Indian stand-up comic sets off free speech debate with parody song

By Shilpa Jamkhandikar

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra faces police scrutiny for a performance seen to have criticised a key politician and ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, fanning concerns about the limits of free speech in the world’s largest democracy.

The ensuing violence triggered comment on social media and prime time shows, even as Kamra refused to apologise over an accusation that his use of the term "traitor" referenced Eknath Shinde, the deputy chief minister of India's richest state.

"I don't fear this mob and I will not be hiding under my bed, waiting for this to die down," Kamra, a known critic of Modi, with more than 6 million subscribers on social media, said in a statement on Monday.

Kamra's parody song about a traitor did not identify anyone but angered workers of Shinde's hardline Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena party, who ransacked the performance site and complained to police his act had defamed the leader.

Media said Kamra declined to appear before police in the financial capital of Mumbai, citing death threats against him by party members, and sought a week's time to do so.

Police officers handling the investigation did not respond to Reuters telephone calls to seek comment.

Reuters could not immediately reach Shinde for comment.

Shinde, who rose to prominence in the Shiv Sena, a long-term ally of Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, has said he did not support violence by his party workers, but added that Kamra's jokes were not in good taste.

Over the weekend, his supporters ransacked the Habitat studio in Mumbai's northwestern suburb of Khar where Kamra had performed, forcing it to down shutters for the time being.

On Wednesday, about a dozen police officers cordoned off the studio, its signage blacked out.

Shinde became chief minister of the western state of Maharashtra in 2022, helping bring it under Modi's control, after engineering a revolt in the party when it broke ties with the BJP. He took on the deputy role in a later administration.

Supporters inferred his identity from attributes mentioned in Kamra's song.

Many BJP lawmakers warned against abuse of freedom of speech.

"Your freedom of speech cannot be used to personally attack someone else," said Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, who backed Shinde.

But Kamra garnered support on social media and elsewhere, drawing more than 6 million views for a YouTube video of the performance, and more than 58,000 comments within two days.

Many viewers donated money to him, backing his no-apology stance.

Kamra is no stranger to controversy, having faced several criminal cases and even a six-month airline ban in 2020 after he heckled a journalist seen as close to the BJP aboard a plane.

As stand-up comedy has become increasingly popular among urban educated Indians, its ridicule of prominent figures provokes complaints from hardline groups.

Last month, the Supreme Court ordered India's top podcaster to stop shows until further notice, days after he was charged with obscenity for a stand-up comedy show.

(This story has been refiled to correct the garble in paragraph 9)

(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Additional reporting by Francis Mascerenhas; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)