An eyewitness who attended comedian Munawar Faruqui’s show in Indore on January 1, 2021, has come forward with their account of the events.
Faruqui and four others who organized the event have been arrested and sent to judicial remand for allegedly hurting Hindu sentiments and insulting the Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the show. But the onlooker account contradicts these allegations.
According to the eyewitness, even before Faruqui had started his show, a man with political influence had started to move towards the stage along with his ‘friends’ who were among the audience. The man got up on the stage and started talking about how Faruqui’s material had hurt the sentiments of the Hindus.
They specifically referred to supposed jokes about Godra and Hindu deities. It is important to reiterate that Faruqui hadn’t begun his performance by then.
Faruqui then tried to convince the man to calm down and assured him that he had no intentions of hurting anybody’s religious sentiments. Videos of the show circulating on the internet also confirm the same. Faruqui can be seen explaining how he had always criticized his own religion as well.
He can also be seen trying to pacify the situation even though the person on stage was continuously making accusations. The person then went on to snatch the microphone from Faruqui and continued his attacks. Attempts by the organizers to tranquilize the situation did not work.
The only jokes Faruqui made on that day were about his travel to Delhi for a Friend’s wedding. More people started gathering outside the venue and soon there were police outside. The organizers had stopped the show as the owners of the venue backed out.
Police asked the audience to vacate the venue and the eyewitness had also left at this point. Munawar and four others were arrested after and have been sent to judicial custody.
Link to the eyewitness account:
Videos of the show: