Stand-up comic Vir Das has released a video after his show was cancelled in Bengaluru following pressure from a right-wing organisation that claimed Mr Das's show "hurts Hindu sentiments and presents India in bad light".
"I made this video after one of my shows, Just in Case. I have no interest in media spectacles or being used for headlines. I'm an artist. I shouldn't be on the news. Many assumptions are made about my content. I trust my art and my audience to speak for me. #TrustTheAudience," Vir Das tweeted.
The show organiser was forced to cancel the housefull Bengaluru event after pressure from the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti. The cost of the ticket ranged between Rs 2,000-3,500 per person. The people with tickets will be reimbursed by the show organisers.
The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti had filed a police complaint with the Vyalikaval police station. The comedian, who faced a huge backlash last year over his viral "Two Indias" monologue in the US, was set to hold a show today at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall in Malleshwaram.
"So basically what happens is, a lot of times when a comedy show gets, you know, shutdown or... It's because people make assumption about what happens at the show. And nobody ever checks with the audience what happened at the show. This is an audience that has just seen a show of mine," he is heard saying in the video he relased shortly after the show was cancelled.
"Did we target any specific religion here tonight," he asks in the video.
"No", says the audience emphatically and in unison.
"Did we target any specific government or leader here tonight," he asks again.
The answer is the same again - no.
"Did this show defame India or make you feel ashamed to be Indian?"
"No", the audience replies energetically again.