George Orwell said, “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.”
All Kunal Kamra has done in his latest YouTube video, Naya Bharat, is tell the truth about the country he lives in, and the people who are currently running it, and for that he has been given death threats, trolled viciously, and threatened with serious punitive measures.
As ministers and media, alike, take self-righteous and unjustifiable umbrage at the comedian, Kamra has stuck to his guns, refused to apologise, and doubled down on everything he said in his video. In fact, on March 25, as if to prove the truth of his words, he released yet another video with one of his parodied songs, this time with visuals of the damage that goons loyal to Eknath Shinde have wreaked on Mumbai’s Habitat studio:
Honge nange charon or
Karenge dange chaaron or
Police ke pange chaaron or ek din
Mann me andhvishvaas
Desh ka satyanaash
Hum hongay kangal ek din
(‘With blind, unthinking superstitious devotion in our minds,
The country is being wrecked, we will end up bankrupt one day.
We are being exposed, rioting everywhere,
with the police’s misdemeanours also present for all to see’)
Man me Nathuram
Harkate asaram
Hum hongay kangal ek din.
Hoga gai ka prachaar
Leke haatho me hathiyaar
Hoga sangh ka shishtachar ek din
Janta berozgaar
Garibi ki kagaar
Hum honge kangaal ek din
(‘Inspired by Nathuram Godse and the ‘politeness’ of the RSS, we are armed with weapons, but we preach the virtues of the cow. All the while, unemployment and poverty are rampant. We will be bankrupt one day’)
The ferocity of the mob’s reaction should come as no surprise. The truth, told simply and effectively by one of India’s sharpest comedians, has stung. Eknath Shinde has gone so far as to call the comedy routine a “hit job done for money”. To paraphrase Shakespeare, methinks the minister doth protest too much.
Speaking to a Marathi news channel, Shinde accused Kamra of “speaking on behalf of someone with an agenda”.
Kamra was certainly speaking on someone’s behalf, but it wasn’t just one person’s, he was speaking on the behalf of millions of Indians who are tired of the violence, hate and bigotry that has come to define Modi’s India. The only “agenda” one can reasonably assume Kamra has is to voice the collective desire of so many for a better, happier, gentler India.
Shinde said, “Freedom of expression is important, but it should not be misused. Many writers engage in satire, but what happened today was an act of immorality and licentious behaviour…”.
This is quite rich, coming from an ecosystem whose ministers have said things like “desh ke gaddaron ko goli maaro saalon ko (shoot the traitors)” and much, much worse.
Shinde also went on to say, “This same person has previously spoken against the Chief Justice, the prime minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, and leading industrialists of this nation. He has clashed with journalists and has even been banned by airlines.”
Shinde has glossed over the fact that the little red constitution of India that Kamra held up at the end of his show gives him every right to criticise and yes, even lampoon and satirise politicians, industrialists and journalists so-called. (Remember Jawaharlal Nehru’s exhortation to Shankar, the cartoonist of his time? “Don’t spare me”, he requested.)
Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra showing a copy of the Indian Constitution. Photo: @kunalkamra88
Amidst the din of outrage against the comedian, it is important to remember one all-important fact, that not one single thing that Kamra said in the show can be factually refuted. It’s all true. And that is the primary reason those in power and their cronies are as upset with him as they are.
It’s the oldest tactic in the despots’ book. If you can’t refute the truth, attack the truth teller!
Incidentally, in his show, Kamra also cracked a joke about Jesus, the Pope and the Vatican. Perhaps he can also take some comfort from Jesus’ own words in the Gospels:
“If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my sayings, they will keep yours also… Blessed are you when men shall revile you and hate you and speak all manner of evil against you falsely, for so did they persecute the prophets which were before you.” (John 15:20, Matthew 5: 11,12)
The word “prophet”, incidentally, has several meanings. One of them happens to be “a teller of truths” – a rather apt description of stand-up comedians like Kamra, Varun Grover, and more.
In the Gospel of John in the New Testament, Jesus of Nazareth is quoted as having said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
He could perhaps also have added, “But first, it will make some people very angry.”
Rohit Kumar is an educator, author and journalist and can be reached at letsempathize@gmail.com.
