Undeterred by the protests by the ruling Shiv Sena over his ‘gaddar’ jibe against Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, a defiant stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra on Tuesday came out with another parody song — “hum honge kangaal ek din...” — this time targeting the BJP, even as Shinde said that “every action has a reaction” while reacting to Shiv Sainiks’ act of vandalism at a Mumbai studio.
Using the clips of the manner in which the Shinde-led Shiv Sena workers on Sunday night vandalised a studio where he had recorded a parody song against Shinde, Kamra uploaded one more song on “X” which has barbs against the ruling BJP at the Centre and the State.
Recorded by him in the same Habitat in The UniContinental hotel at Khar in south-central Mumbai, the song rendered by Kamra had the following lines: ‘Mann me andhvishwas, Desh ka satyanash’; ‘Honge nange charo aur’, ‘Karenge dange charo or’, ‘Police ke pange charo aur’; ‘Man me Nathuram, Harkate Asaram’; “Hoga gai ka prachar’, ‘Leke haathon me hathiyar’; ‘Hoga Sangh ka shishtachar’, ‘Janata berozgar’, ‘Garibi ki kagaar’. The song ends with ‘Hum honge kangal ek din...’.
Thirty-six-year-old Kamra — who had earlier refused to tender apology for his jibe against Shinde as demanded by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis — did not appear before the Mumbai police in response to the summons issued to him to present himself before them at 11 am on Tuesday for questioning in connection with the First Information Report (FIR) registered against in the “gaddar” controversy. He has reportedly sought a week’s time to appear before the Mumbai police.
In a related development, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde came out with his first reaction over the Kamra-triggered controversy.
Speaking at a Marathi television event, Shinde said that there should be a limit to everything and that every action has a reaction. He said that he would refrain from responding to allegations.
“Freedom of speech is there. We understand satire. But there should be a limit. This is like taking ‘supari’ (contract) to speak against someone….,” Shinde said.
On the act of vandalism indulged in by his party workers at The Habitat in The UniContinental hotel at Khar on Sunday night, “I won’t support it…but every action has a reaction…party workers have emotions.”
Hitting out Kamra for his “questionable acts of satire” in the past, Shinde said, “This same person (Kamra) had commented on the Supreme Court of India, the Prime Minister, Arnab Goswami and some industrialists. This is not freedom of speech; this is working for someone”
“Nowadays, I don’t reply to allegations. I say my work will be my reply. I’ve always prioritised work. All the projects like Atal Setu, Coastal Road (both in Mumbai) and Metro projects had stopped abruptly. We restarted them, giving priority to development and welfare schemes,” the deputy chief minister said.
Meanwhile, prominent citizens from different walks of life strongly condemned the ‘urban terrorism’ tactics and vandalism by ruling party politicians targeting stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra.
“The Constitution of India guarantees every citizen’s Right to freedom of speech and opinion. No ‘law abiding’ citizen has the right to take the law in his/her own hands and indulge in vandalism. This is an act of Urban Terror,” they said.
A joint statement signed by GG Parikh, Tushar Gandhi, Chitra Palekar, Darshan Mondkar, Faranaz Karabari, Feroze Mithiborwala, Guddi SL, Javed Anand, Kailash Gaikwad, Niyati, Ram Puniyani, Rajiv Shankar, Sandeep Pandey (Magsaysay Award laureate) Sanjeev Chandolkar, Shubha Prabhu-Satam, Shilpa Parulekar, Sharad Kadam, Santosh Ambekar, Suvarnareha Jadhav, Uttam Ghosh, Vikas Naiknavare, Yashodhan Paranjpe, and more was released to the media.
Deploring the extremist tactics by leaders of the ruling MahaYuti alliance in Maharashtra, the prominent citizens said, “These people lack the intellectual ability to engage in dialogue or discussion with opposing views and opinions,” plus the mindset to appreciate humour and satire.
“We sympathise with their limitations and volunteer to educate them if they have the will. We urge the CM (Devendra Fadnavis) - who has been broadcasting his resolve to use bulldozers to ‘punish’ people he accuses of rioting - and is pushing through a draconian law to punish those he brands ‘Urban Naxals’ to act promptly vis-à-vis members of his ally (Shiv Sena) who are acting as ‘urban terrorists’, destroying private property, terrorising and intimidating honest, law abiding citizens,” the signatories said.
Extending their support to Kamra, the signatories condemned the Shiv Sena’s ‘terror tactics’ displaying their ‘bravery’ by vandalising a private hotel property used by Kamra to shoot one of his shows in which he referred to the betrayal by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde in his lust for power.
Urging the Mumbai Police Commissioner to crackdown on those who have taken the laws in their hands, they reminded the Police of their oath ‘to serve the Constitution and protect citizens’ - not to obey and serve the government in power.
While refusing to apologise for his jibe against Shinde, Kamra in a statement put on “X”, Kamra said, “Kamra has refused to apologise. “I will not apologise. 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 said he would co-operate with the police and courts for any lawful action taken against him.
