Fact Check: Old apology video of comedian Munawar Faruqui falsely linked to Lawrence Bishnoi gang

Hyderabad: Munawar Faruqui, a popular Indian stand-up comedian, is reportedly on the Lawrence Bishnoi gang’s hit list. The gang has been involved in extortion, violence and even the alleged murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala and NCP leader Baba Siddiqui.

In this context, a video has been making rounds on social media, claiming to show Faruqui apologising to Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang.

“Even though Salman Khan has refused to apologise, Farooqui has apologised. That too with folded hands,” wrote an X user who shared the video. (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading. The viral video shows Faruqui apologising to the Konkani people.

Upon conducting a reverse image search of the video’s keyframes, we found the video posted on X by Faruqui on August 12, 2024, captioned, “Much love and my apologies to Konkan.”

The video shows Faruqui apologising to Konkani people after a joke he made on the community during one of his stand-up sets brought criticism. (Archive)

We also found the video posted by mid-day news on their Facebook profile on August 13.

The news agency reported that Faruqui apologised after making a derogatory joke about Konkanis during his stand-up set. He reportedly said, “Konkanis fool others,” which sparked backlash and threats on social media. Following the controversy, Faruqui posted a video on X expressing regret.

Media outlets, including The Times of India, Hindustan Times and News18 also published the August 2024 video of Munawar Faruqui apologising to the Konkani people.

Finally, we searched for reports of Faruqui apologising to the Bishnoi gang but found none. Hence, we conclude that the claim is misleading.