Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday threw his weight behind Munawar Faruqui, who announced he was quitting comedy after being stopped to perform in Bengaluru following threats from Hindutva terrorists.
Without naming Faruqui, Gandhi tweeted, “Rest assured that hate will not win. Don’t give up, don’t stop. #StayUnited.”
Gandhi’s tweet appeared to be in response to Faruqui’s social media post titled ‘hate won, the artist lost.’
Faruqui received plenty of supports from netizens as they also urged the Gujarat-based comedian to not give up. Journalist Maya Sharma tweeted, “What is the condition of freedom when laughter is seen as a threat? Munawar, many of us hope this is just a very unfunny phase ….And that common sense and a sense of humour do prevail. Seriously. Slightly Please don’t give up.”
Trinamool leader Saket Gokhale tweeted, “I’ve contacted @DCPCentralBCP under whose jurisdiction the venue falls to urgently intervene. This is a gross violation of Munawar’s Constitutional Right to Life (livelihood) & free expression. This must stop or else police should be taken to the High Court under Art 226.”
Former Comgress spokesperson Sanjay Jha wrote, “Under the dark BJP, India has become so frightened, paranoid and obviously humourless. Vir Das and Munawar Farooqui scare the hell out of this bigoted authoritarian bunch.”
Journalist Tavleen Singh wrote, “Shameful that the comedian Munawar Faruqui who spent a month in jail for jokes he was yet to crack is now forced to give his career up. Every show he has tried to have has been mysteriously cancelled since he came out of jail.”
Human rights activist Aakar Patel tweeted, “what is happening to munawar faruqui shows how empty the fundamental rights panel is: right to equality, against discrimination, freedom of occupation and of life and personal liberty. none applicable to him. all feku text.”
What is the condition of freedom when laughter is seen as a threat?
Munawar, many of us hope this is just a very unfunny phase ….
And that common sense and a sense of humour do prevail.
Seriously. ????
Please don’t give up. #MunawarFaruqui https://t.co/VW0d6gRXJP— Maya Sharma (@MayaSharmaNDTV) November 28, 2021
I’ve contacted @DCPCentralBCP under whose jurisdiction the venue falls to urgently intervene.
This is a gross violation of Munawar’s Constitutional Right to Life (livelihood) & free expression.
This must stop or else police should be taken to the High Court under Art 226 https://t.co/NRZKQqWbXh pic.twitter.com/Ea5GB4irN4
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) November 28, 2021
Under the dark BJP, India has become so frightened, paranoid and obviously humourless.
Vir Das and Munawar Farooqui scare the hell out of this bigoted authoritarian bunch.
— Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) November 28, 2021
Shameful that the comedian Munawar Faruqui who spent a month in jail for jokes he was yet to crack is now forced to give his career up. Every show he has tried to have has been mysteriously cancelled since he came out of jail.
— Tavleen Singh (@tavleen_singh) November 28, 2021
what is happening to munawar faruqui shows how empty the fundamental rights panel is: right to equality, against discrimination, freedom of occupation and of life and personal liberty. none applicable to him. all feku text https://t.co/iGTMrI9gRI
— Aakar Patel (@Aakar__Patel) November 28, 2021
Not too long ago, Hindu terrorists had targeted comedian Vir Das after he took a dig at two different Indias under the Narendra Modi government as he highlighted the inherent hypocrisy of the BJP.
