In conversation with standup comedian Munawar Faruqui who was jailed for making fun of Hindu goddesses and was released from the Central Jail in Indore after 36 days.
Munawar Faruqui, who was jailed for making fun of Hindu goddesses, was released from the Central Jail in Indore after 36 days. His release became possible only after the bail orders came from the Supreme Court. The top court has given relief to Faruqui in both, Indore and Prayagraj cases. However, despite Supreme Court's bail order, Faruqui was only released when a plea for contempt of court was filed late at night.
After his release, he left for his hometown Junagadh. Excerpts from a conversation with Faruqui:
Q) Want to say something about the case against you?
Nothing much to say in this matter. Since the case is sub judice, it would not be right to say anything. I would just like to say that I have full faith in the judicial system of my country. I believe that I will get justice.
Q) Why delay in release even after an order from the Supreme Court?
The administration here said that the release till the official mail from the Supreme Court does not arrive, release shall not be done. The jail administration was not ready even after being showed the copy of the order. Then late in the night when it went to the Courts of Judicial Magistrate for contempt of court, I was released from jail at 11 pm.
Q) What order has been given by the Supreme Court?
Both the Indore and Prayagraj cases were added to the appeals there. The court gave its ruling in a hearing for both cases. On the order of the High Court, bail has been granted in the Indore case and a stay order has been given in the case registered in Prayagraj.
Q) Were you ready to be handed over to Uttar Pradesh Police?
On coming out, I came to know that since a case was registered in Prayagraj, due to this, here the jail administration had informed there that a release is being done from Indore itself. If there is a case registered in Prayagraj, then they can act accordingly but later it became clear that a stay order has been imposed on that case as well.
Q) When do you start the show again?
We have not decided anything about this yet. At the moment, I want to be with the family. Earlier, we had planned out programmes in the entire country but right now we are not doing anything about it.