The joke has been jailed in India

January 27, 2021 13:09

Munawar Faruqui

The new year has been a dark one so far for standup comic Munawar Faruqui, who was arrested in Indore ahead of his January 1 show for 'insulting Hindu sentiments'.

But what exactly happened?

Writes Soutik Biswas in bbc.com: 'In a mobile phone video recorded by an audience member, Faruqui is seen pleading with Eklavya Gaud, the son of a ruling BJP politician, that he also jokes about Muslims in his shows and that he should be allowed to continue.

"I just want to make people laugh. If anyone feels offended I will never do it again," he tells Mr Gaud.'

'According to reports, Mr Gaud left the show in minutes and called in the police. That night Munawar Faruqui and four others, including another comic, were arrested and charged with outraging religious feelings and performing a "negligent act likely to spread infection of diseases dangerous to life", alluding to the pandemic,' writes Biswas.

Interestingly, the show hadn't begun and Faruqui hadn't started his routine yet when this happened. Which means, he had been arrested for a joke he didn't crack!

'He was arrested for jokes he didn't crack. Munawar hadn't even begun the show when he was interrupted. A presumption of and anticipation of a so-called criminal act cannot be an offence. The police registered a case and arrested him without verifying the facts,' Anshumaan Shrivastava, the comic's lawyer, tells Biswas in the report, which quotes eye-witnesses telling reporters that Faruqui hadn't made any jokes when he was arrested. '

'The police later admitted 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,' writes Biswas.

All of which doesn't spell good news for standup comics, an irreverent breed.

As one of them, Sanjay Rajoura, tells Biswas, 'In a civilised society, such brazen acts have no place. If you don't like it, don't go for it.'

"For now," says Rajoura, "the joke has been incarcerated in India," Biswas writes, here.

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