Kiku Sharda’s arrest was condemned by the whole entertainment industry.
Often comedians and celebrities have to pay a heavy price for poking fun, even slightly, related to religion or politics. Comedian Kiku Sharda, who is well known for his stint on The Kapil Sharma Sharma Show, once landed in trouble for hurting religious beliefs.
Back in 2015, the comedian faced a lot of people and was booked under section 295 A of the Indian Penal Code (outraging religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief). The comedian was even arrested by Haryana police.
Comedian Kiku Sharda had mimicked Dera Sacha Sauda chief Saint Dr Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insaan, who has been convicted of rape by CBI, on a TV show, Jashn-e-Umeed. The comedian was arrested in January 2016 but was released on bail a day later. He then took to Twitter and apologized for his act on the show.
Doston the act on TV was not to hurt anyone’s feelings. My apologies to @Gurmeetramrahim ji and his followers. Let’s spread happiness. 🙏
— kiku sharda 🇮🇳 (@kikusharda) December 28, 2015
Sharda even held a media interaction following his release. As reported by IBTimes, “Well, things have been proven in the court and now we all know what he did. Justice happened and it was bound to happen, it’s karma. But whatever violence took place (following Ram Rahim’s conviction) was really sad. We shouldn’t have room for violence, we are peace-loving people, and we should stay in peace.”
Kiku Sharda’s arrest was condemned by the whole entertainment industry. While many political leaders stayed away from supporting him, Aam Aadmi Party came out in support of him and slammed the Haryana government for his arrest. AAP explained, “Aam Aadmi Party condemns the move of the Haryana government. What the BJP-led Haryana government has done is a continuation of the anti-people and anti-democratic values which the party stands for. No religious sentiments should be hurt by in this case.”
The party further stated, “The Haryana government is acting at the behest of a self-claimed spiritual guru who…publicly called upon his followers to vote for the BJP in the last Assembly polls. Kiku Sharda has apologised and the matter could very well have been laid to rest but the Manohar Lal Khattar government chose to give it a turn in order to appease its supportive hard-line elements.”
