The events of this past Sunday night have made one thing absolutely clear: In the “mother of democracy”, the quickest – only – way to get a state government’s attention is through punchlines.
For months, ordinary Mumbaikars have tried every tool in their arsenal to denounce their city’s crumbling civic infrastructure: Rubble where roads used to exist, the new flyovers and undersea tunnels that begin to sigh within weeks of their inauguration, the constant construction that has brought its AQI on par with Delhi. Petitions, protests, and social media shaming have fallen on deaf ears, but a joke? Please, we’re Indians.
This weekend, as stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra wrapped up his set at The Habitat, a mob of Shiv Sena workers demonstrated their commitment to law and order by ransacking the popular Mumbai venue. They were offended by Kamra labelling Eknath Shinde, their leader and Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister, a “gaddar” (traitor).
Remember that in 2022, Shinde had broken ranks with the Shiv Sena headed by Uddhav Thackeray, leading to the dissolution of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. He went on to become Maharashtra’s CM with the support of the BJP.
After they were done vandalising the studio, the Sena goons then went on to file an FIR against Kamra, while also threatening him on the phone. On Monday, the BMC showed up with hammers at the hotel where The Habitat is located, presumably to finish the job the Sena mob began.
A ‘Smart City’
I am completely unsurprised by the backlash Kamra has faced, or the message that the Sena wishes to send out by destroying the venue he performed at. After all, it’s barely been a month since we discovered that even the court’s most favoured jesters aren’t immune to crackdowns. Ranveer Allahbadia, or BeerBiceps—an award-winning content creator who has built his brand on softball interviews with Indian ministers—understood this first-hand.
Allahbadia, who made some off-colour remarks on the show India’s Got Latent, learned that no number of selfies with the Prime Minister can protect you from the whole buffet of multiple FIRs, death threats, and social media condemnation. At least Kamra is a noted critic.
What has pulled the rug from under my feet though, is the speed and military precision with which the government and civic bodies were able to mobilise. The destruction was swift, thorough, and, unlike so many government initiatives, completed without delays or budget overruns. This is really the definition of a “Smart City”—not smart roads or infrastructure, but the efficiency we have when dealing with jokes that sting political egos.
Meanwhile, over the last week, Grok and Right-wing Indians on X were locked in a race to the bottom at the ‘Wokelympics’. What the AI chatbot, designed and marketed as an “anti-woke” platform, lacked in decency, it more than made up for in comedy, when it consistently sparred with that other constituency that despises wokes.
In a few days, Grok, designed by Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, has been able to say things that regular Indians have been afraid to say for years, fearing online retribution. This makes another thing crystal clear: In today’s India, an algorithm enjoys more freedom of speech than flesh-and-blood citizens with actual rights. As Musk would have said, “Let that sink in.”
Right-wing X users, who had welcomed this “unfiltered” AI thinking it would reinforce their worldview, suddenly discovered the uncomfortable truth about truly unfiltered speech. Grok has been freely dispensing observations about Prime Minister Narendra Modi that would have human beings looking over their shoulders. When users asked Grok about Modi, it cheerfully declared that Rahul Gandhi was “more honest” and had “better formal education” than the PM. It even suggested that Modi’s carefully choreographed interviews “often seemed scripted”—a statement so obvious yet so forbidden in a country of no press conferences.
The chatbot didn’t stop there. It made critical observations about the RSS and compiled lists of misinformation peddlers. It spoke about the hypocrisy of different rules for expressions of public devotion. It used the same language that Right-wing X users employ when speaking to the other side. Their collective meltdown was so spectacular that our IT ministry reportedly began discussing potential measures against Grok under IT rules. Meanwhile, Elon Musk—the self-proclaimed free speech absolutist revered by the Indian Right-wing—responded to the uproar with a single laughing emoji.
Also read: Ranveer Allahbadia fought Left cancel culture. And yet, the Right came after him
Time for satire to retire
The irony deepens when we consider the fundamental nature of AI systems like Grok. The biggest problem with using the platform, experts say, is relying on it for factual information. Nikhil Pahwa, founder-editor of MediaNama.com, told the BBC that “at its core, AI is fundamentally ‘garbage in, garbage out’ – its outputs reflect the data it is trained on, and the weights given to it.” Rohit Kumar, founding partner of public policy firm The Quantum Hub cautioned against the integration of Grok on X, “where content can spread unchecked, potentially leading to real-world harm, such as a riot.”
I’m certain though, that some Indians envy Grok’s candidness—the algorithm speaks freely, while comedians are forced to hunker down. At this rate, maybe we should let AI organise our protests.
In some ways, Grok is a perfect encapsulation of a moment. As Kalim Ahmed writes in Frontline magazine, “In 2025, the Overton window has shifted. Views that were once seen as bigoted are now accepted… Moderation across social media platforms has all but disappeared. This phenomenon was accelerated by Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter in 2022. The bar is not low; the bar does not exist to begin with.”
Yet, Indian liberals find themselves in a bewildering reality—having to appreciate something created by Musk, a man who wears his anti-woke credentials on his sleeve. When an AI developed by a Right-wing billionaire—who is causing mayhem in an unelected position in the most powerful country in the world—becomes the most honest commentator on Indian politics, you know it’s time for satire to retire.
Perhaps this is the future we were promised: a nation where lifelike binary code has more protection than flesh-and-blood humans. And the only safe place to speak truth to power is inside a data centre, aeons away from any political egos.
Karanjeet Kaur is a journalist, former editor of Arré, and a partner at TWO Design. She tweets @Kaju_Katri. Views are personal.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)
This woman and her disgusting selectiveness.Bootlickers of Rahul Gandhi like you trying everything even using something like grok selectively which have bdw destroyed the left to denounce PM Modi as a less good leader than your stupid clown in the parliament.it being 11 years still you think PM modi can be defeated with you juvenile arguments and editorials
Musk and Kamra should do a podcast together. It would be quite fun, both agents of unfiltered “truth”.