Mumbai: Stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui who has been facing many issues in recent times regarding his shows, performed on December 18 in Mumbai. His Mumbai’s show was backed by the Congress unit, AIPC.
Last month, the 29-year-old comic – dejected by a series of cancellations – had indicated he may not do any more shows. “Nafrat jeet gayi, artist haar gaya (hate has won, artist has lost). I’m done, goodbye. Injustice,” he had said in an Instagram post – which triggered huge support on social media.
More than 12 shows of Faruqui had got canceled in a couple of weeks amid threats from right-wing groups. The shows are being canceled, and under freedom of speech, the reason of cancelation is his ‘comic content.’ On Saturday, after his show at the city’s Yb Chavan Centre, the AIPC tweeted with pictures: “We facilitated #MunawarFaruqui’s performance in Mumbai yesterday. Artists should have creative freedom as long as they abide by the constitution & respect all faiths. We may disagree with someone’s content but using force to impose our opinion on others is unconstitutional. (sic)”
The AIPC – which defines itself as a “platform to contribute to the advancement of inclusive and progressive politics in India” – won praise for supporting the young comic.
Tagging AIPC member Mathew Antony, actor Pooja Bhatt tweeted: “Thank you @mathewmantony for taking this stand. This is so much bigger than any individual. You stood up for the artistic community. You stood up for free speech, you stood up for democracy. On behalf of all artists who find their voice wavering & hesitant, I thank & applaud you.”
Another user wrote, “This is an outstanding work of AIPC Maharashtra. Comedy is for fun… Let’s live the life!!!”
Earlier this month, Munawar Faruqui was dropped from a Gurgaon comedy show by its organisers. He is scheduled to perform at the Gurgaon Comedy Festival on December 17-19
Last month, amid show cancellations, he had told NDTV, “I get 50 threat calls daily, I had to change my SIM card thrice. When my number gets leaked, people call up and abuse me.”
He had also faced trouble in Madhya Pradesh. Last week, former Chief Minister and Congress leader Digvijijaya Singh, however, invited him and comic Kunal Kamra to perform in Bhopal, adding that they could crack jokes on him too.
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