Online ticketing platform BookMyShow, on Saturday, April 5, removed all content related to stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra and also removed him from the artists listed on its portal. Following this move, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena thanked Big Tree Entertainment Pvt Ltd (which owns online ticketing portal BookMyShow) for removing the content.
Kanal in his letter addressed to Big Tree Entertainment Pvt Ltd, on Saturday, thanked the company for removing Kunal from BookMyShow's sale and promotion listing. "I thank you for even taking him out of the BookMyShow search history. Thank you for keeping your portal clean and keeping such artists out of the list of pure entertainment, because we all being Mumbaikars love and believe in every form of art but not personal agendas,” he said.
The move comes after Shiv Sena youth leader and social media chief, Rahool N Kanal, wrote to BookMyShow, requesting the company not to provide a platform to Kamra. Rahool Kanal had urged the Big Tree Entertainment Pvt Ltd to refrain from providing a platform to the stand-up comedian. Kanal remarked that continuing to facilitate ticket sales for his events could be perceived as an endorsement of his ‘divisive’ rhetoric which may have serious repercussions for public sentiment and order in Mumbai.
“Kamra has been observed to engage in a sustained campaign of vilification and defamation, targeting the Prime Minister of India, Chief Ministers, Deputy Chief Ministers, and other public figures. These actions appear to be part of a broader criminal conspiracy, driven by ulterior motives that extend far beyond the realm of humour or satire,” he claimed.
Kanal had sent the letter amid a raging controversy over Kamra alluding to Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde as a traitor in a song. Three cases have been filed against Kamra, though the Madras High Court has granted him temporary protection from arrest. Police are currently recording statements from the cameraperson and other staff present during the show’s filming. They have also assured Kamra’s safety when he appears for questioning. However, Kamra has yet to appear before the Mumbai Police to record his statement despite three summons served on him.