The Latest Breaking News from Shiv Sena

Over the past few months, Maharashtra has seen a renewed wave of Marathi identity politics – or asmita, as it’s known. It began when the Devendra Fadnavis-led government issued a government resolution (GR) making Hindi a compulsory third language in schools. Following backlash, the government quietly revised the order, saying…

From branding South Indians as “yandu gundu” in the 70s to targeting North Indians as “bhaiyas”, regional identity has long been the Thackeray brand’s go-to political weapon – first with Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, then with Raj Thackeray’s breakaway Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Decades later, with both Uddhav and Raj politically…

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Jayashree Arunachalam and Anand Vardhan are joined by comedian and screenwriter Anuvab Pal. The panel first discusses the Kunal Kamra controversy. Jayashree lays down the timeline of incidents and Abhinandan highlights the Supreme Court’s comments on free speech in the Imran…

Comedian Kunal Kamra’s latest stand-up show has caused a huge political controversy. His jokes have led to protests, vandalism, and even the unexpected shutdown of Mumbai’s famous comedy venue, The Habitat. In this episode of TV Newsance, we look at how ridiculous the outrage is – Shiv Sena workers look…

There’s a comedy venue in Mumbai called The Habitat. But its true identity lies in its logo – an unnaturally tall and innocent-looking H. This H has the kind of polarised energy usually reserved for other combinations of letters, such as an R and an S and then another S. 

COMEDY IN INDIA UNDER ATTACK: Political party workers vandalising a performing arts venue after a standup comic makes a joke about their leader shows crackdowns on comedy in India are escalating, Shahana Yasmin reports

Weeks after it made headlines for being the venue of podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia’s remarks, the Habitat Comedy Club in Mumbai now stands shut following vandalism, two FIRs and a political controversy surrounding Kunal Kamra’s performance at the venue.

Shiv Sena party supporters tore apart the Habitat comedy club after Kunal Kamra’s satirical song about a top minister

On the other hand, the Uddhav faction was seen defending the comedian. Read further on Dynamite News: