Munawar Faruqui’s Bengaluru show also cancelled; ‘hate won, I’m done,’ says comedian

Faruqui, who was scheduled to perform in Bengaluru on Sunday as part of a show titled ‘Dongri to Nowhere’, said in a social media post, “Nafrat jeet gayi, artist haar gaya (hate has won, artist has lost). I’m done, goodbye. Injustice.”

Siddharth Dash, one of the organisers of the programme, said the show was cancelled after they received threats and police withdrew permission to hold the event.

“We were planning to hold the show… We wanted to give a portion of the proceeds from the show to Shakthidhama, a women’s rehabilitation centre that the late Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar was involved with. We had also held talks with the actor’s team,” he said, adding, “We are disappointed that the show was stopped abruptly by the police at the last minute.”

The Deputy Commissioner of Police for the central Bengaluru region, M N Anucheth, refused to comment. He said a communication had been sent in writing to the organisers.

A letter was sent by the Ashok Nagar police station in central Bengaluru on Saturday to Curtain Call, the organisers of the show, asking for the show to be cancelled.

“It is learnt that cases have been registered against him (Munawar Faruqui) in several states. There is credible information that several organisations oppose this standup comedy show and this could create chaos and disturb public peace and harmony which may further lead to law and order problems,” said the letter.

A police officer in the know of the situation said a message had come from higher officials not to permit the event.

Karnataka Home Minister and senior BJP leader Araga Jnanendra was not available for comment.

“Munawar Faruqui is a controversial figure and many states have banned his shows. He has been banned for making controversial statements against a specific religion. The organisers gave a letter on 15 November seeking police protection (for the show) and we have cancelled it,” said a senior police officer on the condition of anonymity.

All the journalists reaching out for a comment all I have to say is this.
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/ZrHlwlSfWn

— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) November 28, 2021

Vinay Srinivas, a civil rights activist and advocate, said forcing the organisers to cancel the show was a violation of the right to freedom of speech and expression.

Faruqui was arrested on January 1 from a cafe in Indore on a complaint made by BJP MLA Malini Singh Gaud’s son Eklavya Singh Gaud, who runs an outfit called Hindu Rakshak Sanghatan. In his complaint, Gaud alleged that Faruqui had cracked jokes against Hindu gods and goddesses and even made fun of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Police had booked Farooqui under Section 295 of the IPC for allegedly hurting religious sentiments though police admitted that they had no evidence of Faruqui cracking such jokes at the event. He was lodged at Indore jail along with four others.

Faruqui’s bail plea was rejected twice by the Indore sessions court, followed by the MP High Court. On February 7, 36 days after he was arrested, the Supreme Court finally granted him interim bail.

Despite the order, Indore jail authorities had refused to release Faruqui saying they haven’t received the order. Faruqui was, in fact, being prepared to be handed over to the Prayagraj police, which had issued a production warrant against him in a case registered last April.

After Farooqui’s advocate, Ashar Warsi, called the actions a contempt of the Supreme Court order, around midnight on February6-7, Faruqui was released from a backdoor of the Indore jail.

On Sunday, speaking to The Indian Express, Warsi pointed out, “Even today, almost a year after his arrest, police haven’t filed a chargesheet in the case. The case was nothing more than a misuse of power.”

Following Faruqui’s release from Indore jail, three of his shows scheduled in Surat, Ahmedabad and Vadodara were cancelled in September after threats from Bajrang Dal. This was followed by his shows getting cancelled in October in Mumbai, after the Bajrang Dal threatened to burn the venue down if the show was not stopped. In November, two of his shows in Raipur were cancelled after the Bajrang Dal wrote to the police threatening to stop the show if the police didn’t.