Hindutva organisation Hindu Janajagruti Samiti has filed a police complaint against comedian Vir Das demanding that his show scheduled to be held in Bengaluru on November 10 be cancelled, reported ANI.
Mohan Gowda, the spokesperson of the organisation, claimed that Das had made derogatory remarks about women, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and “denigrated the nation” during a performance in Washington in November last year. Gowda also said that the show had hurt religious sentiments of the Hindu community.
Gowda stated in the complaint that in his performance, Das had said: “In India, we worship women in the day and rape them at night”.
The show Gowda referred to was titled I come from two Indias, and had sparked controversy with police complaints being filed against Das in Delhi and Pune.
In the 6.53-minute video clip, the comedian had described his version of “two Indias”.
“I come from an India where we laugh so loudly that you can hear us through the walls, and yet...I come from an India where we break down the walls of a comedy club because you can hear laughter inside,” he says during the performance.
In its complaint, the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti noted that police complaints have already been filed against the comedian. Gowda said that given the controversy it would not be right to allow Das to perform in a “communally sensitive area like Bengaluru”.
“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,” Gowda said. “We demand that his programme should be cancelled immediately.”
Following the controversy in November last year, Das had said he would continue to do his job, which is to make people laugh.
“I think laughter is a celebration and when laughter and applause fill up a room...that’s a moment of pride,” Das said during an interview with the news channel. “I think that any Indian who has a sense of humour, or understands satire, or watches my entire video, knows that that’s what happened in that room.”
In the past too, Hindutva bodies have demanded cancelling shows of comedian they consider have hurt religious sentiments. Comedian Munawar Faruqui’s shows in August this year and November 2021 were cancelled. Comedian Kunal Kamra’s shows were also cancelled in December.
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