Kumar Bahukhandi
Kunal Kamra’s jibe on politicians has stirred up controversy. – Photo: Prime Look
A controversy has erupted over Kunal Kamra’s indirect comment on Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. Meanwhile, a political battle has also erupted in the state. The ruling Mahayuti parties have warned Kamra. At the same time, the opposition Shiv Sena UBT has openly supported the comedian.
Politics has heated up over the controversial statement made by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra regarding Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. While the Mahayuti government condemned Kunal’s statement and demanded an apology from him, opposition parties, especially Shiv Sena (Uttar Pradesh) supported the comedian. Meanwhile, Shinde himself reacted to the issue and compared Kunal’s sarcasm to taking a contract to speak against someone. Reacting to Kamra’s comments, Shinde said that there is freedom of expression and we also understand sarcasm, but it should have a limit.
After these comments of Shinde, questions have been raised about Kunal Kamra’s statements. However, if we look at Kamra’s history, it is revealed that this is not the first time he has been involved in controversies. Especially in the case of controversial comments. In such a situation, it is important to know when Kunal Kamra has given controversial statements before? Has any action been taken against him in any case before? Apart from Eknath Shinde, which other leaders or big faces has Kamra targeted? Let’s find out…
- Kamra was surrounded by Brahmin-Bania comment on Supreme Court
In May 2020, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court against Kunal Kamra, in which he was accused of calling the Supreme Court a Brahmin-Bania matter during his show ‘Be Like’. Then Attorney General KK Venugopal approved contempt proceedings against Kamra for allegedly besieging the judiciary and judges through social media posts.
- Clashed with Arnab Goswami in flight, airline companies banned him
In January 2020, a video of Kunal Kamra went viral, in which he was seen besieging co-passenger journalist Arnab Goswami on a flight from Mumbai to Lucknow and harassing him by going to his seat. After this incident, Kunal Kamra was banned for six months by companies like Indigo, Air India, Go Air and SpiceJet for misbehavior.
Kunal Kamra himself posted a video on Twitter regarding this entire incident. During this, he also gave a statement about Arnab and called the journalist a coward.
Kunal Kamra: ‘I will not apologize to Eknath Shinde, I am not afraid of the crowd’; Kamra said – Ajit Pawar had also said the same
- When the comedian got into trouble for sharing an edited video of a child
In May 2020, Kunal Kamra shared an edited video. In this, a video of a seven-year-old child singing during PM Modi’s Germany visit was tampered with. After this, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) demanded action against the comedian and asked him to remove the video immediately.
However, Kunal Kamra said in his defense that this video is publicly available. In his post, he said that NCPCR has demanded action against him for posting a meme.
- When Kamra was surrounded in the case of contempt of the Supreme Court
Kunal Kamra has been surrounded in the case of contempt of the Supreme Court in 2020. In fact, when the Supreme Court decided to grant bail to Kunal Kamra in a case related to journalist Arnab Goswami, Kunal Kamra took a dig at the then Chief Justice DY Chandrachud. He posted on X (then Twitter) and termed the Supreme Court as the ‘Supreme Joke of the Country’. Not only this, Kamra also posted an edited photo about the Supreme Court. Also made a comment against CJI Chandrachud.
On this issue, the Supreme Court had issued a show cause notice to Kamra in December 2020. The comedian was asked to explain his actions in the contempt of court case. However, Kamra had made it clear that he would not apologize for his statements. In his official statement, he refused to withdraw the statement citing freedom of expression.
- Attack on Prime Minister Modi regarding coronavirus pandemic
In 2021, Kunal Kamra also criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the ways of dealing with the crisis of coronavirus pandemic. During this, he alleged that if PM Modi and other leaders had taken steps quickly and effectively, many lives could have been saved.
- VHP’s legal notice for insulting deities
In September 2022, Kunal Kamra’s show in Gurugram, Haryana was canceled. Actually, Kunal was accused of making derogatory remarks on Hindu deities. VHP had written a letter to the Deputy Commissioner of Gurugram regarding this. Not only this, VHP also sent a legal notice to Kamra and demanded an apology.
After this, Kamra wrote an open letter to VHP. He challenged the organization to condemn Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse and prove that they are anti-terrorism and pro-Hindu. Not only this, Kamra said that the organization should prove that he has insulted Hinduism.
- Targeted Ola CEO
Kunal Kamra also clashed with Ola Electric CEO Bhavish Aggarwal. Kamra slammed Bhavish for not resolving the complaints of Ola Electric Scooty customers and asked him to either resolve the problems as soon as possible or return the money to the customers. The debate escalated when Bhavish Aggarwal asked Kamra to either help solve the customers’ problems or ‘keep quiet’.
The controversy did not stop here. Bhavish also offered Kamra a job in his company. However, Kamra said that if Bhavish promises to solve all the customers’ problems as soon as possible, then he is ready to do this work.
- Sharing a photo with Umar Khalid also embroiled in controversies
Kunal Kamra has also been in the news for his podcast show ‘Shut Up Ya Kunal’. Kamra talks about many issues including political-humor in his show. He has also invited big faces like Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Shehla Rashid, journalist Ravish Kumar, MP Asaduddin Owaisi on this show.
Many users on social media have also targeted him and Umar Khalid’s relationship. In fact, Umar Khalid, accused in the 2020 violence case in Delhi, is in jail. A case has been registered against him under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). However, Kunal has been supporting him from time to time. During Khalid’s arrest in 2020, Kamra had said that he does not believe a single lie spread about Umar Khalid. He had said that today we have definitely lost, but we will continue to speak about him (Umar Khalid).
This year, when Umar Khalid was granted interim bail by a Delhi court, Kunal Kamra went to meet him. During this, the comedian wrote in his post – the heart has no idea of a concept like time. Hundreds of users commented on this post of his.
Not only this, when some outsiders entered Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in early 2020 and attacked the campus, Kunal Kamra took out a march in Mumbai along with Umar Khalid and some other JNU students. Their demonstration started from the Gateway of India.
- Criticism of Election Commission and EVMs
Kunal Kamra has at different times criticized the Election Commission and the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) through his social media posts and videos. Many political parties have also taunted Kunal Kamra on this issue.
