I will not apologise: Comedian Kunal Kamra amid row over joke about Eknath Shinde

Comedian Kunal Kamra on Monday said that he does not “fear this mob” and will not apologise for a joke he made apparently about Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde that triggered a row.

A day earlier, workers of the Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena vandalised The Habitat studio in Khar after videos of Kamra performing jokes at the event space ostensibly criticising the deputy chief minister and alluding to him as a “traitor” during a performance were posted online.

Kamra was referring to Shinde’s 2022 rebellion against Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray and the ensuing political crisis in Maharashtra. He did not mention Shinde by name. The state government has sought an apology from Kamra for his joke.

“I don’t fear the mob and I will not be hiding under my bed, waiting for this to die down,” Kamra said in a social media post.

He said he was willing to cooperate with the police and the courts for lawful action taken against him.

“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?” the comedian stated. “And against the unelected members of the BMC [Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation], who have arrived today at Habitat, without prior notice, and tore...

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