No video of Munawar Faruqui insulting Hindu deities, says police officer; audience member corroborates it

Two days after Indore police arrested standup comedian Munawar Faruqui and four others for allegedly insulting religious sentiments of Hindus, a police officer said there was no video evidence showing him making the remarks.

Town Inspector of Tukaganj Police Station Kamlesh Sharma was quoted by The Indian Express saying they have no evidence against Faruqui directly and that he has been booked as an organiser. “There’s no evidence against him for insulting Hindu deities or Union Minister Amit Shah,” he said. He said the two videos submitted by the complainant are of another comedian with him allegedly cracking jokes on Lord Ganesh.

The complainant in question is Eklavya Gaur, son of Indore-4 BJP MLA Malini Gaur. “When I heard about Munawar’s show, I bought a ticket and went to see it. As expected, he was insulting Hindu deities and also mocked Home Minister Amit Shah by dragging his name with Godhra riots,” he had contended.

Subsequently, he and his associates stopped the show and brought them to Tukaganj Police Station and submitted videos of the show, he said. “He is serial offender and often cracks defamatory jokes on Hindu gods and goddesses,” Gaur told reporters outside the police station.

Meanwhile, a woman who claimed she attended the show in question denied that any derogatory remarks were made by him during the show. Jenosha Agnes wrote on Instagram: “As Munawar arrived on the stage, few people with political connections rushed to the stage, snatched the mic and began saying “hamare religious sentiments hurt hue hai… Godhra kand per joke kiya… Hamare devi devta ka mazak udaya… Islam pe joke q nahi karta hai”.

“Munawar politely clarified that he never had the intention to hurt anyone. He handled the situation very well and they backed off,” she said. A few minutes later, a crowd entered the hall and the organisers backed out. Then police arrived and arrested Faruqui and others, she said. “No derogatory remarks were made by Munawar Faruqui at the Indore show,” she said.

Faruqui’s lawyer Asad Warsi said they are going to file for bail on Monday. “We are pleading there is no such evidence of offences against any of them.”

Several comics, including Varun Grover, Vir Das, Kaneez Surkha, Agrima Joshua and Rohan Joshi have taken to social media in support of Faruqui.