The Habitat Comedy Club, which was vandalised after comedian Kunal Kamra’s stand-up act, wherein he seemingly made a ‘gaddar’ (traitor) joke on Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, issued a statement on the incident and said it does “not support hate or harm of any kind”.
Situation has been growing tense since Sunday night over Kamra’s alleged mocking of the Shiv Sena chief by modifying a song from the film ‘Dil Toh Pagal Hai’.
Shiv Sena workers had stormed the Habitat comedy club at Hotel UniContinental in Mumbai’s Khar and vandalised the property. The club said that it was “shocked, worried and extremely broken by the recent acts of vandalism targeting us”.
Meanwhile, police registered a case against nearly 40 Shiv Sena workers for the alleged damage they caused to the Habitat studio.
Another FIR was also filed at the Khar police station against 19 Sena workers, including Rahul Kanal, Vibhag Pramukh Kunal Sarmarkar and 15 to 20 unidentified persons, in this regard.
The venue has been in the headlines many times, the most recent one before Kunal Kamra being Samay Raina’s ‘India’s Got Latent’. One of the episodes from the show, which was also shot at the Habitat, featured Ranveer Allahbadia, whose crass remarks on parents’ ‘sex’ courted massive controversy and resulted in legal action against them.
‘Always been a neutral platform’
The venue, in a statement posted on its Instagram handle, said, “The Habitat has always been a neutral platform for all kinds of artists to share their work in any language – for anything that requires a stage our doors remain open. Just providing a stage helps to encourage people in discovering their creativity, build their talent, and sometimes find a new career.”
The Habitat said that while any artist is on the stage, the platform belongs to them. “Artists create their own content, their words and expressions are their own,” it added.
The comedy club further stated that it encourages constructive conversations to address any disagreements, and not destruction. “We do not support hate or harm of any kind.”
Additionally, Habitat also expressed disappointment over being “blamed and targeted every time (over any content performed by an artist) almost like we are a proxy for the performer”.
The club announced that it was shutting down until it figures out how to provide a platform for free expression without putting itself or its property in jeopardy.
“We invite all artists, audience and stakeholders to discuss and share their views freely and request your guidance so that we also respect the performers rights,” it added.
Mumbai police also registered an FIR against comedian Kunal Kamra for his alleged derogatory remarks against Eknath Shinde. The case was filed based on a complaint lodged by Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel at the MIDC police station.
The FIR was registered against Kamra under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including 353(1)(b) (statements conducing to public mischief) and 356(2) (defamation).