An FIR (first information report) has been registered against streaming service Netflix over allegations that the BBC adaptation of Vikram Seth’s “A Suitable Boy” has hurt religious sentiments.
The scene that has drawn the ire of self-styled guardians of Indian culture shows a man and a woman kissing inside a temple.
The FIR was filed today by a BJP youth leader from Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa district, who claimed the scene promoted “love jihad” – a right-wing conspiracy theory about relationships between Muslim men and Hindu women.
In the scene that prompted the complaint, the woman is Hindu and the man Muslim.Gaurav Tiwari, the National Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), has demanded an apology and the removal of “objectionable scenes” that “encourage love jihad”.
“Kissing scenes (filmed) inside a temple of Lord Maheshwar (a historic town located on the banks of Narmada) have hurt sentiments of Hindus.This is also encouraging ‘love jihad’,” Mr.Tiwari said.
On Sunday Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said police had been directed to investigate.Today he said: “Prima facie after examination we have found that it hurts religious sentiments, so an FIR has been registered against Monika Shergill and Ambika Khurana.
