5 reasons Bengaluru Police can't take a chill pill over Munawar Faruqui

There is nothing funny about stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui’s latest social media post.

Nafrat jeet hai, Artist haar gaya. Im done! Goodbye! INJUSTICE pic.twitter.com/la4xmaeQ0C

— munawar faruqui (@munawar0018) November 28, 2021

Faruqui hinted at quitting his career as a stand-up comedian.

WHY? Faruqui’s latest show in Bengaluru – whose gains were supposed to go to late star Puneeth Rajkumar’s foundation as charity – was cancelled on the 'suggestion' of the city police. The Bengaluru Police, in a letter to the venue stated that Faruqui was a ‘controversial’ figure, who was also arrested in Indore and that there could be law and order problems.

Faruqui said that they had already sold over 600 tickets for the show. 

And after having his shows cancelled 12 times in 2 months, Faruqui responded on social media with a ‘goodbye’.

Imagine having to quit your entire career, your bread and butter; something that makes you happy as you slog your back off for the rest of your life. Yeah, it’s gut-wrenching.

To put a cherry on top of your miseries, imagine quitting because a mob of strangers said that their ‘sentiments’ could be hurt by your career; even when another bunch of strangers clearly liked what you were doing.

Since we are on the topic of sentiments: Macha, ticket tongondordu sentiments hurt agalva? (Those who bought tickets to the show, won't their sentiments be hurt?)

Here are 5 times Munawar Faruqui managed to ‘hurt’ somebody’s sentiments:

1. WITHOUT CRACKING A JOKE

Munawar Faruqui came to national and even international prominence by not cracking a joke. He was arrested by the Madhya Pradesh Police in Indore for planning to crack ‘offensive jokes’ during a show, which could have hurt the religious sentiments of a group of people.

Also to note in the bizarre case, the complaint was based on a man's statement, who claimed to have overheard Munawar and others during their rehearsal. In other words, the complaint was based on ‘what one man heard’ and nothing else, there was no video or audio or any other evidence.

Supreme Court granted Munawar Faruqui bail – saying that the case against him was vague - after his bail was rejected multiple times by Madhya Pradesh courts.  

2. HIS ‘OLD’ JOKES

The Indore case against Munawar Faruqui was based on a joke he didn’t crack. And also because of the jokes he cracked the year before.

Munawar Faruqui is known for cracking jokes on the 2002 Gujarat riots, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and a Ram song. His stand-up ‘Dongri to Nowhere’ is based on his family’s journey on moving from Gujarat to Mumbai.

Here’s an edited out version of Munawar’s ‘controversial’ stand-up act.

And here are the ‘offensive’ clips from his stand-up.

⚡You can't have your cake and eat it too #MunawarFaruqui gets cancelled? pic.twitter.com/Topk41koMi

— Kreately.in (@KreatelyMedia) November 28, 2021

I want to ask: Can I laugh or not?

3. MORE JOKES... ON BJP!

Munawar managed to piss off BJP lovers with many of his jokes. Here is another one where he mocks the BJP’s election slogan. And the 4-line comments tell us the commitment of haters.

4. HERE’S THE OUTRAGE SONG – IF YOU GET OFFENDED AT EVERYTHING

Maybe Munawar Faruqui should consider an alternative career as a singer (and he is). Here’s a Bada Pachtaoge diss-track on Delhi riots and NRC. Guess, Gujarati chhokra can’t help but sing and talk about riots!

5. MUNAWAR IS LEAVING COMEDY

Okay we do hope that Munawar Faruqui’s ‘goodbye’ social media post is just a joke, like when he posted a video titled ‘Munawar is leaving comedy’ after securing bail from the Supreme Court. 

Indore and Bengaluru Police’s hard work does deserve praise. I wonder what would be the result if they used the same energy and focus into rounding up all the eve-teasers and cat-callers on the road, and jailed them for a good month or so. Perhaps, India would become a better place for many like me.