Stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui has been dropped from the Gurgaon Comedy Festival, as per a report by The Indian Express. The organisers told the publication that they have been receiving "repeated calls" and messages to drop Faruqui from the three-day festival, which is scheduled to take place from December 17-19 at Airia Mall.
Mubin Tisekar, co-founder of The Entertainment Factory, which is organising the event, told The Indian Express, "We have removed Munawar Faruqui from the line of performers because we don't want to hurt anyone's sentiments or put the public in danger. For us, the safety of artistes and the public is a priority".
Tisekar added that they started facing a backlash after the poster was put out. "After tweeting about Faruqui's performance, we started getting calls. At the end, it's about making people laugh, so we don't want to go ahead with it".
Complaint Filed Against Faruqui
On Monday (6 December), Arun Yadav, Haryana head of BJP's IT department, filed a complaint against Faruqui, accusing him of insulting Hindu gods and goddesses and asked police to ensure that he doesn't perform. Yadav wrote in his complaint, "To maintain peace and harmony between different sections of the society, I request you to look into the matter and stop him… His activities have offended my Hindu faith".
Faruqui spent a month in jail on charges of allegedly insulting Hindu deities during a show. Since then, he has been constantly targeted by right-wing groups and several of his shows across the country have been cancelled.
(With inputs from The Indian Express)
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