‘Humour makes big problems look small and solvable’

When Anupam Debashis Roy first took the Internet by storm with his unassuming, funny, yet informative videos people started to flock to his page to know more. Anupam is so good at making these videos that his latest one on the national budget garnered more than 1.1 million views on Facebook just in five days. A student of social sciences Anupam is currently majoring in International Affairs/Economics and minoring in Political Science at Howard University in Washington DC, and he will spend the next semester at Columbia University studying politics, philosophy and the economics of land reform. Showtime reached out to the 20-year old political commentator to learn more about his views, passion and thoughts on different subjects.Why did you choose to make these videos and why did you choose to present them through comedy? Because, people would only listen to funny guys now. Serious is boring and often misleading whereas funny is often honest and direct. That is why people like Trump and I are gaining ground. But it’s a good thing because humour makes big problems look small and solvable. That optimism is very necessary to solve politics.

When my video is viewed more than a million times and only five people want to murder me, it feels awesome

Do you think you would have been able to make those videos living in the country?Yes, I do. There could be adversities, but I don’t believe that would be enough to silence me, or any other dissident. We have a lot more scope than Nur Hossain or Asad ever did. But we certainly have a lot less will and a lot less need at this time. [embed]https://www.facebook.com/AnupamDebashisRoy/videos/1269372276494814/[/embed]With the space for legitimate criticism rapidly narrowing do you think any meaningful dissent has to come from expats now? Did you feel any such obligation?I believe in the contrary. The space and demand for dissent is actually widening due to our political circumstances. No government ever “provides” a space for free speech, the people grant it for themselves. In Bangladesh right now, the people are choosing not to grant it to themselves at this time. However, I don’t think anybody has any obligation other than following their rational self interest. If keeping silent is more profitable, then why yap? But the absence of dissent from the people who have a lot to lose create the demand for dissent from people who don’t. And that is where a hobo undegrad like me comes in.Why is the government becoming increasingly intolerant to dissidents?Because it is a government. All governments are intolerant of dissidents. But most are limited by the strength of the people. In today’s Bangladesh, it is not rational for dissidents to show that strength since doing so may hurt their apparent personal financial wellbeing. This phenomenon is very common in countries that experience rapid economic growth on the back of foreign investment and aid. But the question is, what comes after the boom?What do you think about the government’s policy about public criticism in Bangladesh?Suppress it, silence it, pretend that it isn’t there: just like any other government in the world. This government’s policy is not anything out of the ordinary but the people’s response definitely is just oddly compliant.Walk us through your video making process: It’s been fun. There is an amount of research that goes into it, but that is what I do for a living. And it feels great when I see regular people share my posts with a personal anecdote about the price of onions in the markets and summarise my whole argument in the process. I love it when common people debunk conventional wisdom and prove that they can and will understand complex issues that affect their wellbeing, if only politicians don’t misdirect them with vague and fake words.Can you give us a quick rundown on what you think are the flaws in this year’s budget?This budget takes away from everybody and gives back to nobody. The rich is taxed through TDS and corporate tax while the poor is taxed through inflation and VAT. But the funds are not going to education or infrastructure, it is just going towards unproductive things like bank bailouts and pay raises for the bureaucrats. The budget helps nobody but those in power and those with access to power.What it is like producing videos on social media? Does public reaction influence you in any way?Yes, it does. When my video is viewed more than a million times and only five people want to murder me, it feels awesome. Such positive feedback lets me know that people want to see more of me and I like to be seen.Do you think your online activism will get noticed by the government? Policy will not be affected by some fat kid’s videos. We need an organised resistance at the grass-roots level for that. But it is unlikely for such things to come out of the internet since most online creators (like me) are motivated by instant gains through likes and shares and rarely want to put in enough time and effort to create organisations. Until we can overcome that barrier, we will never be impactful.How you know if a joke will work?I never know. And most of my jokes don’t work. I am terrible at comedy. But I am good at looking at things from the top and when I talk about politics through that long-shot lens, it automatically sounds comedic.What kind of political activity you see yourself doing in the future?I intend to work at the grass-roots level, organising and participating in social movements, rather than getting involved in electoral politics and I can’t imagine why being funny would not be a good skill to employ there.Who are your favourite political satirists?I am not sure if he was a ‘political’ satirist, but George Carlin is my favorite comedian of all time. Among the living, I like John Oliver and Lou Perez.