New Delhi: TMC MP Derek O’Brien has invited stand-up comedian Vir Das to Kolkata, a day after his show in Bengaluru was cancelled at the last minute following protests by Hindu right-wing groups.

The protesting groups alleged that the show, scheduled to be held on Thursday, would hurt Hindu religious sentiments.

“Hello @thevirdas Come to #Kolkata. We would love to have you here this winter. DM me please. Let’s get this going,” the TMC’s leader of the House in Rajya Sabha said in a tweet.
 

Hello @thevirdas

Come to #Kolkata. We would love to have you here this winter. DM me please. Let’s get this going. https://t.co/P9taO0dewq

— Derek O’Brien | ডেরেক ও’ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) November 11, 2022

Das later uploaded a video on Twitter to deter any assumptions made on his content.

“I made this video after one of my shows, Just in Case. I have no interest in media spectacles or being used for headlines. I’m an artist. I shouldn’t be on the news. Many assumptions are made about my content. I trust my art and my audience to speak for me. #TrustTheAudience,” Das tweeted.

Das’ monologue “I come from two Indias” had stirred a row a year ago when he was criticised for allegedly defaming the country.

Courtesy: The Daily Siasat

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Bengaluru is the next site for supremacist censorship. First Munawar Faruqui, then Atul Khatri now Vir Das.

A group affiliated to Hindutva supremacism has urged the police to cancel a show by stand-up comedian Vir Das scheduled for November 10 at T Chowdiah Memorial Hall in Vyalikaval. The Goa-based Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) submitted a letter to the Vyalikaval police on Monday, asking for cancelling Das’ show, which “hurts Hindu sentiments and shows India in a bad light” reported Deccan Herald. 

The letter by the outfit’s state spokesperson, Mohan Gowda, cites “derogatory” comments Das reportedly made during a show at the John F Kennedy Center in Washington DC, USA, about India, the prime minister and women.  Stating that Das had said “in India, we worship women in the day and rape them at night” during the performance, the outfit said a case was registered by the Mumbai Police in this regard, and the words involved a a serious offence under the Indian Penal Code.

Given this background, it is not right to allow such a controversial person to hold such a programme in a “communally sensitive area like Bengaluru”, the statement further said, “When Karnataka is already facing many law and order problems due to communal incidents, such events which could vitiate the law and order should not be allowed. We demand that this programme should be cancelled immediately.”

In September 2022, a show by stand-up comedian Atul Khatri could not take place in the city, after the police denied permission, citing the “late, incomplete application” by the organisers for the no-objection certificate.

Earlier, a show by another stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui was cancelled in Bengaluru, as police claimed the organisers had not taken permission. Hindutva organisations also had petitioned the police chief, accusing Faruqui of “hurting religious sentiments”.

A police officer said they had received the letter but said any further action would be taken only after obtaining information about the comedy show.

Related:

Why are right-wing bhakts so easily triggered by satire?

Hate Watch: Bajrang Dal threats force Munawar Faruqui to cancel shows in Mumbai

Delhi: Police complaint against standup comedian Vir Das for ‘maligning India’s image’

The post Police complaint against Vir Das’s show in Bengaluru by Hindu Janajagruti Samiti appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Another police complaint has been lodged against Vir Das accusing him of ‘maligning India’s image’ via a monologue titled I come from two Indias that he performed recently at the at John F Kennedy Center in Washington DC. This complaint has been filed in Delhi by one Aditya Jha, who has been identified by media reports as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member.

Jha has accused Das of allegedly using derogatory statements against women and India in the said monologue, a video of which was uploaded to YouTube by Das. The complaint was filed for his comment, “In India, we worship women in the day and rape them at night.” 

Jha lodged his complaint in the New Delhi district on Tuesday night, and it reportedly states, “He (Das) says in the video… ‘In India, we worship women in the day and rape them at night’. These derogatory statements against women and India are inflammatory. They were made in the US and malign the image of our country internationally. I want police to conduct an investigation.” 

This is the second complaint filed against the artist; the first was in Mumbai by Advocate Ashutosh Dubey who identifies himself as a legal advisor of Bharatiya Janata Party-Maharashtra Palghar District. He accused Das of “defaming & spoiling the image of India in the USA, which is inflammatory”, and filed the complaint against him with the Mumbai Police. 

I have filed the complaint against Vir Das Indian Comedian with @CPMumbaiPolice @MumbaiPolice for defaming & spoiling the image of India in the USA, which is inflammatory.

He wilfully spelled inciting & derogatory statements against India, Indian women, & the PM of India. pic.twitter.com/xQuLuGwGZv

— ADV. ASHUTOSH J. DUBEY ?? (@AdvAshutoshBJP) November 16, 2021

Das posted a note on Twitter explaining the act was not intended to insult the country but was “a satire about the duality of two very separate India’s that do different things. Like any nation has light and dark, good and evil within it. None of this is a secret. The video appeals to us to never forget that we are great. To never stop focusing on what makes us great.” He added that the video “ends in a gigantic patriotic round of applause for a country we all love, believe in, and are proud of” and appealed to the people not to be “fooled by edited snippets… I take pride in my country, and I carry that pride across the world.”

? pic.twitter.com/1xwR4Qp5Fw

— Vir Das (@thevirdas) November 16, 2021

As police complaints are now being filed against him, Vir Das has joined the ranks of other artists such as Munawar Faruqui and  Kunal Kamra who have faced some of the worst attacks. Last month Bajrang Dal members travelled all the way from Gujarat to Mumbai to threaten venue owners against hosting Faruqui’s scheduled stand-up comedy shows. The shows were to take place on October 29 at the hall in Borivali (West) and on October 30 and 31 at Rangsharda auditorium in Bandra (West). Faruqui tweeted on October 27 that the Mumbai shows scheduled for October 29, 30 and 31 have been cancelled as “the safety of the audience is what matters most to me. I don’t want my audience to go through what I am experiencing.” Faruqui was arrested earlier this year on charges of hurting religious sentiments at a show in Indore based on a complaint filed by Eklavya Singh Gaur, chief of Hindutva organisation Hind Rakshak Sangathan. The audience’s retelling of the incident indicated that the joke was never told in the first place and Faruqui was incarcerated without cause. Faruqui was granted ad-interim bail by the Supreme Court on February 5 while observing that neither the precedent laid down in the 2014 Supreme Court judgment (Arnesh Kumar vs State of Bihar) was followed, nor the procedure under section 41 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was complied with.

In February, a Session Court in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, admitted a revision petition filed against a Magistrate court’s order dismissing a criminal complaint filed for registration of FIR against comedian Kunal Kamra, for allegedly insulting the Indian flag. The comedian had tweeted a picture of a saffron coloured Supreme Court of India, replacing the National Flag with the flag of a Political Party. The Court of Additional Sessions Judge Anuradha Kushwaha issued a notice on the revision petition on February 11, 2021. Saurabh Tiwari, the petitioner had approached the Court of Magistrate stating that Kamra’s actions hurt the feelings of the people of this country and cause “contempt and disrepute” to the Indian National Flag. Further, he was aggrieved by the non-registration of an FIR by the local Police. In November Attorney General K K Venugopal had consented to the initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against Kamra for a series of tweets following the apex court granting interim bail to Republic TV’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami.

In 2019, stand-up comic artiste Agrima Joshua received rape threats and was abused online after an old video of her performance in 2019 surfaced in which she made a joke about the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the Arabian sea. The comedian had to later apologise for her comments.

Where does the law stand on your “objectionable” posts on social media?

SabrangIndia had done a deep dive into sections of the IPC that talks about printing or engraving any defamatory matter, and the problems associated. What is the literal interpretation of the term ‘objectionable’ and how does one establish that an objectionable image defames a person to such capacity, that penal action becomes inescapable? 

Terrorised by trolls, comedians apologise for hurting religious sentiments. Many comedians have reported in the past that their numbers and addresses had been leaked and that they were getting threats to life and that of their families too. Agrima Joshua had it worse due to her gender. She faced rape threats and verbal abuse two years ago, for joking about the misinformation surrounding the statue of Shivaji Maharaj, that she encountered on a QnA platform by one Shubham Mishra. It opened the floodgates for hatred for right-wing trolls who followed in his footsteps and unleashed an organised attack against her on social media, forcing her to apologize for her video and take it down from all platforms.

The pattern of hate spread by right-wing trolls has now become very predictable and racial slurs, communal slurs, rape threats and threats to life are all part of the mix. Now, it has moved on to police complaints and cases being filed against them.

Related:

Hate Watch: Bajrang Dal threats force Munawar Faruqui to cancel shows in 

Breaking: SC grants ad interim bail to comedian Munawar Faruqui

Coming soon! The Right to Laugh: a virtual comedy show

The post Delhi: Police complaint against standup comedian Vir Das for ‘maligning India’s image’ appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Vir Das, an actor and a satirist is a lucky man. While he continues to be trolled, and has had a case filed against him for his comedy set ‘I come from two Indias’ that he performed at the Kennedy Centre, he is lucky he is still a free man. The bitter irony is that, it is not known what fate awaits him once he lands back in India.

Art of all kinds is often meant to be political, and satirists have evolved it as a powerful comment on the state of affairs across the world. Different artists, especially those who specialise in spoken word performances, including stand up comedy and satire shows, and plays, use various tools of the craft to make a point, as did Vir Das, commenting on various socio political issues currently in the news in India. He comments on inflation, curbing of rights, political ‘ruling’ class, and also of hope and faith in an India that is brave, “wears its heart on its sleeve,” is plural, and ends saying he is proud of that one version of India, and asked the audience to applaud for the India they want to live in. “I represent a great person… who made a great thing that is turning into a memory…” he said. The audience’s applause filled the massive packed hall.

As expected, 42-year-old Vir Das’s performance has also triggered scores of right-wing affiliated social media users. The ‘I come from two Indias’ monologue was performed in the John F Kennedy Centre in Washington DC. A case has been filed against the artist in Mumbai accusing him of ‘insulting India’. Advocate Ashutosh Dubey who identifies himself as a legal advisor of Bharatiya Janata Party-Maharashtra Palghar District, has filed the complaint against Vir Das with the Mumbai Police, accusing him of “defaming & spoiling the image of India in the USA, which is inflammatory.”

I have filed the complaint against Vir Das Indian Comedian with @CPMumbaiPolice @MumbaiPolice for defaming & spoiling the image of India in the USA, which is inflammatory.

He wilfully spelled inciting & derogatory statements against India, Indian women, & the PM of India. pic.twitter.com/xQuLuGwGZv

— ADV. ASHUTOSH J. DUBEY ?? (@AdvAshutoshBJP) November 16, 2021

Others have continued to make comments on the video clip of Das’s performance. According to news reports, Das is currently in the US, and had uploaded his set that was part of his recent performance at the John F Kennedy Centre on YouTube. In the around six-minute video, Das talks about the duality found in India’s socio-political fabric, illustrating his point with topical issues relevant in India today, including women’s safety, the pandemic, the crackdown on artists, as well as the farmers’ protests. The video has so far clocked over one lakh views, and over 13,000 comments.

Many right-wing affiliated Twitter users reacted so aggressively to the satire that Das posted a note in Twitter explaining the act was not intended to insult the country but was “a satire about the duality of two very separate India’s that do different things. Like any nation has light and dark, good and evil within it. None of this is a secret. The video appeals for us to never forget that we are great. To never stop focusing on what makes us great.”

He added that the video “ends in a gigantic patriotic round of applause for a country we all love, believe in, and are proud of” and appealed to the people not to be “fooled by edited snippets… I take pride in my country, and I carry that pride across the world.”

? pic.twitter.com/1xwR4Qp5Fw

— Vir Das (@thevirdas) November 16, 2021

However those on auto pilot troll mode are not convinced. A user even suggested that Vir Das “deserve some medicine like his fellow friend Munawar Faruqui.”

#VirDas deserve some medicine like his fellow friend Munawar Faruqui. Like & RT if you agree with me. pic.twitter.com/12eE9mhY8H

— Ankita (अंकिता) ?? (@rightistankita) November 16, 2021

Vir Das, interestingly has united influential social media users uniting across political divides, online. Congress leader, lawyer Abhishek Singhvi said “generalising the evils of a few individuals and vilifying the nation as a whole in front of the world is just not done!”

Generalising the evils of a few individuals and vilifying the nation as a whole in front of the world is just not done!

The people who painted India in front of the west as a nation of saperas and luteras during the colonial rule have not ceased to exist.#VirDas

— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) November 16, 2021

The right-wing influencers seemed to have followed a predictable script. Actor Kangana Ranaut, who is banned from Twitter, wrote on her Instagram stories her own opinion piece as it were asking for action against Das, “When you generalise all Indian men as gang-rapists it gives rise and encouragement to racism and bullying against Indians all over the world…after Bengal Famine Churchill famously said, ‘These Indians breed like rabbits they are bound to die like this…’ he blamed Indians’ sex drive/fertility for the death of millions because of hunger… Such creative work targeting an entire race is soft terrorism… strict actions must be taken against such criminals .” The other influencers continued trolling him in their own way.

Vir Das goes to the USA and says this to a packed Kennedy Center.
These are the “influencers” of our country who continue to perpetuate the “snake charmer” idea of India to the world! pic.twitter.com/OaFNsZynRC

— Maya (@Sharanyashettyy) November 16, 2021

I doubt if @thevirdas has EVER worshipped a woman, his confession of what he does at night of course is totally believable, considering he appears to be such a tharki creep! pic.twitter.com/T794j7ujos

— Shefali Vaidya. ?? (@ShefVaidya) November 16, 2021

Remember what happened to comedian Munawar Faruqui?

Comedian Munawar Faruqui’s livelihood was impacted once again, last month, when Bajrang Dal members travelled all the way from Gujarat to Mumbai to threaten venue owners against hosting Faruqui’s scheduled stand-up comedy shows. The shows were to take place on October 29 at the hall in Borivali (West) and on October 30 and 31 at Rangsharda auditorium in Bandra (West).

Faruqui tweeted on October 27 that the Mumbai shows scheduled for October 29, 30 and 31 have been cancelled as “the safety of the audience is what matters most to me. I don’t want my audience to go through what I am experiencing”.

Faruqui was arrested earlier this year on charges of hurting religious sentiments at a show in Indore based on a complaint filed by Eklavya Singh Gaur, chief of Hindutva organisation Hind Rakshak Sangathan. The audience’s retelling of the incident indicated that the joke was never told in the first place and Faruqui was incarcerated without cause.

On January 5, his bail plea was rejected by the Sessions Court. In an appeal to the High Court, Justice Rohit Arya of the Madhya Pradesh High Court refused to grant him bail observing that, “Such people must not be spared”. After over a month of being incarcerated, Faruqui was granted ad-interim bail by the Supreme Court on February 5 while observing that neither the precedent laid down in the 2014 Supreme Court judgment (Arnesh Kumar vs State of Bihar) was followed, nor the procedure under section 41 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was complied with.

Related:

Hate Watch: Bajrang Dal threats force Munawar Faruqui to cancel shows in 

Breaking: SC grants ad interim bail to comedian Munawar Faruqui

Erratic arrests by police and the Arnesh Kumar Judgement

Coming soon! The Right to Laugh: a virtual comedy show

The post Why are right-wing bhakts so easily triggered by satire? appeared first on SabrangIndia.