Kamra vs Kanal is about mob against citizen

The debate is not about humour but about what sort of people we want to be and what we wish for in our democracy

Strap: The debate is not about humour but about what sort of people we want to be and what we wish for in our democracy

Bullying is bullying, and mob violence is exactly that. (Hindustan Times)

In the perfect example of comedy becoming tragedy, and then becoming farce, the Shiv Sena’s Rahul Kanal has written to BookMyShow, urging the ticketing platform to not sell any show by stand-up artiste Kunal Kamra.

This may seem outlandish and outrageous. It is in fact perfectly plausible when you think about who is writing the letter. Kanal is the “youth leader” of the Sena who led a group of vandals into The Habitat, where Kamra had performed and taken a swipe at the Maharashtra deputy CM Eknath Shinde.

We have all seen the videos of the men who hurled cuss-words against the club’s management as they uprooted and threw chairs and pretty much destroyed the club. Kanal was their gang leader, and there are images of him cheerfully waving from the police van as he was taken into detention. The vandals got bail from a court a few hours later. And Kanal, entirely unafraid, announced on my show, among others, that he would not apologise for what he had done. In fact, he vowed to repeat it as required, if Kamra did not back off from his comments on Shinde.

In other words, when Kanal urges BookMyShow to cancel ticket sales for Kamra’s show, he has much more than nuisance value. He has demonstrated both the power and the impunity of the mob. He may have written the letter in his “individual capacity”, but the promoters and management of BookMyShow have already seen how he has the full backing of his party. Worse, the Mumbai Police does not seem bothered by him or the men who vandalised the comedy club. Instead, summons have gone to Kamra, who has now made his home in Pondicherry and already sought and secured anticipatory bail from the Madras High Court.

There’s the obvious question: Is this what a police force should be spending its time on? But the more chilling consequence has been the normalisation of the mob. Kanal is not a street thug without any standing in the political and social hierarchy of the Mumbai scene. A former aide of Aditya Thackeray, now on the other side of the fence, Kanal’s Instagram account is a roster of celebrity pictures. He also consults with Mumbai’s Bhaijaanz Restaurant named after Salman Khan.

The vandalism of the club where the Kamra show was held has not weakened him; it has only strengthened him.

Now, to any reasonable person it should not be relevant whether you vote the BJP, Shiv Sena or the Congress. Bullying is bullying, and mob violence is exactly that. This is notwithstanding the old viral video where Kamra and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut are seen posing with bulldozers, after a demolition drive at actor and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut’s bungalow. At the time, it was Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena that was at the helm of government. So, yes, you can argue that Kamra endorsed the same State overreach that has now come back to bite him.

But while you can accuse Kamra of doublespeak, the legitimacy to a bunch of vandals — or the refusal to unequivocally condemn them without ifs and buts — is something that goes well beyond any one individual. Sooner or later, it will come back to haunt us or someone we love, like or care for.

No Indian politician or party has a great record on upholding free speech. Anyone remember Aseem Trivedi? In 2012, he was hauled up for sedition and arrested because of a cartoon he sketched that depicted Parliament as a commode. While the sedition charge was eventually dropped, he is still facing criminal charges 13 years later. I spoke to him the other day, and he seemed resigned and wistful. He still has to show up in court on designated dates; the process is the punishment and, no, he is not doing much cartooning any more. And yet, he still found it within him to speak up for Kamra’s right to tell a joke that someone else may not like. That’s more of a stand than many others have taken.

This debate is not about whether you like Kamra’s comedy. It is also not about whether Kamra is a “political stooge” — a phrase used often by Sena supporters in the last few days. Kamra, who does not hide his slant, has the right to a political affiliation. And so do people on the other side of the political spectrum, who are Right wing. Why is his political leaning even relevant in this context? If Shinde feels that has been demeaned, he has the option of civil defamation open to him. What can possibly justify taking the law into your own hands, storming into private property and turning the place upside down. I did ask Kanal how he would feel if a mob did that to the restaurant he is associated with.

This debate is not even about Kamra himself. It is about what sort of people we want to be and what we wish for in our democracy. Do we want to endorse hooliganism? Or counter a bad joke with a better joke, an offensive book with a different book and a movie we don’t like with a different movie?

No neta will stand up for our speech. And today, the silencing may be of those we don’t like. Tomorrow, it could be us. It is for, we, the people, to shut this down.

Barkha Dutt is an award-winning journalist and author. The views expressed are personal