Comedian Munawar Faruqui booked for allegedly insulting Hindu Gods
The Madhya Pradesh Police has booked Mumbai-based comedian Munawar Faruqui and others for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by making derogatory comments about Hindu deities in Madhya Pradesh's Indore, reports said on Saturday. A First Information Report (FIR) was filed against Faruqui and the organizers of the show where he was performing. In fact, an altercation also ensued at the event. Here are more details.
The police said that charges against Faruqui and others were imposed after his performance at the city's Monroe Cafe. The complaint was filed by Eklavya Singh Gaur, the chief of right-wing group Hind Rakshak Sangathan. Gaur is the son of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Malini Gaur. "During the show, the comedian allegedly mocked Hindu gods and goddesses," a police official said.
After the said program ended, the comic was allegedly roughed up by the members of the group, who then forcefully took Faruqui and the show's organizers to the Tukoganj Police station. Faruqui has also been accused of making objectionable statements about the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and of mocking those who were killed in the 2002 Godhra massacre.
"As soon as we came to know about this program, we bought tickets for the event and we found that he [Faruqui] was making fun of Hindu gods and goddesses and the Home Minister, as he had done in the past (sic)," Gaur told NDTV.
Here's the video of the brawl... pic.twitter.com/Fb9hXUHllN
— Z (@pindropviolence) January 1, 2021
The police has detained the comedian and said that they are also looking into allegations that the owners of the cafe had organized the stand-up event without the due permission of authorities. Besides, the show was allegedly attended by several people below the age of 18. Cops said they were examining video footage from the event, based on which they will investigate the matter.
To recall, this is not the first time that Faruqui has courted such a controversy. In April last year, Ramesh Solanki, a Hindutva activist and former member of the Shiv Sena, had filed a complaint with the Mumbai Police against Faruqui for "mocking Sri Ram and Sita Maata." Many on social media had called for the comedian's arrest at that time.
