The arrest of stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui, who was released from prison on February 7, 36 days after he was arrested by Madhya Pradesh police on the charge of hurting religious sentiments may have evoked protests amid a nationwide row, but one man who apparently stands to make political capital out of it is none other than the complainant in the case: Eklavya Singh Gaur.
A BJP worker, who runs a socio-cultural outfit called Hind Rakshak Sangathan, Eklavya happens to be the son of BJP legislator Malini Gaur. His father, former minister Lakshman Singh Gaur, had died in an accident in 2008.
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On January 1, he had lodged a complaint against Faruqui with Tukoganj police station in Indore, accusing him of hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus and violating Covid-19 protocols of the state government, allegedly at a café in Indore. The police subsequently booked him.
In his complaint, Gaur, among other things, alleged that Faruqui cracked jokes on Hindu Gods and made fun of Union Home minister Amit Shah and the Godhra riots at a café, which did not even have the necessary permissions to host an event.
On Faruqui’s release, Eklavya says that he would not like to comment on the issue since the case is sub-judice. He says, when he came to know about it (Faruqui’s alleged remarks) he had informed the police. The court and the police administration are doing their job, he adds.
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Eklavya says that it is the responsibility of the citizens of the country to respect all religions. “If organization comes to know about any such incident in the future, it will lodge a complaint as well," he says.
Eklavya claims that his organization works for social and cultural improvement in society. His initiatives such as RadhaKrishna Phag Yatra and Garba Festival had brought him into the limelight. His organization has also been running the Shivganga campaign under which temples and ponds have been built in more than 1100 villages.
Political analysts believe that Ekalavya stands to extract maximum political mileage in the Munawar Faruqui case. His claims in the upcoming urban body elections have become stronger. If the BJP ignores him in the civic elections, he may stake claim the party ticket from the seat represented by his mother Malini Gaur in the next Vidhan Sabha elections.
