HYDERABAD: BJP Telangana president Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Saturday instructed the activists of the BJ Yuva Morcha to ensure that stand-up comic Munawar Faruqui does not perform in Hyderabad.
The stand-up comic is scheduled to hold a show in the city on January 9, after right wing activists managed to stop him from performing in various cities across the country, after accusing him of having "insulted Hindu Gods and Goddesses".
Though unproven, the accusation was enough for Faruqui to spend 37 days in a jail in Indore before the Supreme Court had granted him bail with no restrictions on his movements. Faruqui's torment did not end after his release; he was obstructed from performing in various States including Mumbai, Gujarat and Goa among others.
On November 28, his sold out show in Bengaluru was cancelled at the last minute, after activists of the Sri Ram Sena and Hindu Janajagruti Samithi threatened to vandalise the Good Shepherd Auditorium, the venue of the show.
In exasperation, Faruqui tweeted: "Hatred won and the artist lost. I'm done, goodbye. Injustice."
Last week, when IT Minister KT Rama Rao was addressing the guests at the inauguration of Mass Mutual’s office at Nanakramguda in Hyderabad, he spoke about how Hyderabad was a perfect destination for establishing businesses and how its cosmopolitan nature has set the city apart from other cities.
In lighter vein, he had said that everybody was welcome to Hyderabad, including comedians like Munawar Faruqui and Kunal Kamra. "You claim to be a cosmopolitan city and then you end up taking comedy very seriously. I don't understand that at all," Rama Rao had said, referring to Bangaloreans.
Rama Rao's speech was enough for the BJP State leadership to make an issue out of. BJP MP D Arvind two days ago had warned that the party would not allow Faruqui to perform in Hyderabad.
On Saturday, Sanjay Kumar alleged: "Faruqui has insulted Rama, Sita, Durga, Ramayana and Bhagwad Gita in his shows. Many states have banned this fool’s shows, but KTR is welcoming him to perform in the city. The son of a Chief Minister who calls himself a real Hindu, is an atheist."
Whether Faruqui does, or does not, manage to perform in the city is a question only time will answer, but one thing is sure - he has been caught in the crossfire of politics, and that is certainly no joke.