Gujarati Bajrang Dal activists travelled to Mumbai and threatened the owner of the Rangshardha theatre in Bandra, which was to host stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui’s concert, causing it to be cancelled. According to sources, the Bajrang Dal members also threatened the owner of a Borivali hall that was also supposed to accommodate Faruqui, causing the concert to be cancelled.
The performances were scheduled for October 29 in the Borivali (West) hall and October 30 and 31 at the Rangsharda auditorium in Bandra (West). However, the events were unexpectedly cancelled on Wednesday after right-wing organisations launched an internet hate campaign against Faruqui and threatened the proprietors of the venue.
Purnima Shah, owner of Rangsharda auditorium, said, “We were threatened on Tuesday afternoon by three members of Bajrang Dal. They said ‘this show is against Hindus’. I told them producers book the hall and we do not ask who is the artist. I told them that the organiser has censor certificate, but still the Bajrang Dal members were threatening us. They told us they will burn the place, so we decided to cancel the show. At that time I called the police, who escorted them out of my premises.”
“Before this incident, two people from Bajrang Dal had also threatened my staff over phone. Police had come then too and we provided them with phone numbers of the callers. I have given in writing that we are cancelling the show because of the threats,” she added.
An organiser, requesting anonymity, said, “We were under tremendous pressure as the police had served us a notice that we will be booked if any law and order problem occurs due to the act. For safety of our audience, we called it off. But it’s really sad that an artist is being targeted because of his religion and some joke he cracked two years ago. Everyone makes mistakes and it was made amply clear to the police that no Hindu sentiments will be hurt.”
Manohar Dhanavde, Senior Inspector of Bandra police station said, “We gave a warning to Bajrang Dal that action will be taken if it creates any issue. We also served a notice to the organisers.”
