Why The Incarceration Of Munawar Faruqui Should Worry Us
By Arshad Alam, New
Age Islam
20 January
2021
The show
hasn’t started. A stand-up comic, Munawar Faruqui, is rehearsing his lines in a
café in Indore. A couple of his associates are also with him. A shadowy figure
suddenly enters the hall and starts yelling at Faruqui. He alleges that Faruqui
has made fun of Hindu deities and thereby hurt the religious sentiments of
Hindus. Extremely patiently, the stand-up comic invites this brand ambassador
of hurt sentiments on stage and asks him if he has any evidence on the basis of
which he is making such allegations. Faruqui reasons with him, tries to explain
at one point that he does not discriminate amongst religions and even tries
telling him that a certain irreverence is called for in order to appreciate any
humour. But all this to no avail.
Reason and
dialogue appeal to those who are willing to believe and participate in such
principles. The man accusing Faruqui has already come prepared. He and his
gruff group of men have already made up their mind and have come with an intent
to punish Faruqui. Despite some support from the audience, Faruqui is forced to
abandon his performance.
Screenshot
via Munawar Faruqui on YouTube
-----
It helps
that the person objecting to the planned show, Eklavya Gaud, is the son of the
local MLA, Malini Gaud, having deep roots with the ruling BJP establishment of
Madhya Pradesh. It certainly did not help that the stand-up comic was a Muslim.
The police, without making any preliminary investigation regarding the veracity
of the accusation, decided to cancel the show and arrested Faruqui, along with
some of his friends. Clearly, things have come to such a pass in this country
that one has to think about one’s religious identity even before cracking a
joke.
The Indore
police is on record saying that it did not have any evidence against Faruqui.
They have admitted that the ‘incriminating’ videos are not the reason for his
arrest. According to the police, Faruqui was arrested because he might have
insulted Hindu Gods during the scheduled performance. They argue that the
intent to do so was clear because he was overheard rehearsing some
objectionable lines before the performance. Of course, the police did not hear
them. The objectionable lines were heard by the complainant, Eklavya Gaud, who
claims to be chief of Hindu Rakshak Sangathan. This might be the first case in
which someone is being punished for a possible future thought ‘crime’.
Since
January 1, Faruqui is under arrest and it is not just the police which is
responsible for his tribulations. The local court denied him bail on frivolous
grounds; the last one because the police forgot to produce the case diary.
Despite the fact that the police station was right across the road from the
court, they were given one full week to produce the case diary. Such little
regard for the liberty of an Indian citizen is not just a commentary on the
police but also the judiciary of the country. But then perhaps the real motive
in all such cases is political: Faruqui’s case, like others, is one where the
ruling establishment wants to prove to the Hindu majority that it is protecting
them from the cultural and religious onslaught of Muslims.
This is an
old hegemonic narrative of the Hindu right which is shared by major
institutions of this country. So although the police have made it abundantly
clear that they have no evidence against Faruqui, they can always rely on the
courts to drag the matter so that the process itself become the punishment.
Such
brazenness, once allowed, has no limits. Anticipating that eventually the
courts in Madhya Pradesh will have to let go of Faruqui because of lack of any
evidence against him, the Uttar Pradesh police now have unearthed an old and
yet ‘incriminating’ video of his on the basis of which they are seeking his
custody. This again is an old tactic of the police, used against many Muslim
youth. By the time such youths are ultimately freed by the courts, they have
lost years of productive life in various state prisons.
Stand-up
comedian Munawar Faruqui (Image: Twitter/@munawar0018)
-----
In any
other country, this would have been a scandal. But in India, even the so called
opposition wants such stringent laws to remain on the statute books so as not
to appear any less nationalist than the ruling establishment. It is clear
therefore that behind the political witch hunt of Faruqui, there is an
elaborate inter-state collaboration between Hindu right wing groups, who are
calling the shots from behind. The comedian is being made into an example of
what can be done to a Muslim, if she is even perceived to be independently
speaking her mind.
Faruqui’s
case is one in which the judiciary, the police and the Hindu vigilante groups
are on the same page, acting in perfect concert. The police and the Hindu right
wing groups have acted in tandem with each other since decades. What is more
shocking is the attitude of the courts to keep a person in prison simply
because his acquittal will create a ‘law and order’ problem. This logic given
by the Indore court, while denying bail to Faruqui, is not just strange; it is
in fact the clearest example of how far we have travelled on the path of
majoritarianism.
----
Arshad Alam is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-politics/incarceration-munawar-faruqui-worry-us/d/124107