Barely a day after comedian Munawar Faruqui said “goodbye” to stand-up comedy in a tweet, lawyers and activists in Bengaluru argued on Monday that the Bengaluru police’s actions that led to Faruqui’s show being cancelled amounted to dereliction of duty. 

They claimed that, while an event held in a private space does not require police permission, the police’s failure to act against a group threatening to cause a commotion at the venue demonstrated that they had failed in their duty. 

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Faruqui’s show in Bengaluru was cancelled on Sunday, just hours before it was scheduled to take place, after city police ‘suggested’ that the organisers cancel the event, citing potential law and order issues amid right-wing protests.

Bengaluru police wrote to the event’s organisers on Sunday, after Bengaluru police commissioner Kamal Pant received a letter from the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti, a right-wing group, requesting that the event be cancelled. Faruqui has a habit of making ‘unacceptable’ jokes about Hindu gods, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2020, and the Godhra massacre of karsevaks, according to the petition.

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“Allowing Munawar Faruqui, who hurts religious sentiments of Hindus, is providing an opportunity for him to repeat those crimes…. should such a programme that disturbs the communal harmony be allowed when the memories of DJ Halli riots are still fresh?” read the letter, while threatening to take to the streets if the stand-up show is held.

Editor-activist Gauri Lankesh and scholar M.M. Kalburgi were assassinated by members of the organisation. 

After a few hours, Ashok Nagar police sent the organisers a letter “advising” them to “cancel the show.” Despite not mentioning the HJS petition, the letter claims to have credible information that several organisations are opposed to the show. The organisers had written to the Ashok Nagar police on November 15 to inform them of the “Dongri to Nowhere” show, claiming that they did not need permission because it would be held indoors, and that the police had not raised any objections until HJS petitioned them. 

Senior police officers familiar with the situation said they were pulled over for “not cancelling the show earlier” and were told to do so right away. Senior police officials, on the other hand, declined to comment on the matter.

Forcing the organisers to cancel the show, according to Vinay Srinivas, a civil rights activist and advocate, was a violation of the right to freedom of speech and expression. “There is a Supreme Court judgement which says no permission is needed to hold an event at a private venue. It is not the police’s job to interfere in stopping such a performance, their job is to provide security if there are threats,” he said.

In a statement, the All Indian Lawyers Association for Justice claimed that the targeting of Munawar Faruqui is at its core part of a communal agenda pursued by rightwing forces in India with the overt support of the ruling dispensation. “AILAJ condemns the actions of Bangalore police in issuing notice seeking cancellation of the comedy show by Munawar Faruqui. The said notice is a violation of rule of law and clearly reveals that the police force has abdicated its constitutional duty of protecting the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression, succumbing instead to pressures of extremist communal right-wing forces,” read the statement.

“As such the issue of notice by the Bangalore police to the organisers of the event must be seen as a declaration of support to unconstitutional forces. The police force, which is funded by the people, must be bound by the Constitution,” the statement added.