Comedian Munawar Faruqui today took to social media to indicate that he may not do any more shows, after at least 12 of his shows were cancelled in the last two months due to threats received from religious outfits. Faruqui had a scheduled show in Bengaluru today evening which was called off by the city police citing ‘law and order’ issues and termed him a ‘controversial figure’. The comedian was supposed to perform at the Good Shepherd Auditorium at 5 pm with his show titled ‘Dongri to Nowhere’.
Taking to Instagram, Faruqui wrote an emotional note and said, “Nafrat jeet gayi, artist haar gaya (hate has won, artist has lost). I'm done, goodbye. Injustice." He wrote, “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. 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. 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.”
A news portal quoted Siddharth Dash, one of the organisers of the programme, who confirmed about the cancellation. A letter was sent by the Ashok Nagar police on Saturday to the Curtain Call, the organisers of the show. The letter reads, “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 could disturb the public peace and harmony which may further lead to law and order problems.”
The portal quoted a senior police officer who said, “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.”
(Source: Instagram/Indian Express)
