Bengaluru cops ask auditorium to cancel Munawar Faruqui’s show, cite law and order

After a letter from the police, the auditorium where the show was to be held has told organisers that it will not be able to provide a venue for the show.

In a controversial decision, the Bengaluru police have asked the Good Shepherd auditorium in the city’s Ashok Nagar area to cancel comedian Munawar Faruqui’s stand-up show, in light of complaints from Hindu vigilante groups. Munawar’s show was to be held at the Good Shepherd auditorium on Sunday, November 28, and the organisers said that 700 tickets for the show were sold. Munawar Faruqui is a stand-up comedian from Gujarat, who was arrested in 2021 by the Indore police after a BJP MLA’s son said that the jokes that “he was going to crack” at a local show are offensive.

On Saturday, November 27, the Bengaluru police wrote to the organisers of Munawar’s show in Ashok Nagar that Munawar is a ‘controversial figure’ and in the light of complaints on social media made by Hindu groups like Jai Shri Ram Sena Sanghathan and the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, there could be a law and order issue if the show is allowed to be held.

Anti-Hindu Stand Up comedian #MunawarFaruqui's program cancelled in Bengaluru after memorandum submitted to @CPBlr by HJS & Jai Sriram Sena@HinduJagrutiOrg thanks the @CPBlr & the authorities for the prompt action taken

HJS demands a tough law against denigration of deities pic.twitter.com/MCSb9JkpgA

— HJS Karnataka (@HJSKarnataka) November 28, 2021

Munawar Faruqui's one more Show Cancelled !!
Thanks to @BlrCityPolice for cancelling controversial show of communal joker @munawar0018 .
Anti-Hinduism to Nowhere !!@Rajput_Ramesh @GitaSKapoor_ @SiddhantMohite1 @HinduJagrutiOrg pic.twitter.com/7gmjD6Mv1X

— 🚩 Ramesh Shinde 🇮🇳 (@Ramesh_hjs) November 28, 2021

Following the police communique and fearing police backlash, the auditorium has now told the event organisers that they will not give access to the venue for Munawar’s show, scheduled for 5 pm on Sunday.

An official from the Good Shepherd auditorium has said that the police sent them a letter asking them not to hold the show on Saturday evening. “Yesterday, I told the organisers that I received the letter and told them not to hold the show. I do not know the content of Munawar Faruqui’s jokes but I have asked them to come to me with police protection,” a manager at Good Shepherd auditorium told TNM on Sunday morning.

An inspector from the Ashok Nagar Police Station, in an official note to the organisers, said, “It is learned that Munawar Faruqui is a controversial figure as he has been in controversial statements and on other religious gods. Many states have banned his comedy shows. It is learned that a case has been registered against him in the Tukoganj Police station, Indore of Madhya Pradesh State Cr.no. 02/2021 U/s 295(A), 298,269, & 188 R/w 34 IPC and similar cases have been registered against him in many states. There is credible information that several organizations oppose this stand-up-comedy show performed by Munawar Faruqui, this could create chaos and could disturb the public peace and harmony which may further lead to Law and Order problems. Therefore it is suggested that you should cancel the Mr. Munawar Faruqui stand-up — Comedy show, At Good Shepherd Auditorium on 28.11.2021 at 5.00 pm.”

In January 2021, Faruqui was arrested by Indore police and was in jail for more than a month. After a complaint from Eklavya Singh Gaud (36), son of local BJP MLA Malini Laxman Singh Gaud, that Munawar “was going to crack offensive jokes,” the Indore police had booked him for the allegedly objectionable jokes that he did not crack. Earlier, in the period of September-November, his show was cancelled in Surat, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Mumbai and Raipur following threats from Bajrang Dal. On November 13, after pressure from the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, his show in Goa was also cancelled.

Source : The News Minutes