Two days after the comedian Munawar Faruqui and four other people were arrested For allegedly insulting the religious sentiments of Hindus, a woman claiming to be part of the audience took to Instagram and denied that he had made any derogatory comments during the show, while a police officer said there was no video evidence that will show it by making the comments.
This came even when other comedians expressed their solidarity with Faruqui and stressed the importance of humor.
Indore police arrested Faruqui and four associates on Friday following a complaint by Eklavya Gaur, son of Indore-4 BJP MLA Malini Gaur, who allegedly insulted Hindu deities during the show and also joked about Interior Minister Amit Shah . “He is a serial offender and he often makes defamatory jokes about Hindu gods and goddesses,” Gaur told reporters outside the police station.
“When I heard about the Munawar show, I bought a ticket and went to see it. As expected, he was insulting Hindu deities and also mocked the Minister of the Interior, Amit Shah, dragging his name with the Godhra riots. “Afterwards, he and his associates stopped the program, took them to the police station of Tukaganj and posted videos of the show, he said.
However, Tukaganj Police Station Municipal Inspector Kamlesh Sharma told The Indian Express that they have no evidence against Faruqui directly and that he has been booked as an organizer. “There is no evidence against him for insulting Hindu deities or Union Minister Amit Shah,” he said. He said the two videos submitted by the whistleblower are of another comedian with him allegedly making jokes about Lord Ganesh.
The police have registered an FIR against Faruqui and his Indore associates – Edvin Anthony, Prakhar Vyas, Priyam Vyas and Nalin Yadav – under Sections 295-A, 298, 269, 188 and 34 of the IPC.
A day after the incident, videos of the conversation between Gaur and Faruqui were circulating on social media. In a video, they are both on stage with Gaur accusing Faruqui of provoking Hindu feelings while the latter tries to convince him. After a long conversation, Gaur leaves the stage.
On Sunday, Jenosha Agnes, who claimed to be a member of the audience, recounted the incident on Instagram. “When Munawar arrived on stage, few people with political connections rushed up on stage, took the microphone and started saying ‘Hamare religious feelings hurt hue hai … Godhra kand per joke kiya … Hamare devi devta ka mazak udaya … Islam pe joke q nahi karta hai “.
“Munawar politely clarified that he never intended to hurt anyone. He handled the situation very well and they backed off, ”he said. A few minutes later, a crowd entered the room and the organizers withdrew. Then the police arrived and arrested Faruqui and others, he said. “Munawar Faruqui did not make derogatory comments on the Indore show,” he said.
Faruqui’s lawyer, Asad Warsi, said they will request bail on Monday. “We are claiming that there is no such evidence of offenses against any of them.”
Meanwhile, various comics, including Varun Grover, Vir Das, Kaneez Surkha, Agrima Joshua, and Rohan Joshi, took to social media in support of Faruqui.
Grover used Instagram and alleged that Faruqui was assaulted. Sharing a video of the incident, he wrote: “A fellow Indian, a fellow comedian, is in jail and was beaten by a mob for the words he spoke. Here you are trying to make your case logically and calmly, but our systems now just want to brutally silence every voice … They don’t want to listen, they don’t even want to argue, they just want to erase every bit of individual thought, every iota of reason. “
Comics Surka and Abish Mathew also shared the Faruqui clip on Instagram.
Das tweeted that “anyone who has ever tried to control humor now has a joke category dedicated to them.” “You can’t stop the jokes and the laughter. Not because comedians are playing it, but because people need to laugh. The more you try, the more they will laugh at you, now and because of history. “
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