Munawar Faruqui THREATENED By BJP MLA Over 'Religious Differences' As He Gears Up To Perform In Hyderabad

On Thursday, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and divisive Hindutva politician T Raja Singh threatened to burn down the venue and beat up comadian Munawar Faruqui, a day after the comedian announced his gig in Hyderabad for August 20. Since the Muslim artist's detention in Madhya Pradesh's Indore in January of last year, Hindutva groups and politicians have repeatedly targeted him.

Soon after Faruqui announced his event in the capital of Telangana, the state's Goshamahal constituency BJP MLA threatened to interrupt it via a video message. In the video, Singh added, “Wherever the program is, we will go and beat him [Faruqui] up.” (Also Read: Munawar Faruqui pens an emotional message; reveal why he isn't a part of Khatron Ke Khiladi 12)

“Whoever offers him a venue, we will burn it down. If something goes wrong, KTR [Telangana minister KT Rama Rao] and the government and police are responsible. We will definitely beat him up and send him back if he comes to Telangana, this is a challenge.”

Due to disruptions by Hindutva groups, Faruqui's events in Bengaluru, Gurugram, Raipur, Surat, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Goa, and Mumbai had to be cancelled throughout the course of the previous year. (Also Read: Munawar Faruqui gets a sarcastic reply from The Family Man writer for his ‘Saare Indian web shows season 2 mein h**g kyun dete’ tweet)

Faruqui was detained in Indore in January of last year after a BJP leader's son complained about a claimed joke that Faruqui had not even made. The Muslim comedian was imprisoned for 37 days before the Supreme Court released him on bail.

Rao had invited Faruqui and another comedian, Kunal Kamra, to perform in Hyderabad back in December. BJP MP Arvind Dharmapuri had earlier threatened to halt the performance. The increase in COVID-19 cases, however, forced the show's cancellation.