Maharashtra Deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde has broken his silence on the row over Kunal Kamra’s alleged joke against him, saying that “we understand satire, but there should be limit”.
Comedian Kunal Kamra had courted a massive controversy on Sunday after he allegedly made a ‘gaddar’ (traitor) joke on Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde. Without taking any names, Kamra had seemingly mocked Shinde by modifying a song from the Hindi movie ‘Dil Toh Pagal Hai’.
Shiv Sena leaders had heavily criticised Kamra for his remarks, with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis urging Kamra to apologise for his “low-level comedy”.
“Freedom of speech is there and we understand satire, but there should be a limit,” Shinde said in his first statement on the row.
Further, in what seemed like an apparent jibe at the opposition, Shinde also said that the comedian’s alleged joke on him is “like taking a ‘supari’ (contract) to speak against someone”.
He took a swipe at Kamra and said that this same person had made comments on the Prime Minister, the Supreme Court of India, journalist Arnab Goswami and some other industrialists. “This is not freedom of speech, this is working for someone,” Shinde quipped.
Notably, Shiv Sena workers had stormed the Habitat comedy club, which hosted Kamra’s show, and vandalised it. Several party leaders were also detained and arrested by Mumbai police for the damage caused to the venue.
