Kunal Kamra says Prime Minister Modi responsible for India's COVID tragedy
Since early this year, as a second surge of COVID-19 devastates India, attacks on civil liberties have worsened in the country.
Journalists and social activists are being jailed. Last month, for instance, journalist Kishorechandra Wangkhem was imprisoned for reportedly tweeting that cow urine and dung were no cures for Covid-19, as claimed by some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders. Another journalist Manjul was suspended from his job at Network 18, reportedly for posting cartoons on Twittter which were critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Government critics are physically assaulted by groups affiliated with Modi’s BJP, according to Human Rights Watch and other global civil liberties watchdogs.
Facebook’s WhatsApp and Instagram platforms, Twitter and other social media operating in India are blocking critical posts, following instructions from the government.
The imprisonment, firings and physical assaults have made Indian journalists and others fearful of criticizing Modi and leaders of the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the secretive, militant organization which is said to control the BJP.
So, it is brave of Kunal Kamra, a popular Indian comedian who faces death threats, to publish a video guest essay in today’s New York Times titled: Thanks to Modi, India had a ‘state orchestrated Covid massacre.’ Earlier this year, Kamra and his parents were infected with the virus.
“My people are needlessly dying,” Kamra says in the video. “Our government has blood on its hands.” Here is the link to Kamra’s New York Times video.
A Motorcycle or Hindu Nationalism
In his videos, podcasts and live performances, Kamra questions the validity of the BJP’s Hindu nationalist ideology. In Stand Up Comedy 2019, for instance, Kamra says that when he was young his mother constantly pleaded with him to pray so that the Hindu Gods would protect him. Now, he says, political leaders want him to protect the Hindu faith, which they claim is under attack. Did something happen to reduce the power of the Hindu Gods, he asks? The video has gotten 22 million views on YouTube.
Kamra speaks in Hindi, mixed with English words and phrases, the way Indians educated in English language schools chat among themselves.
Kamra, 32 years old, also talks about education and jobs as being more important. In one of his videos, Kamra says a proud father tells his son he will gift him a motorcycle to celebrate his graduation. Kamra then asks if the son will reply: “I don’t want a motorcycle. I want to promote Hindu nationalism.”
In 2017, Kamra started a YouTube Channel Shut Up Ya Kunal, with Ramit Verma, 30, who edits the videos and podcasts. Kamra does not seek to boost viewership by chatting with Bollywood or cricket stars. Instead he invites artists, social activists and politicians, including writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, and a BJP youth leader.
The channel has two million subscribers. One of the episodes, Kamra’s 40 minutes conversation with former student leaders of Jawaharlal Nehru University, has six million views. These viewer numbers are large, even for India, since only about 70 million - 5% of the country’s 1.4 billion population - can comprehend the Hindi English content of Kamra’s videos and podcasts.
LIke Kamra, there are other Hindu comedians who expose the harm caused by religious extremism and superstition. They include Varun Grover, Sanjay Rajoura and Rahul Ram.
The comedians are popular since many educated Indians are upset over the attacks on science, reason and civil liberties. Also, the videos of Kamra and others, easily accessible on the web through cellphones, offer a sober alternative to the euphoric support for Modi’s government and Hindu nationalism on mainstream TV channels.
Facing Death Threats
Kamra grew up in Mumbai, where his father ran a pharmacy store. Being dyslexic, he has trouble reading emails and says he has never read a book. He dropped out of college and interned with MTV, India. Then, for six years, he worked as a production assistant for Corcoise Films.
In 2013, at the suggestion of a friend who is a stand-up comedian, Kamra took the stage at a comedy club in Mumbai. He got a loud ovation from the crowd, he told LiveMint, “only because everyone else was really bad."
In 2018, in a Facebook post offering advice to young comedians, Kamra says “As a comedian having a political opinion comes at a cost.” Corporations, venues, brands, event planners and others avoid hiring those critical of the government. Also, he adds, “Slowly and steadily you will even see that comedians who started out with you, don't want to be seen with you on social media because they don't want to risk what they have going for themselves.”
Kamra’s friends and family members have been threatened by Hindu extremist trolls online and via phone calls. Kamra was evicted from his apartment in Mumbai by the owner, because of his views. His phone number has been widely circulated leading to verbal attacks. He is accused of being a communist and receiving payments from communists.
Several of Kamra’s live shows have been cancelled, including in Baroda, Surat and Mysuru, due to threats of disruption by supporters of the BJP, according to news reports. He faces death threats, including from a man from Punjab repeatedly stating he will “shoot a bullet up my ass,” says Kamra.
While facing such threats, Kamra quotes Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the value of comedians: “We need more humor and satire in daily life. The power of a smile or the power of laughter is more than the power of abuse or any other weapon.”
An accidental political critic
On his Twitter account, where he has more than two million followers, Kamra pokes fun at his critics by describing himself as “A propagandist masquerading as a comedian, A card holding member of the CPI (Communist Party of India) & an owner of the new I-phone basically a total hypocrite.”
Kamra views himself as an artist trying to make a living through his comedies and not as a political activist. “Let me be very clear—for me, Shut Up Ya Kunal is primarily interesting content that can help fill seats at shows," he told LiveMint. “Yes, you can bring about awareness, you can help change minds, but it can’t be at the expense of not having good jokes."
He was not interested in politics, assuming all politicians are pathetic and corrupt, Kamra told Quartz. That changed in 2017, after he put up his first standup comedy video on YouTube: “…I saw people coming at me because I was trying to make fun of the prime minister and the party in power, that gave me the sense that there is something wrong with the regime.”
