Comedian Munawar Faruqui
Comedian Munawar Faruqui, who was last month denied a nod to hold a show in Bengaluru amid protests by some right-wing outfits, had performed at Mumbai's Y B Chavan Centre, after a series of show cancellations. He was facilitated by the All India Professionals' Congress - Maharashtra (AIPC).
The official account of All India Professionals' Congress - Maharashtra (AIPC) said it "facilitated" Faruqui's performance in the city and tweeted that "artists should have creative freedom as long as they abide by the constitution and respect all faiths".
"We may disagree with someone’s content but using force to impose our opinion on others is unconstitutional," the tweet read. Actor-producer Pooja Bhatt thanked AIPC President Mathew Antony for "taking this stand".
Faruqui took to Instagram and thanked the Mumbai Police, along with Bhatt and Antony for their support.
In November, the 29-year-old comic was under fire after the Bengaluru Police denied permission to his stand-up comedy show in the city amid protest by Hindu right-wing outfits, who alleged that he had hurt the Hindu sentiments in one of his shows.
Faruqui had said his show -- which had sold more than 600 tickets -- was cancelled in the wake of the "threats to venue vandalism".
The proceeds from the show were supposed to be donated to late Kannada star Puneeth Rajkumar's charitable organisation.
He had also claimed that 12 of his shows were called off in the last two months because of the threats to the venue and audiences.
"My name is Munawar Faruqui. And that's been my time, you guys were (a) wonderful audience. Good bye, I'm done," he had tweeted.
He is now set to perform in Kolkata in January.
The comedian took to Twitter on Saturday evening and shared a link to book tickets for his two-hour comedy act "Dhandho", to be held on January 16.
According to the online ticket booking platform BookMyShow, the tickets -- priced at Rs 799 -- were "filling fast".
A few days later, stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, a vocal critic of the government, also said his shows, scheduled to be held in Bengaluru, were canceled after the organizers received threats.
Earlier this year, Faruqui had spent a month in jail at Indore after a BJP MLA's son lodged an FIR in January accusing the comedian of hurting religious sentiments through his show.
(with PTI inputs)
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