Bandi Sanjay threatens to stop Munawar Faruqui’s show in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar has directed Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activists to prevent stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui from performing in Hyderabad on January 9, 2022.

On the occasion of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth anniversary, Bandi Sanjay Kumar addressed a gathering of BJP and BJYM workers at the BJP office in Hyderabad today morning and criticized IT and Industries minister KT Rama Rao (KTR) for inviting the stand-up comedian to perform in the city.

“The son and the ministers of the person who feels he is the true Hindu, are all atheists. Munawar Faruqui has insulted Durga, Sita, Rama, Ramayana and Bhagwad Gita in his shows and these people are welcoming him here. We can understand what kind of people are running the state,” he added, urging Yuva Morcha activists to block and prevent Faruqui’s show from taking place in Hyderabad.

Second threat from BJP

This is the second such threat to Munawar Faruqui’s show from the BJP top brass in the past 24 hours. On Friday, BJP MP Dharmapuri Arvind warned KT Rama Rao for welcoming comedians and threatened that his party would not let Munawar Faruqui perform in Hyderabad.

“KTR, are you a human being? That Munawar Faruqui makes jokes on Goddess Sita and his shows were banned in Karnataka. He calls that guy to Telangana for a comedy show. That means this father-son duo (Chief minister KCR, KTR) thinks Hindu society is comedic. We’ll see how they bring him here,” he added.

KT Rama Rao on December 18, had stated that comedians like Munawar Faruqui and Kunal Kamra have an “open invitation” to perform in Hyderabad.

“In our city, stand-up comedians get an open invitation, the minister stated during the inauguration event on Friday, December 17. “We don’t cancel shows of Munawar Faruqui and Kunal Kamra just because we are not aligned with them politically,” KTR had said.

The support given to the performers by KTR has seemingly triggered the state BJP. Munawar Faruqui, who was stopped last month from performing in Bengaluru amid protests by some right-wing groups, is set to perform here in January.

Faruqui took to his Instagram to announce his show titled ‘Dhando’ which will be taking place on January 9. Sharing the post, he wrote, “Ticket link in BIO miyaaa.”

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A post shared by Munawar Faruqui (@munawar.faruqui)

According to the online ticket booking platform Book My Show, the tickets are priced from Rs 799 and the venue is yet to be announced.