Munawar Faruqui, a comedian, released a statement on Instagram on Sunday that was designed like an open mic and finished with the comedian signing off for the last time, as he stated, ‘This is the end.’ Thank you very much! ‘I’m finished.’ Hatred triumphed over the artist, the comic remarked, recalling how his 12 gigs in the last two months were cancelled due to threats. The most recent was the cancellation of his event in Bengaluru, which was set to take place on Sunday. Because “Munawar Faruqui” is a controversial person, Bengaluru Police acknowledged that they have denied him permission.
“It is learnt that Munawar Faruqui is a controversial figure….. Many states have banned his comedy shows. It is learnt that a case has been registered against him in the Tukoji police station in Indore of Madhya Pradesh,” the inspector of the Ashokanagar Police station said in his letter.
A post shared by Munawar Faruqui (@munawar.faruqui)
Right-wing groups such as the Sriram Sena and the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti had approached the Bengaluru city police commissioner, claiming that Munawar offends Hindu religious sensitivities by denigrating Hindu Gods.
The comedian’s Goa event was cancelled before this Bengaluru show due to pressure from the Hindu Janjagriti Samiti.
‘Placing me in jail for a joke I never committed’
Faruqui was detained by the Indore Police earlier this year in a case for allegedly hurting religious sensibilities and spent over a month in jail. After the Supreme Court granted him bail in the case, he was released from the Indore central jail on February 7.
Faruqui and four others were arrested on January 1 after a BJP MLA’s son alleged that at a comedy show in Indore on New Year’s Day, objectionable remarks about Hindu deities and Union home minister Amit Shah were made.
Faruqui stated that he never cracked the joke on the broadcast for which he was detained, claiming that he was arrested before the show ever began. The video proof was allegedly from his previous shows in various parts of the country, but not in Indore.
