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Journalism of Courage
Zee TVs use of Hitler in the title of one of its shows has triggered an angry outburst from a US-based civil rights organisation fighting anti-semitism,The Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
Launched on November 7,the serial,Hitler Didi,revolves around the life of Indira Sharma,a girl saddled with the responsibility of taking care of her large family at a young age,who,in the pro-cess,turns into an implacable,stern disciplinarian. Telecast at 8pm in India,the show is aired in most of the international markets such as the US,the UK and Middle East Zee TV is available in.
ADL,however,has found the invocation of Hitler in the title of the show revolting. In a letter to Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd Managing Director and CEO Punit Goenka and Zee Network promoter Subhash Chandra on November 17,ADLs National Director and Holocaust survivor Abraham H Foxman said: Of respect for the more (than) six million Jews and millions of others who perished in the Holocaust,and mindful of the importance of keeping Holocaust terms meaningful to accurately describe a painful history whose lessons are pertinent today,lets preser-ve the name Hitler as a villain of incomparable evil and not trivialise his legacy or the Ho-locaust with a TV serial title.
The letter,a copy of which is available with The Indian Express,further says: While you may intend to invoke Hitler as a way of promoting the caricature of a family member with as you deem it on your web site a disciplinarian attitude,this analogy is offensive to the Jewish people.
In an email response to The Indian Express,ADLs Director Media Relations and Public Information Todd Gutnick said: ADL regularly speaks about inappropriate comparisons to Nazis,the Holocaust and Hitler. However,until now we have never encountered a TV show using Hitler in the title.
In a statement issued on Tuesday,Foxman said: The name Hitler doesnt belong in the title of a soap opera…. Hitler was an anti-Semite,fascist dictator and mass murderer responsible of the annihilation of European Jewry. That millions of soap opera fans in India are now hearing about a programme with the name Hitler on a daily basis is shocking.
ADL has asked Zee TV to change the name of the show to one not freighted with the taint of Nazi Holocaust. Zee TV executives confirmed the receipt of the letter but said no discussion could take place on it because the promoters have been preoccupied with a family function.
We can only confirm that we have received the letter and not responded to ADL yet, a Zee TV spokesperson said.
