A Muslim comedian, Munawar Faruqui, 29, in India has been detained for more than three weeks for allegedly insulting Hindu gods during a standup routine that he did not perform. On New Year’s Day, Faruqui was booked to perform at a small cafe in Indore as part of a standup tour. Before he could begin, he was interrupted by a group led by Eklavya Singh Gaur, the head of a local Hindu nationalist group and son of a local BJP politician. Police admit there is no basis for the case. “There’s no evidence against him for insulting Hindu deities or union minister Amit Shah,” police inspector Kamlesh Sharma told local media. The police superintendent Vijay Khatri said it “doesn’t really matter” if Faruqi made the comments or not because there was still “intent”. Faruqui is the fourth comedian recently to be targeted for allegedly criticising the government or Hinduism, fuelling a climate of fear on the Indian comedy circuit.
— source theguardian.com | 24 Jan 2021