stand-up comedy to political commentary has exposed the complex relationship between comedy, truth, and the responsibilities that come with a position where one can influence millions and change their lives. While humor can be a powerful tool for social commentary, it should not come at the cost of factual accuracy and ethical responsibility. Minhaj's case serves as a reminder that even in the realm of entertainment, the pursuit of truth should never be sacrificed for the sake of personal agendas or political ideologies. As audiences, we must remain discerning and critical, holding comedians and public figures accountable for the information they present, regardless of their religious identity.
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Well written..Facts brought to light..appreciate the content👏👏