FIR against Kunal Kamra for Shinde remark; Sena men ransack show venue

The Mumbai police on Monday registered an FIR against stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra for allegedly making defamatory remarks against Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde during a show on Sunday, officials said.

Enraged over the comments, Shiv Sena workers led by party functionary Rahul Kanal ransacked the venue of Kamra’s show on Sunday. The police on Monday arrested Kanal and 11 others for ransacking the venue. The court remanded the accused to 14-day judicial custody following which they applied for bail. The magistrate allowed their plea and released them on a cash bond of Rs 15,000.

Kamra had made a controversial “traitor” jibe against Shinde using a modified version of a Hindi song from the film ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’, eliciting laughter from the audience. After a video went viral showing Kamra allegedly using defamatory words against Shinde, Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel lodged a police complaint.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 9) Dixit Gedam said two separate offences were registered at the Khar police station — one against Kamra over his comments and the other against the vandals.

Before his arrest, Kanal told mediapersons, “It is not about taking any law in your hands. It is purely about your self-respect. When it comes to elders or respectable citizens of the country when your elders are targeted, you will target someone of that mentality.” “Abhi tak toh ye trailer hai, picture abhi baki hai. Whenever you are in Mumbai, you will get a good lesson in Shiv Sena style,” the Shiv Sena functionary warned Kamra.

While leaders of the ruling Mahayuti termed Kamra a “contract comedian” and warned he would be forced to flee the country, the Opposition dubbed the FIR against him as “mockery of law” and said the police should specify words which can’t be used to criticise the government.

Shiv Sena MLA Patel said the party workers would not allow Kamra to move on the streets if he doesn’t apologise to Shinde in two days.

State Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik, who visited the Khar police station, said the studio where the programme was shot was illegal. “We will not tolerate mocking of our leader. Police and civic authorities should take action against them. I came to the police station to check on police action on our workers,” the Shiv Sena leader added.

Calling Kamra a “contract comedian”, Sena MP Naresh Mhaske alleged the comedian had accepted money from Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and was targeting Shinde. He accused political opponents of hiring stand-up comedians like Kamra for publicity.

BJP MLA Ram Kadam said Kamra seems to be targeting Shinde on someone’s instructions. “As he has crossed the limits, we will blacken his face wherever we spot him,” Kadam said.

On the other side, AAP Mumbai president Preeti Sharma Menon supported Kamra. “We support @kunalkamra88 unequivocally. Shame @Dev_Fadnavis - Eknath shinde has just shown that you have zero powers as Home Minister. You couldn’t keep peace in Nagpur and now you have brought vandalism to Mumbai!” she said.

State Congress general secretary Sachin Sawant said in the case where a simple non-cognisable offence can’t stand, an FIR is registered and this is “mockery of law”. The aim is to scare political opponents, he claimed.

The police should publish a list of words which cannot be used when criticising the government, and they should also declare what is okay for the ruling alliance leaders, Sawant said.