Kunal Kamra Reshares His Controversial Video Amid Backlash Over Eknath Shinde Joke
Soon after receiving a third summons from the Mumbai Police over his alleged controversial remarks about Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, comedian Kunal Kamra shared an old video of his show on YouTube on Tuesday night.
The 36-year-old comedian also posted a link to his show on X, with a Ghibli-style AI-generated image, which appeared to visualise a joke he cracked during the show.
His post on X comes a day after he posted a sharp criticism of what he claims is how artists are silenced through outrage, intimidation, and institutional pressure. In his post, titled ‘How to Kill an Artist ‘Democratically, ’ Kamra detailed a “step-by-step guide” to silencing artists democratically.
Meanwhile, Kamra had been summoned twice by the police earlier but failed to join the investigation, the officials said.
Kamra has kicked up a major political storm in Maharashtra for taking a jibe at Shinde’s political career in his 45-minute-long show by modifying the lyrics of a popular Hindi movie song.
On Monday, a Khar police team visited Kamra’s house in Mumbai’s Mahim area, where his family lives, to find out whether he would appear before the police, officials said.
Recorded in February, the programme called ‘Naya Bharat’ was uploaded on Kamra’s YouTube channel on March 23, drawing strong reactions from the Shiv Sainiks.
After the clip went viral on social media, Shiv Sena warned of legal action and some of its workers vandalised the venue where the show was recorded. 12 party leaders were arrested but were later released on bail.
Kunal Kamra, despite his history of run-ins with the BJP-led government, is standing firm in his refusal to apologise for his contentious remark.
However, the Madras High Court on March 28 granted interim anticipatory bail to the comedian. Justice Sunder Mohan also issued a notice to Khar police and posted the matter to April 7 for further hearing.
