Senior Congress leader asks authorities in Madhya Pradesh to allow the partner of comedian Munawwar Faruqi to live peacefully
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has urged the authorities in Madhya Pradesh to allow Munawwar Faruqi’s comedy partner Nalin Yadav to live peacefully after the latter faced several attacks in Pithampur town of the state.
Yadav, who was arrested along with Faruqi in 2021 over a gag, said that the police are not taking any action against those who are constantly attacking him. Three days ago, Yadav and his brother were again attacked at his house but the police were refusing to file an FIR against the culprits. In a video statement, he narrated how some individuals have been constantly targeting him since his release from jail.
Reacting to Yadav’s video, Thiruvananthapuram MP Tharoor said “India — we are better than this. I call upon the authorities in Madhya Pradesh to honour the values of Bharatiya Sanskriti and let this young man live in peace, practice his profession and get on with his life”.
According to Yadav, following his arrest in 2021, some influential people living around his house defamed him calling him a “traitor” and spreading other rumours. Their main motive was to take over his house left behind by his parents.
“They belong to a party and influential people. People in the area are associated with them,” he said.
On Saturday, his house caught fire after some people threw a burning tyre on its rooftop. When he went to extinguish the fire, he found that some people were also breaking the wall of his house. When he tried to stop them, they started assaulting him. His brother was also assaulted when he came to his rescue. Yadav escaped the assault to go to the police station to file an FIR.
When Yadav called the police at 100 number on the way to the police station, they asked him to go to the police station. The official there told him to call 100. They did not take any action. Yadav went back to his house after failing to register an FIR. “Soon the police arrived at my house and took me to the police station,” he alleged.
An FIR was registered only after Yadav’s advocate friend travelled from Indore and pressurised the police.
“This is not the first time I have faced an attack. In the last three years, my house was attacked 6-7 times. My brother fractured his leg in one of the attacks. He was bedridden for three months. Despite so many attacks I had reported on social media and other places, the police did not arrest any culprit,” said Yadav.
In May 2024, he accused “some known affiliates of the ruling party” of harassing him and his younger brother for the last three years. On May 26 night, Nalin Yadav posted a video showing a group assaulting him and his brother on a busy street.
Yadav alleged that these political people aimed to take over his house after forcing him and his brother to flee. “They don’t even allow anyone to live on rent in his house. These people have occupied several homes that way,” he said.
