Sun 28 November 2021:
Comedian Munawar Faruqui today indicated he may not do any more shows, after at least 12 of his shows were cancelled in the last two months due to threats from right-wing groups. The latest show to be cancelled was scheduled today in Bengaluru, where the police asked the organisers to call it off citing possible law and order problems.
Mr Faruqui spent a month in jail earlier this year on charges of “insulting Hindu gods and goddesses” during one of his comedy shows.
In today’s Instagram post after his Bengaluru show was cancelled, Mr Faruqui said, “Nafrat jeet gayi, artist haar gaya (hate has won, artist has lost). I’m done, goodbye. Injustice.”
Some of his fans requested him not to stop doing shows.
“Nope. You’re not quitting. We won’t let you,” music composer Mayur Jumani posted in the comments section.
In a letter to the organiser Good Shepherd auditorium today, the Bengaluru Police referred to Mr Faruqui’s show “Dongri to Nowhere” and said Mr Faruqui is a “controversial figure”. Mohan Gowda of the Hindu Jagran Samiti in Bengaluru also said they won’t allow the show to be held.
Following this, Mr Faruqui in the Instagram post said they had sold over 600 tickets for the Bengaluru event but the show has been cancelled due to “threats of vandalism”.
“Aaj Bangalore show cancel ho gaya (under the threats of venue vandalism). We sold 600+ tickets. Month back my team called late Puneeth Rajkumar sir organisation for charity which we will be going to generate from this show in Bangalore. We agreed to not sell the show on the name of charity as suggested by the noble organisation,” Mr Faruqui said.
“Putting me in jail for the joke I never did to cancelling my shows, which has nothing problematic in it. This is unfair. This show has gained so much love from people in India irrespective of their religion. This is unfair. We do have censor certificate of the show and it’s clearly nothing problematic in the show. We called off 12 shows in the last two months because of threats to venue and audience,” the comedian said in the long Instagram post.
“…I think this is the end. My name is Munawar Faruqui and that’s been my time. You guys were wonderful audience. Goodbye, I’m done,” he said.
View this post on Instagram
Mr Faruqui earlier this month told NDTV there was nothing problematic in his content. He had said up to 80 people including drivers, volunteers and guards earn a living from a single show. “I used to think sometimes that maybe I am wrong, but after what has happened, I have understood that some people are trying to gain political advantage out of this,” he had said.
The comic said “everyone is targeted”. “In my case, they use religion. That scares me,” he said.
-NDTV
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