India takes down satire page The Savala Vada

June 21, 2025 by News Desk

The popular Instagram satire account The Savala Vada, followed by over 85,000 users for its biting political humour and mock-newspaper style memes, has been withheld in India following a legal request. The creators say the move is yet another sign of India’s shrinking space for dissent and humour.

“Sup, we just got banned from the world’s largest democracy,” the account posted on X, alongside hashtags like #MotherOfDemocracy and #NotSatire.

Run by a 22-year-old creator from Kerala and a small group of university students, The Savala Vada gained a cult following online for its irreverent takes on national politics, caste, communalism, and the media.

The message now displayed on their Instagram page reads “Account withheld in India. This is because we complied with the legal request to restrict this content.”

Reacting through their backup page, the creators mocked the move, “The Republic of India has finally vanquished Public Enemy #1: a meme page run out of a hostel dorm.”

They added that as India battles constitutional crises, caste violence, media bias, and humanitarian issues, the state has made clear what its real priority is: taking down a satire page, “If the government can find time to tell a social media company to take down a meme page, it surely has its priorities in order,” they said.

“Chhota Bheem fans worldwide reel from the shock as The Savala Vada discovers that the digital ecosystem is as sacred as the casteist ground it mocks.”

The group also issued a public challenge to the authorities,“Tell us which joke hurt your feelings. The least we deserve is to know which meme rattled the Ministry of Unfunny.”

In a sharper jibe at right-wing groups, they quipped, “Do you have a job posting in your beloved parents’ organisation of the Short Khaki Pants brigade?”

The Savala Vada launched in July 2023 as a response to what its founder described as growing “disillusionment with mainstream Indian media,” which, he told Al Jazeera, often parrots ruling party narratives and sidelines voices critical of the Modi government.