Norway’s Aftenposten, proudly ranked among the world’s “freest” newspapers, recently published a caricature of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi — seated cross-legged on a mat, playing a pungi flute, charming a snake drawn as a petrol pump nozzle.
We have seen this image before. Not in 2026. In 1826.
Let us be absolutely clear — this editorial takes no position on Narendra Modi’s politics. Whether you admire him or oppose him is your democratic right. But what Aftenposten published is not political commentary. It is a racial stereotype — one that colonial Europe used for two centuries to mock an entire subcontinent as primitive, exotic, and beneath serious regard.
The snake charmer is not a neutral symbol. It is the same brush that painted India as a land of rope tricks and mysticism while British ships carried away its gold, its grain, and its dignity. To reach for that image in 2026 — as a metaphor for how a nuclear-armed, space-faring democracy exercises power — is not clever satire. It is lazy bigotry.
India today lands spacecraft on the south pole of the Moon. Its engineers built the world’s largest vaccination drive. Its diaspora leads universities, hospitals, and technology companies across the Western world — including in Norway.
Yet when a European editor wants to make a point about Indian foreign policy, the image that comes to mind is a man on a mat with a snake.
That tells us nothing about India. It tells us everything about the editor.
Freedom of the press is a value this newspaper holds sacred. Satire of political leaders — any leaders — is legitimate and necessary. But there is a clear line between holding power to account and reaching for a colonial caricature to do it. Aftenposten crossed that line, and no amount of editorial freedom makes that acceptable.
We condemn it. Without reservation. And we call on Aftenposten to acknowledge what this image represents — not as a political concession, but as a basic act of human decency.
Punjab Express — Serving the Punjabi community with truth and pride.
