Anubhooti Gupta
As 2021 dawned, stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui was arrested from a club in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, for âmocking the deities of another religionâ and no one uttered a word about intolerance.
Faruqui was arrested by the Indore police after a complaint from Eklavya Goud, chief of Hindu Rakshak Sangathan and secretary of the state unit of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party. He is the son of BJP MLA Malini Gaud.
Faruqui remained in jail for over a month, though the police had no evidence of his âcrimeâ. His bail plea was rejected two times, including by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, until he was granted bail on February 5 by the Supreme Court.
INDORE: The Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh high court on Thursday dismissed the bail plea of stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui in a case related to making objectionable remarks on Hindu gods and goddesses at an event in the city on January 1.
No case is made out for bail, Justice Rohit Arya said in his order. “It is not a case of no evidence. More so, the investigation is in progress. The possibility of collecting more incriminating material and complacency of other persons cannot also be ruled out,” Justice Arya said.
Among the evidence recorded in court is a ‘pen drive containing recording of the show (video footage)’. The court also denied bail to co-accused Nalin Yadav, who was the organiser of the show at Munro Cafe. “In the light of the statements of the complainant and the witnesses, the seized articles, viz, video footage of the show and the seizure memos, at this stage it is difficult to countenance to the applicant’s counsel as complacency of the applicant c
P Chidambaram questions bail denial to Siddique Kappan, Munawar Faruqui
He asked, Why is the principle ‘Bail is the Rule and Jail is the Exception’ not being applied in every case?
By Nikita Venkatesh| Updated: 21st January 2021 3:30 pm IST Congress leader P Chidambaram
Hyderabad: Senior Congress leader and former finance minister P.Chidambaram expressed dismay on Thursday over courts denying bail to Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan and stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui.
In a tweet, he wrote, “Despite the judgement of the Constitution Bench (Justice Ravindra Bhat) and another Bench (Justice Chandrachud), why is the principle ‘Bail is the Rule and Jail is the Exception’ not being applied in every case?”
Playing now: âTandavâ and the Indian stateâs dance of death on fiction
The easily offended are up in arms against the Amazon Prime series for âhurting religious sentimentsâ. If only they were as upset about real social issues.
19 Jan, 2021
We all thought 2021 would be a better year â the virus would miraculously disappear, women would stop being treated as chattel and sexual objects in India, Indians would develop a thick skin, weâd stop misusing the law for political gain and to curb free speech, and comedians would stop being arrested for doing their job and weâd also have better political dramas scripted by Indian filmmakers. Itâs fair to say that our hopes have been dashed on all these fronts.
As Indore Police Admits It Has No Evidence Against Comedian, UP Police Moves to Make Arrest
Munawar Faruqui was earlier denied bail by the judicial magistrate in Indore despite the police acknowledging that they had no evidence against the comedian.
Munawar Faruqui. Photo: Twitter/Munawar Faruqui
Rights18/Jan/2021
New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh is reportedly likely to take custody of arrested comedian Munawar Faruqui on Tuesday, in connection with a May 2020 case registered for ‘insulting’ Hindu deities and Union home minister Amit Shah. According to
Newsclick, a court in Uttar Pradesh has issued a production warrant to the Indore Central Jail, where Faruqui is being held.