The BJP in Tamil Nadu has objected to a recent episode of the reality television show ‘Junior Super Stars Season 4’ broadcast on Zee Tamil, claiming that children participants staged a skit mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a letter to Zee Tamil, CTR Nirmal Kumar, the state president of the BJP’s IT and social media cell in Tamil Nadu, asked that the programme should be pulled from the air and alleged that ‘obnoxious’ statements were made about the Prime Minister.
The episode aired on January 15, and two children costumed as the king and minister from the classic Tamil historical political satire film ‘Imsai Arasan 23 am Pulikesi’ were shown mocking the monarch of a kingdom called Sindhiya.
In the film, Tamil comedy actor Vadivelu plays the role of a king controlled by the British, who is portrayed as vain, silly and one who puts people in jail at his whim. Even when there is poverty and famine in the nation, the monarch in the film lives extravagantly.
In the skit aired on Zee Tamil, the children seem to be narrating the story of this king who tried to demonetise the currencies in a bid to eradicate black money but failed in the process.
In the aforementioned comedy, the child dressed as the monarch asks what is impeding his country’s prosperity. He goes on to argue that it is black money and that if all money is demonetised, black money would be abolished. The second child, disguised as the minister, says that a similar scenario occurred in Sindhiya (a fictitious kingdom), where “the monarch likewise did the same thing as you, like a fool.”
They go on to say that instead of destroying black money, the ‘royal’ just wear different coloured coats and roam around.
The children are also seen mocking the disinvestment programme and the king’s reign over the country, which the judges and others in the audience cheer.
The BJP, on the other hand, alleges that the show made fun of the Prime Minister during the 2016 demonetisation process by ridiculing a fictitious monarch who carried out a similar practice and was criticized.
In his letter to Zee Enterprises Limited Chief Cluster Officer Siju Prabhakaran, Nirmal Kumar stated that the children, aged approximately 10, were ‘deliberately’ asked to make these statements against the Prime Minister.
“Scathing remarks were made concerning demonetisation, his diplomatic visits to other places, the Prime Minister’s clothing, and disinvestment.” It would have been hard for a child under the age of ten to comprehend what these actually represent. “However, under the cover of humour, these subjects were imposed onto the children,” Nirmal Kumar wrote in his letter.
He also accused the channel of doing nothing to stop the propagation of “blatant disinformation” against the Prime Minister.
“It is clear that the channel made no effort to curb this flagrant falsehood spread casually, especially through young children.” In order to outrun their peers, young children just do what is taught to them. “What was expressed was beyond their rational comprehension, and the guardians of these children, as well as Channel, must be held legally and ethically liable for this crime,” Nirmal Kumar said.
He also stated that, as a result of his letter, the station has agreed to delete the relevant segment from its website and refrain from rebroadcasting it.