After Swamy’s intervention ZEE5 drops controversial Hinduphobic series ‘Godman’

Godman, a controversial web-series, which was set to be aired on ZEE5 later this month, has been halted. Controversy erupted after the release of the teaser and subsequently many raised the matter including Subramanian Swamy who talked to Subhash Chandhra, who used to be owner of the media group but now active in management.

The series, made in Tamil language starring Jayaprakash, Sonia Aggarwal and Daniel Balaji, was found having anti-Hindu content. Several Hindu outfits including Virat Hindustan, an outfit managed by Swamy’s confidante Chandralekha, raised the issue.

Godman was allegedly spreading Hinduphobia and defamatory of Mutts in Tamil Nadu, and inciting hatred against the Brahmin community. After the matter was reported to Subhash Chandra, the media mogul who is a Rajya Sabha MP and owns 5 percent stake in the company, personally intervened in the matter and assured Swamy that the production house will not go ahead with the series.

“ZEE5 is a responsible content creator. The platform has been following stringent guidelines when it comes to self-regulating content and has proactively instilled a robust set of features in this regard,” said the media group in a series of tweets.

“Purely in the interest of its viewers, ZEE5 was also one of the first industry players to have signed the Code for Self-Regulation of Online Curated Content Providers. Basis feedback received with reference to our Tamil fiction show GODMAN, we have decided to suspend the release of this show at this moment. The producers, show, ZEE5 had no intent whatsoever of offending or hurting any community, religious or personal beliefs or sentiments,” it added.

The OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon continue to make and air anti-Hindu web series and get away with it. Mocking Hinduism, its rituals and practices, has become the modus operandi for the scriptwriters, directors, and producers of Indian Media & Entertainment industry.

A few months ago, an activist by the name Ramesh Solanki had filed a complaint against US-based Over the Top (OTT) streaming platform- Netflix for its anti-Hindu propaganda.

Netflix has been indulging in anti-HIndu propaganda for a long time. Series such as Leila depict a Hindu oppressive state, which portrays that in the name of religion, the individuals aren’t given their basic rights. However, such an oppressive Hindu state is a piece of fiction at best, unrelated to the current scenario and unlikely to happen in the near future.

The people are now becoming more informed and vocal against the leftist propaganda in the movies, and what is being witnessed is a surge of nationalists objecting to false portrayal of Hinduism and against those who link Hinduism to intolerance. India, being a secular country, does not show any religion in a bad light, and certain pieces of cinematic art such as the Netflix, ZEE5 shows, are being used defame the country.

OTT apps have been a major success story in India in the last few years, thanks to cheap data access and Smartphone ownership. It was basically a replication of sharing economy like Uber where the company uses the resources of other people/companies to make money. The only thing that requires for such companies is a strong technological support. But if they continue to peddle anti-Hindu propaganda, people will boycott these apps, just like they are boycotting Chinese goods.