The popular comedian Hasan Minhaj was refused permission to cover the “Howdy Modi” rally held in Houston, Texas. During the rally, held on September 22, 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was joined onstage by President Donald Trump.

Initially Minhaj was told that he could not attend because the event was fully booked. The real reason for his being denied admission emerged when he showed up at stadium in Houston, on the morning of the rally. In an interview with Late Night show host Seth Myers, Minhaj said he was told by the “Howdy Modi” rally officials he was on a blacklist for criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was hence being denied admission.

Here is the Myers interview with Minhaj:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUoNEnY6ASM

Minhaj has covered the right wing Hindu extremism of Prime Minister Modi and his party. Modi’s officials were apparently referring to Hasan Minhaj’s video “Indian Elections,” which has gotten over 3.5 million views::

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqZ_SH9N3Xo

Modi’s “Howdy” rally in Houston with Trump attracted much humorous criticism from the media, including this video from the leading TV comedian Stephen Colbert:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEou0-V8vrk

Swati Narayan & Manpreet Singh criticize “Howdy Modi” rally

In a CNN opinion piece, Swati Narayan and Manpreet K. Singh stated that they were not “…thrilled to see Modi and Trump in our backyard…both leaders have stoked divisions within their respective countries…We can’t afford to ignore the pernicious impact that President Trump’s words and policies have had on immigrants and communities of color.” https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/22/opinions/modi-trump-rally-kashmir-narayan-singh/index.html.