By: Raghu Kesavan [R*aghu Kesavan writes about politics, sport and culture.]* Published in: *Scroll* Date: April 1, 2025 Source: https://scroll.in/article/1080845/how-the-attacks-on-kunal-karma-undermine-the-freedoms-of-all-indians
"Kamra’s Naya Bharat helps us understand his [Kunal Kamra's] role in such a society. To think of him as just a comic is misleading. Kamra belongs to the same rank as activist Umar Khalid, YouTube commentator Ravish Kumar and factcheckers Mohammed Zubair and Pratik Sinha, who, among others, have put themselves at risk to tell the truth about this country. What unites these figures is that they bear witness to India’s moral and political degradation. These [ 'murdered – martyred – for the crime of speaking' like: Gauri Lankesh, MM Kalburgi, Govind Pansare, Narendra Dabholkar,' or like 'Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others (who) languish in jail'] are the consequences of speaking out against Hindu majoritarianism. To bear witness to our moral decline is to maintain a commitment to the truth in spite of this intimidation. In essence, it is a Gandhian commitment. Gandhi understood that in the face of tyrannical power the one freedom we have left is the freedom to reject fear. And what was satyagraha if not a grand commitment to truth at subcontinental scale? In *Naya Bharat*, just before the credits roll, the video fades to white text over a black background. The line reads, “Life begins where fear ends.” Kamra understands the consequences of his work. For now, his life consists of dealing with those consequences. That will pass. But the heroism of this unlikely toreador making an idiot of these raging bulls will endure."
