Kamra in the dock

Politicians sling mud at each other in India every day — and usually get away with it. A stand-up comedian, no matter how popular or controversial, doesn’t enjoy this privilege. Kunal Kamra learnt it the hard way after he alluded to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde during a show in Mumbai. His ‘gaddar’ (traitor) barb incurred the wrath of Shiv Sena (Shinde) members, who vandalised not only the Habitat Studio where the show was filmed but also the hotel which housed the studio. The police have booked Kamra on the charge of making defamatory remarks against Shinde, even as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis himself has sought his apology. Sena MP Naresh Mhaske has even warned that the comedian would be chased by party workers throughout the country and forced to flee India.

Has Kamra gone too far this time? Not really, since he has taken potshots at the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India over the years. There is also nothing original about his comment on Shinde. Last month, Sena faction leader and ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray had acidly remarked that taking a dip in the Ganga would not wash off Shinde’s sin of betraying Maharashtra. Hitting back, the Deputy CM said he had attended the Maha Kumbh to wash off the sins of those who had dumped Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s ideology. Their verbal duel has been going on since June 2022, when Shinde triggered the collapse of the Uddhav-led government, but both haven’t bothered to drag each other to court.

What’s disturbing about the Kamra episode is the violent reaction, which shows that the space for political satire is shrinking alarmingly in Maharashtra or, for that matter, anywhere in the country. Such brazen intolerance strikes at the heart of freedom of speech and expression, which is guaranteed by the Constitution. It’s true that this freedom is subject to ‘reasonable restrictions’, but the trend of trampling upon an individual’s fundamental right at the slightest pretext is a dangerous portent for our democracy.