Updated: November 22, 2020 4:32:18 pm
A proper boy from Mira Nair is streaming on Netflix. (Photo: Tanya Maniktala / Instagram)
Madhya Pradesh’s Home Secretary Narottam Mishra Sunday ordered police officers to examine the content of Mira Nair’s Netflix show “A Right Boy” after a scene from the miniseries sparked a social media storm by allegedly “hurting religious sentiments”.
In a tweet, Mishra said: “A movie titled ‘A Right Boy’ has been released on an OTT platform. It represents extremely objectionable scenes that hurt the feelings of a particular religion. I have ordered the police officers to investigate him. “
?? # ????? _ ?????? _ ?????????? ?? “A suitable boy” ???? ?????? ???? ?? ?? ??? ????? ???? ????????? ????? ????? ?? ??? ?? ?? ???? ????? ?? ??????? ?? ??? ???? ???? ????? ????? ??????????? ?? ?? ??????????? ?????? ?? ??????? ????? ?? ????????? ???? ??? pic.twitter.com/oYSiizJxCQ
– Dr. Narottam Mishra (@drnarottammisra) November 22, 2020
Mishra, a cabinet minister in Shivraj Singh Chauhan’s government, has also asked officials to report whether legal action can be taken against the show’s producer and director for “hurting religious sentiments.”
The Interior Minister’s statement comes a day after a young BJP leader, Gaurav Tiwari, submitted a written complaint to Rewa SP Rakesh Kumar Singh, demanding that an FIR be registered. The police have yet to act. Tiwari objected to a scene showing two characters (played by Tanya Maniktala and Kabir Durrani), one Hindu and one Muslim, kissing in the temple premises. The BJP leader also urged people on Twitter to uninstall Netflix from their phone, after which #BoycottNetflix started trending on Twitter.
अपने ‘suitable guy’ कार्यक्रम में @NetflixIndia ने एक ही एपिसोड में तीन बार मंदिर प्रांगण में चुंबन दृश्य फ़िल्माए। पटकथा के अनुसार मुस्लिम युवक को हिंदू महिला प्रेम करती है, पर सभी किसिंग सीन मंदिर प्रांगण में क्यूँ शूट किए गए?
मैने रीवा में इस मामले पर FIR दर्ज करा दी है। pic.twitter.com/RcwuPDDME2
– Gaurav Tiwari (@adolitics) November 21, 2020
Directed by Mira Nair, A Suitable Child is a miniseries adaptation of the homonymous novel of the same name by Vikram Seth and tells the story of four families that takes place a few years after Indian Independence and Partition.
BJP spokesman Gaurav Goel, without naming A suitable boy He said that if any OTT platform was “deliberately insulting” the Hindu gods and goddesses, a complaint should be made to the local police or court under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code. “The law will take care of those criminals,” he tweeted.
The latest controversy comes amid the move by states ruled by the BJP to enact a law to curb “love jihad.” So far, the states of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have expressed concern about the growing number of cases of “love jihad” and have announced their plans to introduce bills.
In Madhya Pradesh, the bill, to be called Dharma Swatantrya (Freedom of Religion), 2020, proposes five years of rigorous incarceration for “luring a person through fraud and forcing marriage through religious conversion.” It also aims to make the offense not eligible for bail.
However, the decision to introduce such a bill was condemned by the opposition, which claimed that marriage was a matter of personal freedom and that curbing a law would be “unconstitutional”.
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