'Not Against Law.. I Don't Fear': Kunal Kamra's First Reaction After Controversy Over Eknath Shinde Joke

Kamra On Vandalism

His reaction came after massive protests were held by Shiv Sena and a case was registered against him over his “traitor" jibe at Shinde for his 2022 rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government in Maharashtra. The clip went viral on social media on Sunday, leading to uproar by the Shiv Sena.

The party workers vandalised Habitat Club — the venue where the show was recorded — after which 12 of them were arrested, but later granted bail on Monday. The police registered a case against around 40 Shiv Sena workers for allegedly vandalising the studio.

“An entertainment venue is merely a platform. A space for all sorts of shows. Habitat (or any other venue) is not responsible for my comedy, nor does it have any power or control over what I say or do. Neither does any political party," Kamra said in the statement, slamming the Shiv Sena for the action.

Kamra’s Message To Political Leaders

Sending out a message to the politicians who demanded his apology for the remarks, the artist cited the “right to freedom of expression" and said that their “inability" to take a joke does not “change the nature of my right".

“Our right to freedom of speech and expression is not only to be used to fawn over the powerful and rich even though today’s media would have us believe otherwise. Your inability to take a joke at the expense of a powerful public figure does not change the nature of my right. As far as I know, it is not against the law to poke fun at our leaders and the circus that is our political system," he said.

He, however, mentioned that he is willing to cooperate with the police for any “lawful action" against him.

“I am willing to cooperate with the police and courts for any lawful action taken against me. But will the law be fairly and equally deployed against those who have decided that vandalism is the appropriate response to being offended by a joke?" he said.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that Kamra should apologise for his remarks. “Eknath Shinde ji has been insulted, and an attempt has been made to do so. This will not be tolerated. The elections have proven who the traitors are. No stand-up comedian should have the right to call such a big leader a traitor," Fadnavis told reporters.

State’s junior home minister Yogesh Kadam also announced in the assembly that the authorities will scrutinise Kamra’s call records and bank statements to “find out who is behind this".

Kamra Gets Uddhav Thackeray’s Support

Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray backed Kamra over his “traitor" remark on Shinde, and said that calling traitor a traitor is not wrong.

“I don’t think Kunal Kamra said anything wrong. Calling a ‘gaddar‘, a ‘gaddar‘ is not an attack on anyone. Hear the full song (from Kunal Kamra’s show) and make others hear it too. Shiv Sena has nothing to do with this attack, this has been done by the ‘gaddar sena‘…Those who have ‘gaddari‘ in their blood can never be a Shiv Sainik," he said.