Denied entry into ‘Howdy Modi’ due to my comments on PM, says comedian Hasan Minhaj

Hasan Minhaj live-streamed the ‘Howdy Modi’ event from the parking lot of the NSG stadium in Houston. (Twitter/@hasanminhaj)

Comedian Hasan Minhaj Wednesday said he was torn apart for being denied entry into Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Howdy Modi’ event in Houston last week. Speaking on the Late Night with Seth Meyers, Minhaj said he was told he was denied entry to the event at NSG stadium due to “some of the comments” he had made about the Prime Minister, and that he has been “blacklisted”.

Incidentally, Minhaj, who watched the live stream from the parking lot of the venue, was mentioned during the event. He explained, “During the programme, they were honouring prominent Indian-Americans. They said, ‘Indian-Americans have done so much in arts, music, even comedy’… and then they show a photo of me on the jumbotron, and people start clapping!”

“Do you understand what’s happening… they were honouring me for my comedy, while also blackmailing me and blackballing me,” he added.

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Taking a dig at President Donald Trump, who attended the event, Minhaj said, “A lot of people in the Indian community don’t rock with Trump, but because of this pairing, they just had to stand for DJT.”

Minhaj, the creator of Netflix’s Patriotic Act, had taken a dig at the BJP as well as PM Modi in an episode ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections called ‘Indian Elections’. In the 30-minute episode, he had spoken about Kashmir, the Pulwama attack and the Balakot strike that followed, demonetisation, unemployment and cow lynchings, among other things.