A Congressmen, Rajeev Kumar Sinha, from Kolkata in West Bengal on Tuesday fired off a complaint letter to the actors and makers of 'Sacred Games' and huffed and puffed about the language used to describe Former Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi in the Netflix 'India Original' show.

The allegation in the Congressmen’s letter is that the Netflix Original series had insulted a former Prime Minister by using abusive language. "Along with this the serial also crosses all limits of decency and has taken Indian Film industry to a new low," he wrote. (Read more about the details of his complaint here) 

While no one is celebrating abusive language against Rajiv Gandhi, isn’t there a thought in Rahul Gandhi asking his leaders to simply chill instead of turning every little mention into some touch-me-not affair?

One day a Karni Sena picks up ‘Padmaavat’ with some ‘how dare you’ approach and the next, some Congressmen in West Bengal takes offence to a Netflix Original show, so the question is, where is all of this leading us? Is there an expectation across political ideologies and political parties that Indian filmmakers should sit all year round and make some nursery rhyme entertainment cinema which refuses to move beyond the realms of dramas and archaic love stories made for ‘family only’ viewing?

Anurag Kashyap’s Sacred Games is probably India’s first shot at doing a non-Ekta Kapoor type TV series’ and while the Ekta Kapoor-era has its own rightful audience, there seems to be a seeming expectation that that audience must not only be mass but must be all of India.

Read how Sacred Games is breaking the barrier globally

So, without further ranting about the political hypersensitivity around works of cinema and the continual hankering to infringe upon fundamental rights, I say: Rahul Gandhi, ask your West Bengal leader to take a chill-pill. Here are 4 reasons why:

IT'S A WORK OF ART & FICTION, SO ‘TOLERATE’ IT

Neither has Anurag Kashyap made a documentary film nor has he positioned ‘Sacred Games’ as binge-watching for families before the kids go to bed. The series is made for the boundary-less internet audience and therefore dragging in some political hypersensitivity about slapping IT Act and IPC in itself reeks of an avuncular approach by the Congress.

While this is no endorsement for cheering on abusive language vis-a-vis an ex-Prime Minister of India, the point is that a country of over a billion won’t have the same views about political leaders. Therefore, to try and make an argument that Rajiv Gandhi MUST ALWAYS BE SHOWN IN POSITIVE LIGHT NO MATTER WHAT is more than a little immature and folly.

If Rahul Gandhi is progressive, open-minded and as hip as his Tweeters claim he is, then to keep silent about a Congress complaint regarding a work of art and fiction comes off as a complete disconnect. For a politician who has pivoted in his recent years and political speeches around the theme of “tolerance”, if there was a mark to make, it is at this point.

Speak up, Mr. Gandhi and ask your leader to tolerate instead of calling for criminal action to be taken. Rise to the occasion, pull out Article 19 and make your West Bengal leader read it instead of being drowned in your habitual silence. A little Article 19 chill-pill will help.

RAHUL IS THE SELF-ANNOUNCED FREEDOM OF SPEECH PROTECTOR

Many would remember that earlier this year, in April 2018, when senior Congressmen publicly disagreed with his party’s stand on the impeachment motion against the Chief Justice of India, Rahul Gandhi addressed the mega Jan Akrosh Rally in New Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan and said, “

“We tolerate differences too. Salman Khurshid had a different opinion a few days ago and I respect that and I will save him. But when we fight the BJP and RSS, we all have to be together.”

If that wasn't just a public display to win a quick brownie point with the electorate, Rahul Gandhi should come out and say that he is tolerant of a divergent thought process vis-a-vis the tenure of his father as Prime Minister. He doesn’t have to agree with it, he doesn’t have to laud it, but can the Congress simply not tolerate a counter opinion or a flip-side to historical events? Whether we talk about what a fictional person says in a voiceover in a fictional web-only series about Rajiv Gandhi to Pranab Mukherjee addressing an RSS event -- the intolerance to counter perspectives binds it all.

Read about the Congress' intolerance to Pranab Mukherjee's RSS HQ visit here

Ironically, if Rahul Gandhi doesn’t speak up on the Sacred Games controversy, how will his party cling on to the “intolerance” theme that they’ve raised the pitch on vis-a-vis the BJP and right-wingers?

FACT IS, SHAH BANO & BOFORS HAPPENED

While the Congress’ ‘Sacred Games’ complaint letter was focussed on the use of abusive language, the specific references were to the Bofors Scam and the Shah Bano case-- two uncontestable taints of the Rajiv Gandhi regime.

Kashyap, while making a fleeting but factual reference to how Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister of India after his mother Indira Gandhi was assassinated, makes a reference to the “Bofors Scam”.

The specific reference to the Shah Bano case was an insinuation that Rajiv Gandhi overturned the Supreme Court Judgment in the Shah Bano case in 1985 as part of a panic move in an election year which is a matter of historical record. So, while the reminder might not please a Congressmen or Rajiv Gandhi loyalists, that touchiness alone cannot re-write the pages of history.

Similarly, Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s character speaks about the Bofors Scam vis-a-vis Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure. Again, while the reference may make a Gandhi loyalist flinch that loyalty to a family screaming out alone won’t change the fact that there is an allegation, still, that Oolaf Palme and Rajiv Gandhi were on a flight discussing kickbacks to Sweden in the Bofors deal (These revelations cracked the Bofors case right open). Given the fact that the Delhi Court is slated to hear the CBI’s plea for further probe in the Bofors case later this month, the Rajiv-Gandhi era scam is far from legally settled.

Within the aforementioned environment which pulls from historical facts even in an environment of reality instead of fiction, to be hyper-touchy about historical Rajiv Gandhi-era references which stood as dark spots of the regime is as childish as is folly.

But, zoom out, Mr. Gandhi-- let’s leave the facts of history aside since the headline here is about chill pills: Question is, so what if a FICTIONAL CHARACTER in a FICTIONAL WORK in a web-series had FICTIONAL life experiences that made him feel that Rajiv Gandhi’s Shah Bano decision and his inaction on the Bofors scam was wrong? Can the Congress party not tolerate a counter-point of view or reading of history even in a work of fiction?

THE WORRY IS THAT IT ISN’T STANDALONE

But, the biggest worry for Rahul Gandhi is of the consistency with which his party clamps down on opposing voices.

Indira Gandhi curbed free speech when she decided to impose the 21-month Emergency and 43 years later the Congress party led by Rahul Gandhi opposed a Madhur Bhandarkar Bollywood film on the historic event.  (Here's what you need to know about the Emergency)

It is a matter of record that Congress party banned Gulzar’s political satire Andhi back in 1975 because the film was allegedly based on a fictional representation that had similarities with Indira Gandhi. The hypersensitivity today is almost reminiscent of the hue and cry created by the Congress over the 1977 political spoof Kissa Kursi Ka, a film which lampooned the Emergency when prints and copies of the film were burned by party supporters

In 1978, the movie “Nasbandi”  was banned after showing the Indira Gandhi Government in what was considered ‘bad light’.

In fact, more recently, the movie “31st October” which was set in backdrop of the 1984 anti-Sikh Ajay Katara, who is allegedly a close aide of the Congress, filed a PIL because an unspecified political figure was "painted in a bad light".

While patterns tell us that not much has changed vis-a-vis tolerance and commitment to free speech, the Congress President with the Sacred Games controversy has the golden opportunity to rise above and be the inflexion point.

Chill pill, Rahul Gandhi. A teeny-weeny chill pill does no harm to anyone.

.... What's your take on the controversy? Leave your opinion in the comment section.