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Amid protests by various Christian groups, controversial comedy group AIB on Monday offered an unconditional apology to the community for any offence caused to religious sentiments by their jokes. The group, under scanner of the Maharashtra government for hosting the controversial AIB Knockout roast, which later went viral on the internet, met members of the Archdiocese of Mumbai to explain their point.

After meeting the cardinal Agnelo Gracias, Auxiliary Bishop of Bombay, the AIB said in a post on Facebook, “the kind Archdiocese acknowledged the fact that we have never been against any community, nor do we bear any ill will towards any community.” In its apology letter, the AIB said, "We would also like to reiterate that the jokes at the AIB Knockout were not intended as a form of persecution or malice towards any community, for that is not who we are, or what we stand for."

The group, which has FIRs lodged against it by Pune police, pointed out that after the meeting with the archdiocese that they reached a consensus that "these matters are best solved by frank, patient conversation, not by pointless rabble-rousing or politicization or by taking up adversarial positions for the sake of eyeballs."

"While performing our acts, no matter the subject, we never intend to hurt anyone, though as an unfortunate consequence of the nature of our profession, we sometimes do. We are sorry. We would also like to urge that we have the utmost respect for all religions and community and have never been against any community, nor do we bear any ill will of any kind towards any community." read the AIB letter.

Here’s what AIB said in its letter to the Archbishop of Bombay

The members of the All India Bakchod Comedy Company met with Bp. Agnelo Gracias, Auxiliary Bishop of Bombay and tendered an unconditional apology. Bp. Agnelo Gracias on behalf of the Archdiocese of Bombay accepted the unconditional apology and in the spirit of understanding and reconciliation stated that the Archdiocese accepts the AIB apology and considers this matter closed. The Content of the apology letter is given here below

To,

Cardinal Oswald Gracias

Archbishop of Bombay

We, Tanmay Bhat, Gursimran Khamba, Ashish Shakya, Rohan Joshi at AIB hereby offer an unconditional apology to the entire Christian community for any offense that may have been caused to its members as a result of the AIB Knockout. While performing our acts, no matter the subject, we never intend to hurt anyone, though we as an unfortunate consequence of the nature of our profession, we sometimes do. We are sorry.

We would also like to urge that we have the utmost respect for all religions and community and have never been against any community, nor do we bear any ill will of any kind towards any community. We also believe and support with complete certainty the notion that every community has the right to live with dignity, honour, and freedom from any form of persecution. We would also like to reiterate that the jokes at the AIB Knockout were not intended as a form of persecution or malice towards the Christian community or any other community, for that is not who we are, or what we stand for.

We’d also like to thank the Archdiocese of Mumbai for taking the time out to get its points across to us through patient, reasoned conversations with us about this issue. We are deeply grateful for the sincerity and dignity with which we’ve been received and hope that more debates and cultural arguments across the spectrum can be made with this same spirit of understanding and civility.

With sincere apologies,

AIB