Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde has likened stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra’s jibe at him to “taking supari (contract) to speak against someone” and stressed the importance of maintaining decorum in satire.
At a BBC Marathi event in Mumbai on Tuesday, Shinde said: “Freedom of speech is there. We understand satire. But there should be a limit. This is like taking ‘supari’ (contract) to speak against someone. This same person (Kamra) had commented on the Supreme Court of India, the Prime Minister, (TV anchor) Arnab Goswami and some industrialists. This is not freedom of speech... this is working for someone.”
An undated video of Kamra’s stand-up comedy show Naya Bharat at The Habitat in Mumbai had gone viral on Sunday. In the video, Kamra had sung a parody of a song from Dil Toh Pagal Hai, apparently referring to Shinde as a “gaddar” (traitor) for splitting the Shiv Sena at the behest of the BJP.
Cadres of Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction went on a rampage and vandalised the studio inside The Unicontinental hotel.
Asked about the vandalism, Shinde said: “The other person should also maintain a certain level. Otherwise, action causes reaction…. I do not justify vandalism.”
Kamra’s video had been viewed 45.6 lakh times on his YouTube channel till the time this report was filed. His channel has also received a flurry of donations in different currencies. YouTube allows channels with more than 500 subscribers to receive donations through its Super Thanks facility.
PTI quoted an unnamed police officer as saying that Kamra, who lives in Tamil Nadu, has been called to Mumbai’s Khar police station. He has been booked for public mischief and defamation.
Kamra has reportedly sought a week’s time to appear before the police and refused to apologise for his remarks.
NDTV quoted Kamra as saying that he had received at least 500 threat calls. “All the calls are only from Shiv Sena workers. I have not received even a single call from BJP workers. I think even the BJP does not like Mr Shinde,” he said.
BJP MLAs in Maharashtra, including chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, have publicly condemned Kamra.
In an interview with ANI, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said: “Freedom of expression cannot be used to attack. It is unfortunate that some people consider freedom of speech as their birthright to divide the country and further deepen divisions.”
Kangana vs Hansal
Filmmaker Hansal Mehta, who was publicly assaulted by the undivided Shiv Sena in 2000 and forced to apologise for a single line of dialogue in his 1997 film Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar, spoke out in support of Kamra.
“What happened with Kamra is, sadly, not new to Maharashtra. I’ve lived through it myself,” Mehta wrote on X.
When X users asked him about his silence on the demolition of actress and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut’s property by the Shiv Sena-led BMC in 2020, he replied: “Was her house vandalised? Did goons enter her premises? Did they do this to challenge her freedom of expression or for alleged FSI violations?”
Ranaut retorted: “Don’t try to sell your dumb lies and agendas here in the matters related to my ordeals, stay out of it.”
