Munawar Faruqui’s case questions India’s liberal credentials

Munawar Faruqui's harassment, that has pushed him into apparent retirement from his profession of stand-up comedy, must bring about a much-needed discourse on the desirability of Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code, under which he was booked and arrested earlier this year, and which continues to weigh heavy on India's liberal Constitutional ethos, write MD. ZEESHAN AHMAD and ZAIN HAIDER.

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THE recent tweet by Munawar Faruqui, a stand-up comedian, stating that inter alia, "Hate has won, artist has lost" is an egregious setback for the cause of free speech in India.  That 12 of Faruqui's shows during the past 12 months have been called off due to threats and the fear of violence from right wing saffron forces explains the immediate context as well as the anguish behind his tweet.

The tweet demonstrates the systematic culmination of a punishing process which started with the Madhya Pradesh (MP) police booking Faruqui under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in January this year. Section 295A, a colonial era law, criminalizes deliberate and malicious speech aimed at outraging religious beliefs. It was alleged by the MP police, inter alia, that Faruqui, by his jokes, has hurt the religious sentiment of a particular religious community.