Chittaprosad’s unflinching critique was not limited to any government or political party. In this caricature, we see a figure dressed in a kurta, a cap and what was popularly dubbed the Nehru coat, after the Prime Minister’s affinity for the garment—the iconic attire of Congress politicians. He is crouched protectively, over a flag with the symbol of the Praja Socialist Party, while a national flag bearing goon staves off a crowd of protestors demanding unity, land, jobs, wages, food etc. Many communists like the artist, were very critical of the leftist PSP and saw them as lackeys of the Congress party, who they dubbed as collaborators of the bourgeois or the landed class. Although this cartoon represents a view that aligns with the Communist party’s, Chittaprosad became disillusioned with the party and distanced himself from it later in life. His main loyalty, throughout his life and work was to the working class and their rights.

Chittaprosad meticulously documented political developments in India that had an impact on the poor. This image seems to suggest the authorised massacre by men in uniform of those less privileged. Decked in symbols of power, the many armed aggressor reminds one of characters from Indian myths. The weaponry in his hands is indicative of technological superiority, while the people he shoots down are armed with only words and dissent. The hoisted flag suggests that the many ‘arms’ of the State, instead of performing their duties to the people, are violently suppressing claims for basic rights such as food, wages, employment, and even the right to live by the masses. The protesting figures are drawn in a manner typical of social realism whereas the oppressor has exaggerated features that makes his aggression visually potent.

Chittaprosad’s political cartoons fearlessly spoke truth to power. His works often criticised collusion between powerful people—between politicians, capitalists and industrialists. A man dressed in the traditional attire of elite Indian politicians, the dhoti-kurta, along with a royal cape, saber, and staff, all symbols of monarchy, leads a procession. The burly umbrella bearer, while dressed in a grass skirt, wears a top hat and smokes a cigar—symbols often associated with class privilege. The cape-bearers all wear the recognisable politicians’ cap, while wearing similar grass skirts. The axes they wield would be familiar to anyone in the 1940’s as the symbol of the fascists in Italy. The artist uses stark contrast as a tool by dressing the characters in ‘exotic’ and incongruent pieces of clothing to subtly express that in a democracy, when privilege and brute-force become protectors of those in power, elected representatives begin to resemble autocratic rulers of a puppet state.

A man in tattered suit thrashes a book titled ‘People’s War’ with a stump labelled ‘UP Ban’. This cartoon appeared in the Communist Party of India’s (CPI) official publication, ‘People’s War’, on 17 June 1945 as a response to the ban on publications such as itself issued by the Government of United Provinces to quell dissent. The supporting article stated that opposition parties, the CPI and the Congress, had unitedly condemned this ban. Chittaprosad had contributed many such caricatures to this weekly newspaper which had become a powerful tool of parallel reportage and a means of rousing masses against the injustices of colonial rule. Here, Chittaprosad uses the scraps of torn pages to draw our attention to controversial newspaper headlines that necessitate censorship by a corrupt government. A dhoti-kurta clad stout Indian with a fistful of money hovering in the background seems to be in cahoots with our brutal antagonist.

Chittaprosad devised a narrative style to render powerful images of dissent of the oppressed masses denouncing the ruling class. A number of his caricatures address the dire issue of food shortage experienced by people after Independence. A crippled economy and infective government policies worsened the food shortage in the face of an influx of refugees. Eventually, the Nehruvian government imposed the system of ration cards, which did not do much to improve the situation. In this illustration Chittaprosad depicts towering stacks of food supply shrouded in illegitimacy, with a board sarcastically announcing, ‘Everything sold here without ration card’. A man dressed in a kurta, Nehru coat, and cap, tries to reveal such a blatant act of hoarding but is aggressively stopped by a policeman, who seems to be in alliance with the conniving character who smirks at them as he tries to pull the shroud back on.

The rampant food shortage faced by people in the wake of partition and independence worsened due to the evils of the black-market, despite Prime Minister Nehru’s strong anti-corruption stance and proclamation that the corrupt hoarders and profiteers shall be hanged. Chittaprosad, who had borne witness to the horrors of the Bengal famine of 1943, held Nehru accountable for the inability of the government in controlling the situation. The economy was in tatters following de-industrialisation by the British, yet new-age capitalists, industrialists, and politicians were busy guarding vested interests. Here, the artist addresses the issue of government circulation of disinformation on the negative impact of hoarding and profiteering on food supply. He depicts a wobbly man staggered by the blatantly false information spread to fool commoners. A stout member of the ruling party smirks as he walks away after pasting a propaganda poster that tries to spread incorrect statistics.