In one of his shows, comedian Munawar Faruqui tells a dark joke about his home state, Gujarat, and the deadly religious riots of 2002.
“Junagadh is a very lazy city. People take naps, stores close, nothing happens,” says Faruqui of his hometown, an old princely state.
The comedian, who is a Muslim, says that when he was a boy, he spent 12 days at home during a curfew in his mixed neighborhood. A Hindu friend of his mother was his only occasional companion.
“We were eight children at home. I was happy because I didn’t have to go to school. The electricity ran out, the phones went down, the elderly in the house were concerned about their safety. But when the riots ended, [we found] no one died in Junagadh.
“Do you know why? People were too lazy to even make a fuss.”
The same could not be said for other parts of the state. More than 1,000 people, most of them Muslim, were killed when the disturbances broke out after a train fire killed 60 Hindu pilgrims.
Faruqui, now 30, is part of the young and lively comedy scene in India. It is still rough and sometimes immature, but it glows with energy and ambition and is not afraid to pull its blows. More importantly, it began to attract an audience willing to pay for a night of jokes, even from a newcomer like Faruqui. The problem is that not everyone likes a joke in India.
That’s why the comic book spent 26 days in prison for jokes he clearly didn’t make.
On the night of January 1, he was starting a tour of 14 cities with a paid show at a cafe in the Indian city of Indore. A leader of a local Hindu group had arrived and interrupted the program, complaining that the comic was “insulting” Hindu religious feelings. Indore is a prominent city in Madhya Pradesh, which is ruled by the Hindu nationalist BJP. Hindus make up the vast majority of India’s population.
In a cell phone video recorded by an audience member, Faruqui is seen pleading with Eklavya Gaud, the son of a BJP governing politician, that he also joke about Muslims in his programs and that he should be allowed to continue. “I just want to make people laugh. If anyone feels offended, I will never do that again,” he said to Gaud.
“Let the show begin,” shout the impatient audience members.
“Hindu-Muslim bhai bhai” [Hindus and Muslims are brothers]”, a woman is heard in the audience telling Mr. Gaud.
According to reports, Mr. Gaud left the show in minutes and called the police. That night, Munawar Faruqui and four others, including another comedian, were arrested and accused of outraging religious feelings and of practicing a “negligent act that can spread the infection of life-threatening diseases”, alluding to the pandemic.
“He is a serial criminal. He has made indecent comments about Hindu gods and goddesses in the past,” Gaud told reporters later. Last July, a lawyer filed a lawsuit against Faruqui in the state of Uttar Pradesh for allegedly making disparaging comments against Federal Interior Minister Amit Shah and hurting Hindu religious feelings in different videos.
Witnesses told reporters that Faruqui had not told any jokes related to religion when he was arrested and that he had not even started his routine when Gaud interrupted the program. The police later admitted that they had no evidence that the comic had done it and that the complainant “heard some jokes” that the comic was preparing for the show.
“He was arrested for jokes he did not tell. Munawar had not even started the program when he was stopped. The presumption and anticipation of an alleged criminal act cannot be an offense. The police registered a case and arrested him without verifying the facts,” Anshumaan Shrivastava, the comic’s lawyer, told me.
In January, two courts have so far refused to grant bail, and the Madhya Pradesh high court is hearing a new appeal. The police say that the launch of the comic book would lead to a “situation of law and order”, although it is not clear how. “It will have a frightening effect on comedians. They will be constantly forced to police themselves,” Amit Varma, a writer and podcaster, told me. “Stand-up comics now tend to stay away from politics.”
On stage, Faruqui is a smiling and personal figure with a sense of whimsy. It is also a work in progress. He explores contemporary Indian realities for his jokes and often links his observational humor with profanity. He is an equal opportunity taker, mocking all religions. He is also a rapper and, in a cheerful video, he sings about stereotypes about a Muslim ghetto in Mumbai. He has half a million subscribers on his YouTube channel and is quickly gaining followers on Instagram as well.
At his shows, Faruqui offers an eclectic range of jokes, some of which seem incomplete. But there is no lack of confidence. He scoffs at Punjabi pop music, which portrays women as “gold hunters”. He says that every social media platform in India eventually “becomes a dating platform”. On a show, he says, “If your girlfriend wants something from you, just give it to her, don’t try songs about it.” He makes amusing criticisms of the government, saying he is “responsible for wasting water”, using water cannons against protesting farmers.
Faruqui’s jokes are often peculiar and somber.
At a concert, he tells the audience a joke about how his father found a notebook where he made some notes on how to make a bomb.
“He threw the notebook at me and asked who is teaching all this? The main item is missing here, he said. And it was political support [to make a bomb]. “The public applauds in approval.
Amit Varma says: “I like him very much. For someone so young, he has an evolved sense of comedy and black humor, and he also knows how to connect emotionally with the audience. He mocks everyone, is honest and invigorating.”
Other comedians supported Faruqui. On his YouTube channel, followers posted messages of solidarity. “Don’t see if you don’t like it,” says one. His arrest is seen as the latest attack on freedom of expression in India, fueled by vigilant activism by Hindu crowds and exacerbated by persecution by online armies on social media. Last year, at least half a dozen comics apologized for hurting religious feelings.
Jaideep Varma, a filmmaker who made I Am Offended, a documentary on stand-up comedy in India, says provocation is the essence of stand-up comedy, and Faruqui is no exception. “But they will only do their best if they are not gagged. So being pragmatic can be the way to go from there – from now on, the group of issues that make people inflamed is very narrow. It may be worth avoiding that. and expand the space for comedy from other sides. “
Comedian Sanjay Rajoura believes Faruqui’s arrest should concern all Indians. “In a civilized society, such blatant acts have no place. If you don’t like it, don’t go ahead.”
“For now,” says Rajoura, “the joke is incarcerated in India.”