Comedian Vir Das is the new target of Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra for his monologue - 'I come from two Indias,' which has sparked a big debate in India. Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said on Thursday that Vir Das needs to tender an apology, otherwise, he will not be allowed to perform in Madhya Pradesh. "We won't allow such a jester to perform, until he apologises for his remarks," Mishra added.
Das, who is in the US right now, had on Monday uploaded a video on YouTube titled - "I come from two Indias," which was a part of his recent performance in Washington DC.
Earlier, Mishra had directed to put a ban on sale of Congress leader Salman Khurshid's book 'Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times,' which is based on the Supreme Court judgment on Ram Janmabhoomi and Babri Masjid dispute.
However, it is not the first time when Mishra has asked for a ban on artists to perform in Madhya Pradesh. Recently, he threatened Bollywood director Prakash Jha to change the title of his Bobby Deol starrer 'Asharam,' the third season of which is being shot in Bhopal and surrounding areas. He then proposed to bring some changes in policy to allow film shootings in the state, wherein directors have to submit a copy of the script to the government while accessing permission for it.
Meanwhile, enraged by Vir Das’s monologue, advocate Ashutosh Dubey, a legal advisor of the BJP in Maharashtra’s Palghar District, filed a complaint against the comedian for “wilfully spelling inciting and derogatory statement[s] against India, Indian women and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
After all the outrage, the 42-year-old stand-up comedian took to Twitter and posted a note, stating that his intention was to serve as a reminder that the country, despite its issues, was "great." “The video is 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.”
With IANS inputs