Comedian Hasan Minhaj, who is known for his Netflix series on current political and cultural issues, Patriot Act has recently revealed that he was denied entry at the Howdy Modi event at Houston for some of his comments on Prime Minister Modi.
Speaking to Seth Meyers at NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers, Hasan revealed that he was looking forward to the mega event since both Donald Trump and PM Modi were going to address a crowd of 50,00O Indian-Americans. Belonging to the community himself, Hasan said “I have to be there. We submitted our press credentials and immediately got an email saying ‘we are out of space’. You are out of space in a football stadium? C’mon,”
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He said the organisers of the event told him he has been denied entry to Houston’s NRG Stadium “because of some of the comments” that he had made.”
“Wow. I am sorry for making fun of cricket,” the comedian said, adding the organisers of the event then replied, “No. the comments you have made about Prime Minister Narendra Modi are not appreciated and you have been blacklisted.”
Before the event started, Minhaj had tweeted his own photo with hands raised outside NRG Stadium, “Here to celebrate two great nations coming together. India first. But America first too. #HowdyModi”
Minhaj routinely takes a dig at current world leaders in his comedy show on Netflix. Patriot Act’s on Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Bin Salman and his involvement in journalist Jamal Kashoggi’s killing was banned in the Middle Eastern country. Hasan himself was banned from visiting the holy site of Mecca which is situated in Saudi Arabia.
Hasan’s episode on Indian elections also brought him some criticism from a few Indians who thought that his episode portrayed the Indian politicians particularly the BJP in bad light.
Patriot Act has won the Peabody Award for “offering an important new take on politics and popular culture and giving voice to politically engaged young people in a diverse American polity.”
As a Muslim, a person of color, and a millennial Hasan has brought a fresh and a welcome change in the entertainment sphere especially in the West.
