The Panchajanya, a publication affiliated to the RSS has raised objections on the uncensored content being aired on various Over The Top (OTT) platforms especially a new series on Amazon Prime called “The Family Man”, starring actor Manoj Bajpayee. Sources in the RSS confirmed that this was a reflection of its own views on the matter.
In an article that the magazine only published on its website, it raised objections over certain dialogues featured in a couple of episodes of the series, specifically pertaining to the Union government’s action of abrogating Article 370 granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
“In the series, a woman affiliated to the National Investigating Agency (NIA) is shown speaking to her male colleague at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk, decrying the fact that Kashmiris were being oppressed by the Indian state as it had shut down phones and internet and used measures like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). At one point she asks her male colleague, who appears quite affected by her talk, whether there is any difference between the Indian administrative apparatus and militants,” says the article.
It also states that this particular web series (directed and created by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D K) constantly justifies people turning to terror and militancy, rather than it being a criminal activity. “The message from the series is that terrorism is not bad. In most cases, the love interest of the terrorist is either Hindu or Christian who is shown to express love for her terrorist boyfriend despite the odds and in spite of his being a terrorist,” says the article.
The article also says that according to the series the problem of terror arose due to the 2002 Gujarat riots, a character who turns to terror is shown having lost his parent in the riots. “More than 300 Hindus were also killed in the riots, why hasn’t anyone turned to terror yet?” asks the article.
Speaking to The Hindu , Panchajanya editor Hitesh Shankar said that “We have objections to this series and a couple of others that I would not like to name right now. My larger point is that this kind of uncensored content is reaching people’s homes, their mobile phones and is dangerous. There has to be some oversight, some mechanism through which this kind of content cannot make its way to screens in this country,” he said.
