Published 13:41 IST, January 19th 2021
On 'Tandav' controversy, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Arun Govil issue strong statements
On 'Tandav' controversy, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and 'Ramayan' fame actor Arun Govil issued strong statements
In a rare instance of numerous leaders reacting to a web series, Tandav sparked a controversy for a scene allegedly hurting religious sentiments. Not just politicians across parties, even Chief Ministers of states expressed their displeasure. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan stated that no one had the authority to offend religious sentiments.
CMs against Tandav
Yogi Adityanath warned of strict action against the show for hurting sentiments and that anyone hurting sentiments of Hindus will have to ‘pay the price.’
Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “No one has the right to hurt our sentiments. There needs to be a scrutiny on OTT platforms.''
“The vulgarity on this medium is taking our minors on the wrong direction.The Indian government is serious on this,” he added.
Arun Govil wrote, “There is a need to stop the anti-religion ideas as shown in Tandav in the name of creative freedoom.” He urged the Shankaracharya's of the four Hindu mutts to come forward and alert the devotees on the protection of their beliefs, and rights.
Meanwhile, two First Information Reports have already been filed against the show. Police complaints were filed against the makers by Bharatiya Janata Party leaders like Ram Kadam and Kapil Mishra. Protests were also held in some areas. The outrage is over a scene where a character is dressed in what looked like Lord Shiva’s get-up in a light-hearted setting and jokes.
Reacting to the flak, the team finally issued a statement that they did not to intend to hurt the sentiments, and thus expressed an 'unconditional apology.'
The team's statement read, "We have been closely monitoring viewer reactions to the web series Tandav and today during a discussion, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting informed us regarding a large number of grievances and petitions received on various facets of the web series with serious concerns and apprehensions regarding its content hurting the sentiments of the people.
"Tandav is a work of fiction and any resemblance to acts and persons and events is purely coincidental. The cast and crew did not have any intention to offend the sentiments of any individual, caste, community, race, religion or religious beliefs or insult or outrage any institution, political party or person, living or dead.
"The cast and crew of Tandav take cognizance of the concerns expressed by the people and unconditionally apologize if it has unintentionally hurt anybodys sentiments,"
Updated 13:42 IST, January 19th 2021