Ashwini Vaishnaw Justifies Police Action Against Kunal Kamra

Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday justified the summons issued to stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra for references to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, asserting that it should be done if it is required by the law of the land.

Kunal Kamra kicked up a major political storm in Maharashtra by making caustic remarks against Eknath Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena, in his show recorded at a studio in Mumbai a few days ago.

Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Information and Broadcasting Minister, was speaking at an interactive session at the Times Now Summit here.

"If the law of the land requires it, it should be done," he said when asked if summoning of Kamra by the police was "too extreme" an action.

Ashwini Vaishnaw said while the Constitution granted citizens certain rights, they were accompanied by some safeguards.

"We have to work within the framework of the Constitution as a society. Freedom of speech and expression is well laid out. Everybody respects it. The Constitution has also laid certain safeguards on it and those safeguards are as important as the rights," Vaishnaw said.

The minister said if everyone followed the safeguards, the society would work in a harmonious way.

"What is right in the western society might not be right in our society. There are different cultural contexts to everything," Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

Kunal Kamra, without taking Eknath Shinde's name, targeted the Deputy CM over his political career, including the 2022 rebellion against the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray which brought down the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

Shiv Sena workers vandalised the studio where the stand-up comic performance was held.

The Mumbai Police has registered an FIR against Kunal Kamra for allegedly making defamatory remarks against Eknath Shinde on a complaint received from a Shiv Sena MLA.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)