'I'm done, goodbye...': stand-up comedian after 12 shows cancelled in 2 months

Bengaluru: The Bengaluru police have denied permission to Munawar Faruqui's stand-up comedy show in the city on Sunday amid protest by the Hindu right wing outfits who alleged that the artist had hurt the Hindu sentiments in one of his shows.

"Yes, we have denied him permission. He will not perform any public show today," a senior police officer told a national news agency on condition of anonymity.

Faruqui also shared a statement on social media confirming that his Bengaluru show that had sold "600 plus" tickets was cancelled Sunday in the wake of the "threats to venue vandalism" and said he was "done".

"My name is Munawar Faruqui. And that's been my time, you guys were (a) wonderful audience. Good bye, I'm done," he said.

The proceeds from the show were supposed to be donated to late Kannada star Puneeth Rajkumar's charitable organisation.

In the same statement, the 29-year-old comic said they initially did not want to reveal that the show was for charity.

"Putting me in jail for the joke I never did to cancelling my shows which has nothing problematic in it. This is unfair. This show has gained so much love from people in India irrespective of their religion. This is unfair (sic)" he added in his Twitter statement.

Faruqui claimed that his 12 shows were called off in the last two months because of the threats to the venue and audiences.

The comedian also claimed they have a "censor certificate of the show", which proves there was "nothing problematic" in the stand-up act.

Faruqui, however, found support in actors Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub and Swara Bhasker.

Ayyub urged the comic to not lose hope.

"And WE Failed once again as a society . looking forward to see you back on stage...," he tweeted. Bhasker described the turn of events as "heartbreaking and shameful" and apologised to Faruqui.

"A project of hate & bigotry twill always hate an articulate, rational, educated, charming, talented & funny Other' who connects beyond identity with a heterogeneous public.. make no mistake Munawwar, Umar Khalid & other such articulate Muslims are a huge threat to Hindutva," she wrote on the microblogging site.

"Also.. it's heartbreaking & shameful how we as a society have allowed bullying and gaslighting to become normalised. I'm sorry Munawwar!" she said in a follow-up tweet.

According to reports, Faruqui had planned a performance 'Dongri To Nowhere' on Sunday evening. The show was organised in Bengaluru by Vishal Dhuria and Siddharth Das of New Delhi-based Curtain Calls Event. With agency inputs