Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Friday lashed out against Maharashtra Tourism Minister Shambhuraj Desai’s directive to police that stand-up comic Kunal Kamra must be subjected to “third-degree” torture as soon as he is nabbed.
”If a minister is openly calling for using third-degree against a comedian, then it means Maharashtra has become a Taliban state under the Mahayuti. The Taliban regime punishes people through inhuman means like severing their arms and legs.
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“The minister demanding the police to use third-degree methods against the comedian is similar to the Taliban’s ways. Why is he (Kunal Kamra) being punished? For speaking his mind and using the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution?” he questioned.
Questioning the silence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Raut asked, “Why is Fadnavis silent? Wasn’t he the same person who was lecturing us on democracy during the Kangana Ranaut case? Now can he tell us whether we are living in a democracy if a minister is calling for inhuman treatment to a comedian for no fault of his?”
“I don’t think under Fadnavis and Shinde, the people of Maharashtra are living in a democracy. We are living in a state whose rulers have a Taliban mindset,” Raut said.
Earlier, speaking to media persons in Pune on Thursday, Desai had demanded the arrest and torture of Kunal Kamra by “putting him in a tyre and giving him prasad”.
“We have been asked by Shinde to 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. 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’,” the Sena leader added.
‘Prasad’ is a Marathi word which means an offering made to God, but it is also used as a euphemism for beatings.
However, the Madras High Court granted interim anticipatory bail to stand-up comic Kunal Kamra on Friday in a case relating to jokes supposedly aimed at Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde.
In his petition seeking transit anticipatory bail filed on Friday, Kamra submitted that he moved to Tamil Nadu from Mumbai in 2021 and had been “ordinarily a resident of this state (Tamil Nadu) since then” and that he feared arrest by the Mumbai police.
Kamra has been summoned twice by the Mumbai police, after a show in Mumbai triggered a huge political row and led to Shinde-led Shiv Sena supporters vandalising the venue of his show. Kamra has been booked by the Khar police in Mumbai, based on a complaint by Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel for allegedly making defamatory remarks against Deputy CM Shinde.
Kamra told the Madras High Court earlier that he had moved out of Mumbai and settled down in Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu because he was desirous of leading a quiet life in a rural area. He claimed to be a resident of Tamil Nadu since February 2021.
Listing out the threats he had received, Kamra told the Madras High Court that feared that Shiv Sainiks might harm him or his loved ones. Kamra also mentioned that he feared the Mumbai police might arrest him and subject him to physical torture if he had to wait until the Bombay High Court grants him anticipatory bail.
