The Licensing Unit of the Delhi Police has denied permission for stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui’s show in the national capital on Sunday. This follows a report to the unit from the central district police stating that “the show will affect communal harmony in the area.”
Earlier this week, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) also wrote to Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora, requesting that Faruqui’s show be cancelled, and threatening a protest if the show is not cancelled.
“An artist named Munawar Faruqui is organising a show at the Kedarnath Stadium in Delhi’s Civic Center on August 28. This person mocks Hindu gods and goddesses in his show. Due to this, communal tension flared up in Bhagyanagar recently. I request you to cancel this show immediately… otherwise Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal activists will stage protests against the show,” the letter read, according to reports.
The cancellation of the Delhi show comes just a week after the Bengaluru police denied permission for his show ‘Dongri to nowhere,’ which was scheduled to take place in Karnataka’s capital on August 20. The Bengaluru event was cancelled because the organisers did not obtain permission to hold it in the city, according to police.
“Show of Munawar Faruqui cancelled keeping security reasons in mind. Permission cancelled and show won’t be held. It was to ensure that there shouldn’t be any threat to law and order and communal harmony doesn’t turn into disharmony,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Central District Shweta Chauhan.
Notably, the Jai Shri Ram Sena, a fringe organisation, had filed a complaint against the comedian and the organisers with Bengaluru Police Commissioner CH Pratap Reddy. The organisation claimed in its complaint that Faruqui has offended Hindus in his shows by making insulting remarks about Lord Ram and Goddess Sita. On the same grounds, the comedian was previously denied permission to perform in the city in November 2021.
The developments come even as suspended BJP MLA T. Raja Singh Lodh was sent to jail on Thursday after Hyderabad Police arrested him and invoked Preventive Detention (PD) Act.
Raja Singh, who has been arrested for second time in three days, was later shifted to Cherlapally Jail on the city outskirts. On August 22, he posted online an offensive video against Prophet Mohammad with an intention to provoke all sections of people and thereby cause breach of peace and public tranquility, said the police statement.
When he was being taken into custody from his residence on August 23, Raja Singh stated that police are making efforts to remove his video from YouTube but that will not deter him from posting his further speeches and videos on this issue.
A few minutes before his arrest, the MLA had released a video blaming Telangana minister K.T. Rama Rao for communally tense situation in Hyderabad by allowing comedian Munawar Faruqui to perform in Hyderabad. Raja Singh was arrested hours after issuing him noticed in two old cases.
The controversial MLA was arrested a couple of hours after police officers from Shaninayathgunj and Mangalhat police station issued the notices under Section 41-A of the Criminal Procedure Code.
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