This Week in Explainers: Why Kunal Kamra faced ire of Shiv Sena over Eknath Shinde ‘joke’

This week India waded into a debate on freedom of speech and faced the bitter reality of racial and gender discrimination prevalent in the country. Comic Kunal Kamra was subjected to the fury of Shiv Sena, whose workers vandalised a hotel where he had performed.

In other news, a top Kerala official sparked a discussion on racial and gender discrimination by opening up about the biases she experienced in her career as a dark-skinned woman.

Moving to defence, India has finally started receiving jet engines for its Tejas Mk-1A fighter jet. While state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) had signed a deal with America’s General Electric (GE) in 2021, the delivery of the F-404 engines was delayed.

We take a look at these stories and more in our weekly wrap from India.

1. Comedian Kunal Kamra, who is not new to controversies, was thrown in the spotlight for a jibe at Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The popular stand-up comic got into a row over his comment on the Shiv Sena chief in his new comedy special titled Naya Bharat, a video of which he uploaded on YouTube on Sunday.

In the show, Kamra referred to Shinde as a “traitor” (gaddar), without naming him, while taking aim at his rebellion in 2022 that led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in Maharashtra and split Shiv Sena. As the comic’s act went viral, supporters of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction created a storm, ransacking The Habitat in Mumbai’s Khar where Kamra had filmed the comedy special.

Maharashtra ❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/FYaL8tnT1R

— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) March 23, 2025

The incident also stirred a debate about freedom of speech and its limitations. We explain the controversy in detail here.

2. India has got the first 99 F404-IN20 engines for the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk 1A fighter jet from the American engine manufacturer General Electric (GE) Aerospace. Manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, the Tejas LCA is an indigenous single-engine, multi-role fighter. The Mk-1A fighter jet is its variant.

While HAL reached a $716 million deal with GE in 2021, it is only now that the US company delivered the first engines. What led to the delays? And why are these jet engines so important for India? Read our report to find out.

3. Kerala Chief Secretary Sarada Muraleedharan made headlines this week after sharing how she faced discrimination in her professional life due to her gender and skin colour. In a post on Facebook, Muraleedharan spoke about how a remark, with racist undertones, was made comparing her work to her husband, V Venu, whom she succeeded as Kerala’s chief secretary.

Someone commented, that her leadership was “as black as my husband’s was white.” Muraleedharan’s post sparked a discussion about the bias that women with darker skin face at workplaces, households, hiring processes, and professional evaluations. Here’s our story.

4. Amid poor voter turnout of overseas electors, a parliamentary panel has endorsed extending the choice of remote voting to non-resident Indians (NRIs). Currently, India allows adults living abroad who are a citizen of India and have not acquired citizenship of another country to cast their ballot. However, NRIs can vote only if they physically visit the polling booth in their constituency in India.

Due to the high travel costs and geographical distance, many Indians residing abroad fail to turn up at their constituencies to exercise their franchise. Now, a parliamentary panel has endorsed remote voting for NRIs. We explain in this story.

5. It is not good news for India. A survey by a leading wealth management firm has found that those with a net worth of over Rs 25 crore want to or are already leaving the country. It said that at least 22 per cent of Ultra High-Net worth Individuals (UHNIs) wish to leave India.

Additionally, one in five ultra HNIs surveyed are in the process of migrating. These wealthy Indians prefer the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and the UAE to shift. But why are rich people leaving India? Here’s our report on this.

6. Prasanna Sankar, the co-founder of tech firm Rippling, is embroiled in a bitter legal dispute with his estranged wife, Dhivya Sashidhar. Based in Singapore, he is in India to file for divorce.

But the personal rift has moved beyond divorce with both Sankar and Sashidhar levelling allegations, including kidnapping, police harassment, and extortion, against each other. But what do we know about Prasanna Sankar? Read our story to know more.

This is all we have for you this week. If you like the way we explain news, you can bookmark this page.