Mumbai: Mumbai’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has launched a demolition drive at The Habitat Studio, located at the Unicontinental Hotel in Khar, on Monday, March 24, citing violations of civic rules.
The demolition drive comes after a video of standup comedian Kunal Kamra went massively viral where he allegedly mocked the state deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde calling him a ‘gaddar‘ (traitor). The standup act was held in the Habitat Studio.
BMC officials, armed with hammers arrived at the scene to execute the demolition. According to them, the studio stands in an encroached area between two hotels.
The Habitat Studio shuts down
Earlier in the day, The Habitat Studio announced it was shutting operations, following vandalism by Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) cadres late Sunday night. So far, 12 people, including their leader Rahul Kanal, have been taken into judicial custody.
In an Instagram post on Monday, the studio said: “We are shocked, worried and extremely broken by the recent acts of vandalism targeting us.”
The studio said artists are “solely responsible for their views and creative choices” and they have never been involved in the content performed by them.
“But recent events have made us rethink about how we get blamed and targeted every time almost like we are the proxy for the performer.
“We are shutting down till we figure out the best way to provide a platform for free expression without putting ourselves and our 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 performer’s rights,” the note further read.
It also issued an apology to “all those hurt by this video”. “The Habitat is not involved in the making of the recent video of Kunal Kamra and it does not endorse the views expressed by it,” it said.
Kunal Kamra didn’t do anything wrong: Uddhav
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said Kunal Kamra has not done anything wrong. “Kamra merely expressed his views. He stated the facts and voiced the public opinion,” Thackeray told reporters at Vidhan Bhawan in south Mumbai.
“Kamra hasn’t done anything wrong…These traitors don’t see Solapurkar and Koratkar who insulted Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,” Thackeray said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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