Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi and Kunal Kamra.
Mumbai, Maharashtra: The Mumbai Police has served audience members who attended comedian Kunal Kamra’s stand-up show titled Naya Bharat at The Habitat on February 2 for his alleged remarks on Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, reported The Times of India.
Slamming the police action and condemning it, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi took to her X handle and wrote, “Feel sorry for what Mumbai Police has been reduced to because one coward neta’s ego is hurt.”
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The newspaper also quoted IPS and lawyer YP Singh, who highlighted that summoning audience members was not mandatory, as there is also electronic evidence available.
On Monday, Kamra mocked the authorities for visiting his Mahim residence, claiming that he had not even lived there for the last 10 years. He also posted a photo of him standing at his current residence in Tamil Nadu.
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The Mumbai Police sent out two notices to Kamra dated March 25 and 26 summoning him to appear at the Khar police station to record his statement. However, Kamra moved the Madras High Court, which granted him interim bail till April 7.
On March 23, Kamra dropped his latest stand-up show, Naya Bharat, where he took a dig at the country’s politics. During the act, he performed several satirical songs, out of which one particular parody song, inspired from the song ‘Bholi Si Surat’ from the 1997 blockbuster Dil To Pagal Hai, triggered Shiv Sena workers, who claimed that Karma had called Deputy CM Shinde a “traitor”.
Soon, Shiv Sainiks vandalised The Habitat, a popular venue for artists of all kinds, and threatened the comedian with dire consequences. Shinde indirectly defended the party workers’ vandalism and said, “Freedom of speech is there, but there should be a limit.”
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In his first statement since the political uproar, Kamra stood his ground and refused to apologise. “I will not apologize. What I said is exactly what Mr. Ajit Pawar (1st Deputy CM) said about Mr. Eknath Shinde (2nd Deputy CM). I don’t fear this mob, and I will not be hiding under my bed, waiting for this to die down,” he added.
Fellow comedians, other artists and the general public applauded Kamra for his courage and extended their solidarity with the comedian.
