Indian Muslim comedian Munawar in jail for weeks for jokes he did not tell

Muslim stand-up comic, Munawar Faruqui is currently confined to Madhya Pradesh jail for a joke that he didn't even tell.

The 28 year old comic is in jail for 26 days and is facing charges in two states including Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, reports Aljazeera.

Munawar Faruqui was arrested on 1, January at Indore restaurant for allegedly insulting Hindu deities during rehearsals and in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh for allegedly insulting Hindu deities as well as Home Minister Amit Shah.

Munawar Faruqui and 4 others Nalin Yadav, Prakhar Vyas, Priyam Vyas and Edwin Anthony were arrested on a complaint by Hindu Rakshak Sangathan convener Eklavya Singh Gaud, who is also a son of a BJP MLA, Malini Singh Gaud.

On Monday, the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court reserved its order on Faruqui's bail application. The court was hearing the comedian's bail application after two pleas were rejected by a lower court earlier this month.

Faruqui's lawyer moved to the high court, where the hearing listed for January 15 had to be adjourned because the Indore police failed to submit the case diary.

Indore police initially claimed that "objectionable comments" were made against Hindu deities at the comedy event. The city's Superintendent of Police Vijay Khatri issued a statement, claiming they had "enough evidence" against Faruqui and others arrested.

Eyewitness from the program told the local media that Faruqui had not cracked any jokes relating to religion when he was picked up. The police later admitted that they had no evidence that the comic had done so, and that the complainant had "overheard some jokes" that the comic was preparing for the show, reports BBC.

How comedians are facing legal threats in India

Over the past few years, several Indian comedians have faced police cases or mob threats for allegedly hurting religious or other sentiments.

In December 2020, top comedian Kunal Kamra and young cartoonist Rachita Taneja were served show-cause notices by the Supreme Court in response to complaints alleging they had shown contempt to the top court.

In July last year, Agrima Joshua, a female stand-up comic from Mumbai, was at the receiving end of threats of rape and violence. The 2019 video for which she was attacked and charged with a case showed her telling jokes about the Maharashtra state government's plans to build a massive statue of Shivaji, a 17th-century warrior-king.

Joshua was forced to apologise through a video on social media.
Radhika Vaz, another female comic, was trolled and harassed for defending Joshua on national news channels. Old videos where she made a reference to Karwa Chauth, a Hindu festival where women observe fast for their husbands were dug up as examples of her making fun of Hindu culture.

Radhika Vaz, another female comic, was trolled and harassed for defending Joshua on national news channels. Old videos where she made a reference to Karwa Chauth, a Hindu festival where women observe fast for their husbands were dug up as examples of her making fun of Hindu culture.

Like Vaz, several comedians, including Vir Das, Rohan Joshi and Kaneez Surka have been subjected to abuses and harassment over their past performances, forcing many to issue an apology.