NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra tourism minister Shambhuraj Desai urged police on Thursday to promptly arrest comedian Kunal Kamra, cautioning against testing party workers’ patience.
This comes after Sena workers had vandalised a Mumbai studio on Sunday night where Kamra had recorded his show, expressing anger over his parody song criticising Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Eknath Shinde.
“We have been asked by Shinde to be observe restraint, that is why we are quiet. As Shiv Sena workers, we know how to drag him out from wherever he is hiding, but as ministers we have some restrictions,” Desai told reporters. “We want to tell the police, do not test our patience and nab him from wherever he is, put him in a tyre and give him ‘prasad’,” he added. In Marathi, ‘prasad’ traditionally refers to a divine offering, whilst also serving as a subtle reference to punishment.
This row erupted when, during his recent performance, Kamra performed a parody version of a popular song from “Dil Toh Pagal Hai”, incorporating the term “gaddar” (traitor), apparently directed at Shinde.
Following Sunday night’s vandalism at the Habitat Comedy Club in Khar by Shinde-led Shiv Sena activists, several individuals were arrested and subsequently released on bail. The Khar police later filed a FIR against Kamra based on Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel’s complaint regarding alleged defamatory statements about Shinde.