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If there was ever a movie being made on freedom of speech, I bet it would be called 50 Shades of Grey. And half of those shades will probably be called ‘taking offense’. Because what an individual is free to speak and what he can/should be speaking is basically an intense grey area that we’ll possibly never manage to navigate. Currently, stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra is swimming in these very treacherous waters.
The last one year hasn’t been kind to Kunal Kamra. It started in March last year, with him receiving death threats over his video, ‘Patriotism & The Government’ in which he spoke against demonetisation, the JNU situation and a couple of more things that weren’t well received by a segment of the audience.
Only a few days ago, Kamra deactivated his Twitter account. He claims to have not done it under any duress. But Twitter taking screenshots of his old jokes, which were jibes at various religions, and criticising them was widely deemed to be the reason.
Look at the pathetic religious hatred and abuse Kunal Kamra @kunalkamra88 was preaching in the name of new age comedy. Gutter level communal psycho and a bigot. Are these tweets funny? #EpicFail pic.twitter.com/NSVQcLqNrX
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) January 15, 2018
And now, in a final show of cards, the comedian has decided to speak up about all the backlash he has faced until now and how it has affected his standing in the society.
In a Facebook post on his profile, Kunal Kamra has penned down what seems like a cautionary tale for young comedians, warning them that expressing political opinions comes with a gigantic price tag.
Kamra, in the post, lists down everything that has been adversely affected in his life in light of the backlash. He even shared a screenshot of his chat messages with his landlady, who has asked him to vacate his house because of his political opinions.
Younger Comedians,I don't have any comedy advice for you. I just wanted to share a few things that I have…
Posted by Kunal Kamra on Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Here’s the full Facebook post:
The post has garnered both support and opposition.
There are those who believe that he deserved it, because of Kamra’s political standings and blatant disregard for religious/political sentiments in his jokes.
But there was a section, his supporters, who urged him to not lose hope and keep fighting the system.
In the light of such ostracism, it will be interesting to watch what Kunal Kamra’s POA will be. For now, we’re still in the grey.
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