Stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui, who was released from jail after 35 days in a case of allegedly hurting religious sentiments, has finally broken his silence and released a new video on YouTube.
In his first video after being released from judicial custody, Munawar talks about the hate on the internet, why he chose to be a comedian, the joy of making people laugh and more.
The 10-minute video, titled 'Munawar Faruqui Leaving Comedy', starts by the stand-up comedian asking people why spewing hate on the internet has become normal.
He says, "Earlier, we used the internet to make friends, today we are making enemies, enemies who we don't even know."
Hitting back at those who called for a ban on him, the comedian asks, "Why have we forgotten that internet should be used for entertainment and information? If we want to ban something, why aren't we banning the hate on the internet?"
Talking about how the online trolling and hate culture affects him, he says, "We do read the comments and they matter. I won't claim that I don't get affected by negative comments. I do. Any kind of abuse upsets me a lot. I read the comments on my videos and get affected because my intention is not to instigate. I don't want people against me, I want people to stand with me."
In the end of the video, Faruqui clarifies that he is not leaving comedy and apologizes for the typo in the title of the video.
"It's not 'Munawar Faruqui Leaving Comedy', it is 'Munawar Faruqui Living Comedy'. Comedy has kept me alive, how can I quit it?" he says.
Watch the video here:
Within just 12 hours, the video has recieved over 479,029 views and 136k likes on the video sharing platform.
Reacting to the video, a user wrote, "Well said bro..Being a hindu I was never offended by any of your joke..Actually no Hindu ever can be offended by your jokes it's just the haters who are their to stand against any religion be it Hinduism or Islam..they actually can never understand ki Bhagwan or Allah me koi difference nai hai and they never fought with each other..."
Extending support to Munawar, another commented, "You can literally see the pain in his eyes... He has already apologized repeatedly, to whoever was offended at whatever... but if seeing a guy in this condition after having spent a month in custody makes you HAPPY, then my friend, offensive jokes aren't the problem, YOUR HATRED is the problem. Emerge strong, Munawar."
Here are a few reactions:
