Munawar Faruqui, a stand-up comedian who was denied permission to host a show in Bengaluru last month due to protests by right-wing groups, will appear in Kolkata in January.
On Saturday evening, the comedian took to Twitter to post a link to purchase tickets for his two-hour comedy act “Dhandho,” which will take place on January 16. The seats — priced at Rs 799 — are “filling fast,” according to the online ticketing platform BookMyShow.
Munawar Faruqui, a comedian, declared on November 28th that he will no longer appear on stage. Faruqui made this statement when his Bengaluru event was cancelled. Bengaluru police had requested that the event be cancelled.
Previously, 12 of his shows had been cancelled due to threats of vandalism against the venue. Faruqui spent a month in jail earlier this year after a BJP MLA’s son filed a complaint against him for allegedly hurting religious emotions with a joke.
After his latest show was denied permission by Bengaluru police in November, Faruqui had written on Twitter, “My name is Munawar Faruqui. And that’s been my time, you guys were (a) wonderful audience. Good bye, I’m done.
Right-wing groups such as the Sriram Sena and the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti had approached the Bengaluru city police commissioner, claiming that Munawar offends Hindu religious sensitivities by denigrating Hindu Gods.
The comedian’s Goa event was cancelled before this Bengaluru show due to pressure from the Hindu Janjagriti Samiti.
Faruqui was detained by the Indore Police earlier this year in a case for allegedly hurting religious sensibilities and spent over a month in jail. After the Supreme Court granted him bail in the case, he was released from the Indore central jail on February 7.