Munawar Faruqui will be a contestant on Lock Upp. (Photo: Munawar Faruqui/Facebook) Comedian Munawar Faruqui’s decision to participate in the upcoming reality show Lock Upp, hosted by Kangana Ranaut, has confused both their fans. Munawar made headlines when he was jailed for allegedly hurting religious sentiments during one of his shows, but he maintains that he was punished for a joke that he didn’t crack. Kangana, meanwhile, has become one of the foremost mouthpieces for the right wing.
On Tuesday, Munawar was revealed to be the second contenstant in the upcoming reality show modelled on Bigg Boss. It will put ‘celebrities’ in cruel jail-like conditions and subject them to humiliation from Kangana, who has said in promo videos that she has an axe to grind against many people. In the past, Munawar has posted several tweets against Kangana.
Responding to an Instagram comment that said the show is now about a ‘casteist Muslim collaborating with a casteist Hindu’, and not about ‘the face of liberal ideologies and conservative ideology’, Munawar wrote, “Too soon to judge!!! Ek post dekh ke mujhe gaali de rahe ho bhai? Chalo koi baat nahi internet pe yeh aasan he. Haters ko face karke saamne khade rehne ka gudda ‘IMAAN’ ke mazboot hone se hi aata he. Aapka certificate nahi chahiye. Janta decide karegi. By the way 27th Feb.”
In an interview with Indian Express, Munawar spoke about the clash of ideologies between him and Kangana. “If someone believes in ideologies, they would also believe that we live in a democratic country. We all have the freedom of speech and to put across our beliefs. If one expects to be heard and their opinions respected, they too would have to do the same. It’s going to be a give and take situation,” he said.
In a series of tweets posted across two years, Munawar had made several jokes against Kangana. “Kangana ke tweets padke lag raha hai Fir se Judicial custody chala jaun!” he’d written in one of them. “Kangana is against nepotism but khud ki bahen ko manager rakha ha,” he had written in another.
He recently took to Instagram and posted a picture that simply featured the words ‘wait and watch’, seemingly implying that his fans needn’t jump the gun about forming opinions about him. Lock Upp premieres on Sunday on AltBalaji and MX Player.
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