Munawar Faruqui, the stand-up comedian, several of whose shows across the country have been cancelled recently owing to threats from right-wing groups, has now been dropped from the upcoming three-day Gurgaon Comedy Festival. The organisers cited “public safety” concerns as the reason for the decision, according to The Indian Express.
Over the past two days, they received repeated calls and messages opposing Faruqui’s participation, the organisers said. Refusing to comment further on who called and complained, Mubin Tisekar, one of the organisers said, “We did not want to hurt anyone’s sentiments or put the public in danger, so we removed him from the panel. The decision was taken yesterday [Monday] and we made changes to the poster and ticketing platform.”
Tisekar said after the poster was first put out on social media, they faced backlash online. “After the tweets, we repeatedly got calls from everywhere. We did not want to go ahead with all that. At the end of the day, this business is about making people laugh.”
The festival is scheduled to held from December 17 to 19 at Airia Mall in Gurgaon.
Other comedians performing at the Gurgaon Comedy Festival include Jeevanshu Ahluwalia, Gaurav Kapoor, Nishant Suri, Rahul Dua, Gaurav Gupta, Atul Khatri, Harsh Gujral, and Amit Tandon.
Meanwhile, on Monday, a police complaint was filed against Faruqui by the Haryana head of BJP’s IT department, Arun Yadav, accusing the comedian of insulting Hindu gods and goddesses and asking the police to ensure he doesn’t perform. “To maintain peace and harmony between different sections of the society, I request you to look into the matter and stop him. His activities have offended my Hindu faith,” Yadav mentioned in his complaint.
“I had tweeted on December 4 saying that his shows shall not be allowed in Gurgaon or elsewhere. I filed a complaint with ACP Sohna today,” Yadav told The Indian Express.
Recently, Faruqui had hinted that he would quit comedy following the cancellation of his show in Bangalore on November 28.
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It was the last in a series of as many as 12 of his Dongri To Nowhere shows that were called off over a span of two months owing to intimidation by right-wing groups. Faruqui’s shows were cancelled in various cities, such as Ahmedabad, Raipur, Mumbai, and Goa following threats from Bajrang Dal, the Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP).
“I think this is The End. My name is Munawar Faruqui and that’s been my time. You guys were a wonderful audience. Goodbye! I’m done,” Faruqui wrote in his social media post on November 28.
He also referred to his arrest in Indore earlier this year for a “joke he did not make,” which was the beginning of the comedian’s hounding by the right-wing groups.