'Don't judge me': Munawar Faruqui to trolls on being in Kangana’s ‘Lock Upp’
Completely taking his fans by surprise, comedian Munawar Faruqui who was hounded by right-wing organisations for reportedly “hurting Hindu religious sentiments” and was even jailed in Indore for a month last year, is all set to appear in an upcoming reality show Lock Upp, hosted by none other than Kangana Ranaut, an ardent supporter of the right wing in the country.
Faruqui, who had poked fun at Ranaut for her views on nepotism and her tweets in general, seems to be in a tight spot, trying to explain to his fans the reason for participating in a show along with the reportedly right wing apologist Ranaut.
On Tuesday (February 22) Munawar was revealed as the second contestant of Ekta Kapoor’s captive reality show, Lock Upp (modelled on Bigg Boss), which will premiere on Alt Balaji and MXPlayer on Sunday (February 27). The show, which will live stream 24×7 and feature 16 controversial celebrities, will have all of them locked up for months in cruel jail-like conditions without any amenities and roasted by Ranaut, who the promos claim has an axe to grind against many people.
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Reacting to him participating in the show, Twitter users went to town. “Munawar and Kangana on the same show, liberals still confused whether to boycott or praise the show. #MunawarFaruqui #KanganaRanaut #LockUpp,” tweeted a Twitter user.
@munawar0018 and Kangana both will be on the same show
Meanwhile bhakts to #MunawarFaruqui pic.twitter.com/V3xfHWWCmX
— md ibrahim khalifa ?? (@mdibrahim_16) February 22, 2022
Also read: ‘Hate has won’: Comedian Faruqui after Bengaluru show cancelled
Responding to a comment on Instagram, which said Lock Upp is now about a ‘casteist Muslim collaborating with a casteist Hindu’ and not about ‘the face of liberal ideologies and conservative ideology’, Munawar urged people not to jump the gun and “judge” him so soon and posted a picture that simply said ‘wait and watch’.
Leftist after hearing Kangana is working with #MunawarFaruqui pic.twitter.com/IFuCxfmgaH
— Shaant ho jaiye (@viskundangupt) February 22, 2022
The young stand-up comedian said, “You are giving me “gaalis” after just one post? It is easy to do this on the Internet. Haters ko face karke saamne khade rehne ka gudda ‘IMAAN’ ke mazboot hone se hi aata he. (The ability to stand in front of haters comes from the strength of IMAAN). I don’t need your certificate, people will decide. By the way 27th Feb.”
However in a media interview, Munawar said that it was going to be a “give and take situation” with regards to the clash of ideologies between Kangana and him. According to Munawar, in a democratic country, everyone has freedom of speech and can put across their beliefs. “If one expects to be heard and their opinions respected, they too would have to do the same. It’s going to be a give and take situation,” he said, adding that he had never wanted to be a controversial figure.
Meanwhile, Munawar is finding to hard to live down his earlier criticism of Kangana, which Twitter users are reposting on the social media platform. Over two years, Munawar had taken many digs at Kangana. In one, he had said after reading Kangana’s tweets, he wanted to go back into judicial custody and in another, he had mocked Kangana for slamming nepotism when she herself had made her sister her manager.
On January 1, 2021, Faruqui and four others were arrested after a BJP MLA’s son complained that objectionable remarks about Hindu deities and Union home minister Amit Shah were passed during a comedy show at a cafe in Indore on New Year’s Day. He was released after a month in jail.
Subsequently, in November 2021, the Bengaluru police denied permission to his stand-up comedy show in the city amid protests by Hindu right-wing outfits, who alleged that he had hurt the Hindu sentiments in one of his shows. In fact, at that time, after 12 of his shows were ostensibly cancelled he had decided to quit comedy. “Good bye! I am done’. Hatred won and the artist lost,” the comedian had said.
