“Hatred Won, Artist Lost. I’m Done! Goodbye! INJUSTICE”: Comedian Munawar Faruqui Hints Toward Quitting Comedy After Cancellation Of 12th Consecutive Show In Last 2 Months

The stand-up comedian who remains in headlines for allegedly hurting religious sentiments has hinted towards quitting his artistic career after his multiple shows were canceled. At least 12 shows were canceled in the last two months over the threats from right-wing groups.

The latest show “Dongri to Nowhere” was canceled by the Bengaluru police which was scheduled for Sunday in Good Shepherd Auditorium. Various right-wing organizations including Sriram Sena and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti had filed a complaint against Munawar with Bengaluru police, accusing him of hurting religious sentiments and insulting Hindu gods.

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The inspector of the Ashokanagar police station wrote a letter to the organizers to call off the show as the comedian is a controversial figure.

“It is learnt that Munawar Faruqui is a controversial figure….. Many states have banned his comedy shows. It is learnt that a case has been registered against him in the Tukoji police station in Indore of Madhya Pradesh. Many organisations are opposing his show, which may cause chaos, disturb peace and harmony and create a law and order problem. Therefore, it is suggested that you should cancel Faruqui’s stand-up comedy show,” the letter stated.

Bengaluru Show Was For Charity: Munawar Faruqui

After the Bengaluru show was also cancelled, Munawar shared an emotional post on his social media handles with the caption “Nafrat jeet gayi, artist haar gaya (hate has won, artist has lost). I’m done, goodbye. Injustice.”

“Aaj Bangalore show cancel ho gaya (under the threats of venue vandalism). We sold 600+ tickets. Month back my team called late Puneeth Rajkumar sir organisation for charity which we will be going to generate from this show in Bangalore. We agreed to not sell the show on the name of charity as suggested by the noble organisation,” Munwar wrote in the Instagram and Twitter post.

He added, “Putting me in jail for the joke I never did to cancelling my shows, which has nothing problematic in it. This is unfair. This show has gained so much love from people in India irrespective of their religion. This is unfair. We do have censor certificate of the show and it’s clearly nothing problematic in the show. We called off 12 shows in the last two months because of threats to venue and audience.”

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He ended the post by stating, “I think this is the end. My name is Munawar Faruqui and that’s been my time. You guys were wonderful audience. Goodbye, I’m done.”

Many came in support of the artist, asking him to stay strong and not to lose hope. However, Munawar has not given any direct statement about quitting the standup comedy, but his words hint towards it.