Tamil Nadu BJP seeks apology from Zee for ‘making obnoxious comments against PM’

In a letter addressed to the Chief Cluster Officer of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, CTR Nirmal Kumar, the BJP state president for IT and social media cell, said that scathing remarks were passed about demonetisation, diplomatic travel to various countries, PM Modi’s attire and disinvestments during the channel’s program — ‘Junior Super Stars Season 4” — that was aired on January 15.

The letter comes a day after Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai took to Twitter and said Union Minister L Murugan had asked him about a reality show that ridiculed PM Modi and assured that action would be taken. Kumar claimed that it would be impossible for a kid below the age of 10 to understand what the above-mentioned topics really meant. However, he added, in the name of comedy, these topics were discussed.

“Throughout this skit, the judges, anchors and mentors were seen encouraging the same without any inhibitions. This sends a wrong message about the channel in Tamil Nadu and what it stands for nationally,” he said.

The BJP leader added that the channel has also made no effort to curtail the blatant misinformation passed casually and that, too, through children. “What was being spoken is beyond their reasonable understanding and the guardians of these minors and the channel should be held legally and morally accountable for the act,” he noted.

He further asked the channel to issue a public apology and sack those responsible for the content. “Young children cannot be used to push someone’s political agenda as this sets a wrong precedent. Our silence cannot be perceived as complacency,” the letter read.

A video clip of the show had recently gone viral on social media as well.