Kunal Kamra's New ' Hum Honge Kamiyab ' Jibe Over Maharashtra Assembly Brawl
Comedian Kunal Kamra has once again invoked his infamous satirical ' hum honge kamiyab ' (we shall overcome) song that triggered a controversy in March - this time mocking the violent clash in the Maharashtra Assembly between the supporters of BJP MLA Gopichand Padalkar and NCP (Sharad Pawar group) MLA Jitendra Awhad.
The video featured a clip of the brawl with the satirical ' hum honge kamiyab ' song playing in the background. Kamra also slipped in shots of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputy Eknath Shinde - in an apparent dig at the ruling Mahayuti alliance. Mr Kamra captioned the video as "lawbreakers".
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Videos of the two groups, BJP and NCP(SP), pummeling each other and having to be dragged back by security personnel have been doing the rounds on social media. The fight began with a verbal spat outside the assembly building on Thursday over Mr Awhad's days-old 'mangasultra thief' remark. While the NCP(SP) leader had not named anyone, the jibe was widely seen as directed at BJP's Gopichand Padalkar.
During the fight yesterday, both MLAs and their supporters exchanged expletives.
Shortly after the incident, Mr Awhad said he received abusive and threatening messages.
"Yesterday, Padalkar's supporters verbally abused me at the gate of the Legislative Assembly. I request the former Assembly Speaker to now grant parliamentary recognition to this verbal abuse. And today, I received a death threat on my mobile. I was abused with references to my mother and sister. All this happened while I was in the Assembly. I want to see if the state police administration will take action now or not," he wrote on X.
Mr Padalkar, who later met Speaker Rahul Narwekar and senior party leaders, said that the incident was "unfortunate" and has apologised.
However, the issue snowballed with Mr Awhad's party colleague Rohit Pawar raising the issue in the assembly, demanding action. The assembly speaker sought a report on the incident and promised a thorough investigation and subsequent action.
Kunal Kamra's Eknath Shinde parody row
A huge row erupted earlier this year after Kunal Kamra used the parody of the song 'hum honge kamiyab' during his stand-up special 'Naya Bharat' in March - changing the words to 'hum honge kangaal' (we shall be bankrupt). During his performance, Mr Kamra referred to Eknath Shinde as "gaddar" (traitor) and joked about how the now Deputy Chief Minister rebelled against ex-Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in 2022, causing the Sena to split and the government to fall.
This drew strong backlash from Shiv Sena leaders, including Shinde loyalists.
The leaders even vandalised the Habitat Comedy Club in Mumbai's Khar area, where the comedian had performed and recorded the show.
Many cases were also filed against Mr Kamra which reached the courts. In April, the Bombay High Court had given a measure of relief to the comedian, saying he cannot be arrested. However, the bench of Justice Sarang Kotwal and Justice SM Modak also said the investigation against Mr Kamra will be allowed to continue, pending a detailed hearing of his plea to quash charges.
Mr Kamra, however, had stressed his right to freedom of speech.
"Your inability to take a joke at the expense of a powerful public figure does not change the nature of my right. As far as I know, it is not against the law to poke fun at our leaders and the circus that is our political system," he had said.
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