Uddhav Thackeray backs Kunal Kamra in row over ‘traitor’ remark, says it’s true
Uddhav Thackeray said Kunal Kamra’s song was not sarcastic but it was the truth. Kamra has done nothing wrong but only expressed the sentiments of people.
MUMBAI: Standup comedian Kunal Kamra, who is being targeted by the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, has not done anything wrong and had only openly expressed the sentiments of the people, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said on Monday, criticising Shinde’s party workers for attacking a premises in Khar where Kamra’s show was recorded.
“Kamra’s song was not sarcastic but it was the truth. Kamra has done nothing wrong but only expressed the sentiments of people. I still say they are traitors,” Thackeray said.
A song by Kamra that referred to Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, without naming him, as a ‘rickshawallah’ and traitor who had ‘stolen someone else’s father’ has led to sharp attacks from the ruling Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party. It referred to Shinde as a turncoat, saying he could be found hiding in Guwahati, where MLAs led by him took refuge in 2022 after splitting the undivided Shiv Sena.
Late on Sunday, Shiv Sainiks led by Rahool Kanal and Kunal Sarmalkar attacked a club in Khar, where Kamra performs regularly. Sena workers damaged chairs and raised slogans against the comedian.
Uddhav said the chief minister should get the people who carried out the vandalism to pay for the damage.
“I want to tell chief minister Devendra Fadnavis that justice should be the same for all. As you are going to recover the cost of damages from rioters for losses during riots in Nagpur, a penalty should be collected from those who attacked the studio. This is an attempt to undermine the chief minister and home minister. We can do anything and CM and police can’t do anything against us is their message.” he said.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) chief also stressed that those who attacked the studio did not belong to the Shiv Sena but were “from ‘Gaddar (Traitor) Sena’.
“They are cowards who kept silent over the insult of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj by Prashant Koratkar, Rahul Solapurkar. Are we going to inherit the legacy of Shivaji Maharaj or traitors?” he asked, referring to Nagpur-based Koratkar and actor Solapurkar who are facing attacks for their remarks on the Maratha king.
Uddhav’s son, Aditya Thackeray, also took a swipe at the ruling Sena, wondering why the party and its alliance partners knew that Kamra was referring to Shinde. “I heard the song. Kamra has not named anyone in the song. Chief minister Fadnavis said Kamra should tender an apology. Does it mean Fadnavis admits that Shinde is a traitor and a thief? On other hand, supporters of Shinde also decided that their boss is a traitor. No one would have faced such ignominy earlier,” he said.
