BJP seeks police action against Amitabh Bachchan for ‘hurting Hindu sentiments’

India: A BJP MLA in Maharashtra on Tuesday approached police seeking action against megastar Amitabh Bachchan and makers of TV show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 12’ for allegedly hurting Hindu sentiments. Abhimanyu Pawar, BJP legislator from Ausa in Latur district, in a complaint to Latur SP Nikhil Pingle said action should be taken against Bachchan and Sony Entertainment Television over a question asked during Friday’s Karamveer special episode.

“There was an attempt to insult Hindus and create discord between Hindus and Buddhists who have been living in harmony,” Pawar tweeted, posting a copy of his two-page letter to the police official.

The episode had social activist Bezwada Wilson and actor Anup Soni in the hot seat opposite Bachchan, who asked the following question, worth Rs 6.40 lakh: On 25th December 1927, Dr B R Ambedkar and his followers burned copies of which scripture? The options were: (A) Vishnu Purana (B) Bhagavad Gita,(C) Rigved and (D) Manusmriti. Bachchan then said, “In 1927, Ambedkar condemned the ancient Hindu text Manusmriti to ideologically justify caste discrimination and untouchability and burned its copies.”

“All the four options pertained to Hindu religion. It is clear that the motive behind this question was to hurt the sentiments of Hindus,” Pawar said in his police complaint.

“This question spreads the message that Hindu religious scriptures are meant for burning and triggers enmity between Hindus and followers of Buddhism,” said Pawar, who was a close aide of Devendra Fadnavis while he was Maharashtra chief minister. The KBC episode question annoyed some netizens who accused the show of running a “leftist propaganda”, while others said it hurt Hindu sentiments.

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri shared a clip from the show on micro-blogging site Twitter, claiming KBC was “hijacked by Commies”. “Innocent kids, learn this is how culture wars are won. Its called coding,” he tweeted.