Don’t shut up ya, Kunal!

About a week after his show in Gurugram was cancelled after the Vishwa Hindu Parishad claimed he made fun of Hindu gods and goddesses comedian Kunal Kamra told midday he will neither relinquish the stage nor censor himself Ruling out changing his content he said ldquoOnce I get on stage I perform for my audience exactly what I was going to perform Thatrsquos my 100 per cent commitment There are two censors one is my own conscience and the other is the Constitution of India My material doesnrsquot change for any other reasonrdquoIn fact he plans a slew of overseas shows The comedian said ldquoI am going to travel abroad to do as many shows as I can My current special has my favourite political premises from the last six years reworked for todayrsquos times Building this show was so much fun I think I am enjoying performing these 75 minutes the mostrdquoFollowing the cancellation at Gurugram Kamra preemptively called off his shows in the northern Indian cities of Jaipur and Dehradun Asked why he said ldquoI had two shows in Jaipur and Dehradun at bars with a capacity of 200 seats I didnrsquot want to risk the safety of my audience Hence I didnrsquot do the show It just takes two idiots to create a ruckus and this is my axe to grind I canrsquot put anyone else at riskrdquoAlso read Kunal Kamra shows in Gurugram cancelled after VHP Bajrang Dal threatThe comic acknowledged the cancellation and trolling took an emotional toll on himKamra asked how he could be considered lsquoantiHindursquo when ldquo90 per centrdquo of his audiences he said were themselves Hindu Acknowledging the cancellation and subsequent social media trolling took an emotional toll on him the comedian said his current tour will continue as of now with upcoming shows in Mumbai Pune and SingaporeAsked whether cancellations and animosity have changed his outlook on his future Kamra said ldquoI have been doing standup comedy for 10 years This is the future for merdquo Following the Gurugram cancellation Kamra wrote an open letter to the VHP asking it to give proof of him having made fun of Hindu deities Asked whether he had received any proof Kamra said ldquoThey havenrsquot replied to my letter they never willrdquoHis open letter also referred to Nathuram Godsendashwho was indoctrinated into Hindutva thought and went on to murder Mahatma Gandhindashand challenged the rightwing outfit to denounce Godse The comedian said ldquoI have been called many names by people who donrsquot like or approve of the comedy I do as per their perception of who is a good citizen Itrsquos an opinion mostly like lsquoantinationalrsquo lsquourban Naxal lsquosickularrsquo lsquoalleged comedianrsquo etc But the VHP who canrsquot take a position on independent Indiarsquos first terrorist Nathuram Godse calling me antiHindu had to be responded to I feltrdquoAsked whether standup comedy an outspoken and often spontaneous artform would suffer in the absence of freedom of speech and expression in India and why the right wing was going after comedians such as Agrima Joshua Munawar Faruqui Vir Das and now him he said ldquoI canrsquot gauge what it will be 10 years right now but things look grim to merdquo One possible reason behind the pressure on standup comedians he said could be that standup comedy is not under the control of the Hindu right ldquoComedy doesnrsquot have opportunistic old idiots to run rightwing comedy scenes which can pull as much audience as the bigger names in Indiardquo he saidWhen this interviewer told Kamra that a prominent comedy club owner in Mumbai had told him recently he was now wary of holding open micsmdashevents where upandcoming comics test new jokes and hone their skillsmdashas he was worried about what would happen if raw young comedians said something that would offend the Hindu right Kamra said ldquoYoung comedians have our lives to see and make a clear choice of what their politics are what they would like to do with standuprdquo He added ldquoBut open mics and having a breakout comedy act is more difficult currently compared to when we uploaded our videosrdquoKamra said he didnrsquot expect his words to be heeded by the people who got his show cancelled He said ldquoAll I can tell them is keep busy checking Aadhaar cards on dandiya nights Thatrsquos where they belongrdquo He suggested ldquoIf they want to evolve theyrsquoll have to accept and understand bodhisattva Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar then they will have a future Mayberdquo