Popular stand-up comedian Vir Das announced on Thursday, November 10, that his show in Bengaluru has been cancelled. The comedian was scheduled to perform in the city on Thursday. Making the announcement on social media, Vir Das said that the show has been cancelled due to “unavoidable circumstances”.
“Hey folks. Due to unavoidable circumstances we are pushing the Bengaluru show. New details and dates soon. Sorry for the inconvenience,” he wrote on social media. Ahead of his show, right-wing group Hindu Janajagruti Samithi approached the police, seeking to cancel the comedian’s performance in Bengaluru. In the complaint, Mohan Gowda, state Hindu Janajagruti Samiti spokesperson, said that Vir Das’s show hurts Hindu sentiments and shows India in a poor light.
"It has been noticed that the controversial comedian Vir Das is holding a comedy show on November 10 at Chowdiah Memorial Hall in Malleswaram, Bengaluru. Earlier, Vir Das had made derogatory statements against women, our Prime Minister and India at the John F Kennedy Centre in Washington DC, US, and denigrated the country," the complaint said. It added, "When Karnataka is already facing many problems due to communal incidents, such events which could vitiate the law and order problems should not be allowed. We demand that this programme should be cancelled immediately." Based on the complaint, a First Information Report (FIR) was filed by the Vyalikaval police in Bengaluru.
The complaint referred to videos from a show that the comedian had performed at the John F Kennedy Centre in Washington DC last year. He had uploaded a clip on YouTube titled ‘I come from two Indias’, in which he discussed several social issues including the COVID-19 impact, incidents of rape, the farmers’ protests and more. After the video was released, a legal advisor of the BJP in Maharashtra filed a police complaint against the comedian. The complaint charged Vir with “wilfully spreading, inciting and making derogatory statement[s]” against India, Indian women and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, Vir issued a statement later, where he clarified that the show was a satire.