New Delhi: After getting almost 12 of his shows cancelled in the past two months owing to threats from right-wing groups, comedian Munawar Faruqui indicated that he may not continue doing any more shows. His current show in Bengaluru which was scheduled to hold today was cancelled by the police and they asked the organisers to call it off showing reasons of possible ‘law and order’ issues while calling him a “controversial figure.”
Earlier this year, the 29-year-old stand-up comedian spent a month in jail under the charges of “insulting Hindu gods and goddesses” during one of his comedy shows.
After his Bengaluru show was cancelled, Faruqui took to Instagram saying, “Nafrat jeet gayi, artist haar gaya (hate has won, artist has lost). I’m done, goodbye. Injustice.”
Some of his fans and colleagues requested him not to stop doing the shows, which brings laughter and joy to individuals.
Music composer Mayur Jumani stated in the comment section, “Nope. You’re not quitting. We won’t let you.”
Faruqui was supposed to perform at Good Shepherd Auditorium at 5 PM with his show titled, “Dongri to Nowhere.” In a letter to the organiser of the show, the Bengaluru police stated that Faruqui is a “controversial figure” and as well Mohan Gowda of the Hindu Jagran Samiti in Bengaluru won’t allow the show to take place.
Following this, Faruqui in the Instagram post revealed that over 600 tickets were sold for the Bengaluru event, however, the show got cancelled due to “threats of vandalism.”
His post further stated, “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.”
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“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,” said the comedian 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.
Earlier, while talking to NDTV, Faruqui said that there was nothing problematic in the content. He gave a rough figure that almost 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 comedian concluded by saying, “everyone is targeted”. “In my case, they use religion. That scares me.”
