Why are Munawar Faruqui 's live comedy shows cancelled in India
November 28, 2021
“Nafrat jeet hai, Artist haar gaya,” (hatred won, artist lost) comedian Munawar Faruqui tweeted in Hindi to announce the cancellation of his live performance in Bangalore today. This was due to threats to attack the audience and damage the venue as well as under pressure from the police.
Over the past three years, Faruqui, 30-years-old, has emerged as a popular Hindi comedian, with 1.5 million subscribers on his official YouTube channel. His “Ghost Story” episode, released nine months ago, has gotten 9.2 million views; “Doctor & Engineer”, released six months ago, 8.1 million views; and Politics in India, 7.3 million views. He has more than 700,000 followers on Instagram; 116,000 on Twitter; and 104,000 on Facebook.
A fan of Urdu poetry, Faruqui is also a rap singer with videos of his songs, some of which are parodies of popular Bollywood hits, attracting millions of viewers on YouTube. In his videos and songs, he offers insights into major social and political issues, including attacks on Muslims and Hindu Muslim riots. A Muslim, he also pokes fun of Muslims, including himself, and their lifestyles and religious practices. For instance, in his video Dawood, Yamraj & Aurat, (Dawood, God of death and women), which has gotten nearly 10 million views, he chats about Dawood and other Muslim gangsters and about life in Dongri and Nagpada, Muslim neighborhoods in Mumbai.
Despite the threats to the audience and the venue, Faruqui’s stand-up comedy show in Bangalore had already sold more than 600 tickets. Apparently, there may have been political motives in pressuring the organizers to cancel the show.
Bangalore is the capital of the state of Karnataka, which is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with Basavaraj Bommai as the chief minister. Earlier this month, an election was held for a seat in the state legislature from Bommai’s home district. Before the poll, he predicted that the outcome “will be an indicator” of which party would win the statewide legislative elections to be held in 2023, according to The Hindustan Times. The BJP lost the seat to the opposition Congress Party, which the paper noted, could hurt the BJP’s chances of being re-elected in the state in 2023.
Faruqui’s show would have raised funds for the Puneeth Rajkumar Foundation. Rajkumar, 46-years-old, who died of a heart attack last month, was a revered film superstar in Karnataka. He was a big donor to social causes, including to fight COVID-19. The show’s organizers, though, agreed with the foundation’s request to avoid public disclosure of the fund raiser. Possibly, the foundation’s trustees sought to avoid being criticized, and perhaps even penalized, by Hindu nationalist leaders for teaming up with a Muslim comedian to raise funds in memory of Rajkumar, who was a Hindu.
If Faruqui had been allowed to perform, and it became known that he raised funds for the Rajkumar foundation, millions of the late film star’s fans in Karnataka would likely have viewed it positively, as Hindus and Muslims working together to tackle social causes. This could dent or directly challenge the political strategy of demonizing Muslims, pursued by the Hindu nationalists.
The Bangalore police, in pressing for the show to be cancelled, stated, "It is learned that Munawar Faruqui is a controversial figure as he has made controversial statements on other religions' gods," India Today reported.
Over the past two months, Faruqui had to cancel twelve live comedy shows, including in Mumbai and Goa. In January, he was arrested and imprisoned in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, based on a complaint by the son of a local leader that the comedian was reportedly “going to make objectionable statements about Hindu gods during the show.”
The BJP rules Madhya Pradesh, as well as the central government, with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister. Faruqui was released from prison after 37 days, following an order from India’s Supreme Court. The police “caught me even before I said anything,” he told The Hindu.
Munawar Iqbal Faruqui was born in Junagadh, Gujarat. In 2007, following Hindu Muslim riots, his family was forced to move to the Dongri area in Mumbai. A year later, his father, a driver, fell ill and so, at age 17, Faruqui worked at a store to support his parents and three sisters. He sold pots and pans, while also attending school, and learned Hindi and English by reading newspapers at the store. He then worked as a graphic designer.
It was only in 2018 that Faruqui started performing stand-up comedy. He posted his first video on YouTube in January 2020. The next month he lost his father but also got his first stand-up shows in Mumbai. There were “days I’d be crying in the green room just before being called up to the stage,” he told The Hindu.
Faruqui notes that the content of his live shows was approved by Indian government appointed censors. It has “gained so much love from people in India irrespective of their religion,” he states. Today, he tweeted, that putting him in jail for a “joke I never did to cancelling my shows which have nothing problematic in it…is unfair…I’m done! Goodbye! INJUSTICE.”
News about Faruqui being imprisoned and his shows being cancelled are widely reported in the Indian media. So, while Hindu nationalists may force him to give up live performances, he is attracting more online viewers on YouTube. Given the millions of viewers, his YouTube channel is likely earning him a good sum. Hopefully he will continue creating and posting videos and music online. Speaking of his songs, he told The Hindu, “A song can convey in minutes, what a story can take four hours to narrate.”
