Security has been stepped up at a Hyderabad venue where stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui is scheduled to perform on Saturday after a BJP MLA was detained.
The Hyderabad Police detained Telangana BJP MLA T Raja Singh yesterday after he threatened to set fire to the Faruqui concert venue.
The BJP leader had publicly threatened, “See what will happen, If they invite him. Wherever the program is, we will go and beat him up. Whoever offers him a venue, we will burn it down. If something goes wrong, KTR and the government and police officers will be responsible.”
Outside Shilpkala Vedika, where Faruqui will perform in Madhapur (Hitec City), hundreds of police officers have been deployed. After slamming the state government for permitting Munawar to perform in Hyderabad and pleading with it to immediately revoke the permission, Telangana BJP head Bandi Sanjay ordered the deployment.
The vehicles and people entering the building are being inspected by the police officers posted there. There are rumours that the event has been cancelled, but there has been no official announcement and the security presence at the venue continues.
Meanwhile, the Bengaluru police has once again rejected permission to stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui’s show ‘Dongri to nowhere’ here, which was planned to take place on Saturday.
According to authorities, the event was cancelled because the organisers did not have permission to conduct it in the city. A fringe group called Jai Shri Ram Sena had complained to Bengaluru Police Commissioner CH Pratap Reddy about the comic and the event’s organisers.
The group claimed in its complaint that Faruqui had offended Hindu feelings by insulting Lord Ram and the goddess Sita in his shows. On the same grounds, the comedian was denied permission to perform here in November 2021.
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