Congress takes on right-wing, to ensure comedian performs in city

Bengaluru police has asked organisers to cancel Munawar Faruqui’s event citing possible law and order problems

Mumbai After the Bengaluru police asked organisers of comedian Munawar Faruqui’s show to call off the event citing possible law and order problems, the Congress has taken on right-wing groups and is working to get him to perform in Mumbai.

Congress has gotten in touch with the comedian and is trying to arrange a show in Mumbai (HT File)

“We are in touch with Munawar. We are discussing how to get him here... this is not just about hosting Munawar Faruqui, but about asserting the rights of a citizen,” said Mathew Anthony, president of All India Professionals Congress (AIPC), Maharashtra. The AIPC is the frontal wing of the Congress for working professionals and entrepreneurs.

Anthony added that they would make a formal announcement in a few days once they secure his consent. The AIPC is also looking at venues across the city to host the event and a decision will be taken after speaking to the police, venue owners and managers.

Faruqui spent around a month in jail earlier this year after being arrested in Madhya Pradesh on charges of “insulting Hindu gods and goddesses” during one of his shows and had been granted bail by the Supreme Court (SC). The cancellation of his show in Bengaluru had prompted the stand-up comic to say that he may not do any more shows. In an Instagram post, Faruqui said: “Nafrat jeet gayi, artist haar gaya” (hate has won, the artist has lost), and added: “I’m done, goodbye. Injustice.”

In the last two months, around 12 of his shows were cancelled due to threats from right-wing groups. In October, Faruqui had also been forced to cancel his shows scheduled to be held in Mumbai after threats from the right-wing Bajrang Dal, citing the safety of the audience.

Anthony, whose party is a constituent of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime in Maharashtra, said that they would work with the police and the law and order machinery to ensure that Munawar’s proposed event in Mumbai happens peacefully. He added that they would work to “assist Munawar to avail the rights given to him by the Constitution.”

People also had the right to disagree with him, he explained, adding that “we have to stand for certain values.” “We do not have anything against the right-wing... they can disagree but cannot threaten,” he added.

In 2018, the AIPC, which has Shashi Tharoor, author, former international civil servant and Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram as the chairman, had organised a book launch and interaction with former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Kanhaiya Kumar at Bandra in Mumbai. Then, the Mumbai police had initially disallowed the event citing possible law and order issues but acquiesced later.