TV Newsance 189: Adipurush controversy and ‘Garba Jihad’ bogey

Of everything that TV news seeks to ruin, this week’s hit list featured films and festivals.

You had TV news anchors, as usual, outraging over hurt Hindu feelings. This time the sentiments were hurt by a yet-to-be-released film called Adipurush. Per the anchors, the film makes Ravana, the demon-king of the epic Ramayana, look “too Muslim”, if there’s such a thing. If that wasn’t outrageous enough, the Muslim-looking Ravana is played by “Muslim actor” Saif Ali Khan. So, the bobbing heads that pass for TV anchors spent considerable airtime berating the film industry for misusing its creative licence. More airtime was spent comparing Bollywood Ravana to Bollywood Khilji.

Keeping to the script, you also had TV news anchors join Hindutva extremists in asking a very inclusive question: how dare unwanted elements participate in our festivals? Unwanted elements, you ask? Take a wild guess. Aman Chopra on News 18 led this rally, going to the extent of celebrating the public caning of Muslim men by the Gujarat police in Kheda. Most other Hindi news anchors too expounded the freshly minted conspiracy theory of “Garba Jihad”, but there was one notable exception. Wondering who?

Watch to find out.

References

NDTV Special Report On Garba Vigilantism

Bloodlust TV: Aman Chopra celebrates public caning of Muslim men by Gujarat police