A press conference meant to “start a war on obscenity on OTT platforms” itself turned into an obscene act when a three-minute explicit clip from Alt Balaji’s show XXX was played in front of more than a dozen people—all to prove a point. And it happened at the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library in New Delhi, leaving the gathering of mediapersons and Hindu seers visibly uncomfortable.
No OTT platform was spared. A ‘white report’, presented at the press conference, contained examples of the 2022 Netflix film, Indoo ki Jawani, which “portrays all Hindu men badly”. The film repeatedly asserts that “a woman is safer with a Muslim man from Pakistan than tilakdhari, jagrata-attending, religious Hindu men who ogle at her,” says the report.
From Seema Bhabhi to Rajasthan’s royal family, everyone found a mention at the event attended by a section of mediapersons. Uday Mahurkar, a former senior deputy editor at India Today and self-described follower of Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar, insisted that “themes, scenes, language, and clothing” in audio-visual content be restricted on all platforms. The report claims that this kind of content is “more dangerous to Bharat’s culture than previous foreign invasions”.
“We want to let these conspirators know that their days of immunity and impunity are coming to an end. Without a doubt, India will achieve its goals of dominating the economy, military, and sciences by 2047. But whether India can develop into a morally pure country is the real question,” Mahurkar said.
Training guns at OTT
Several studies linking content influence to criminal behaviour were cited, with claims that nearly 500 apps surfaced depicting incestuous relationships, especially within the majority Hindu community. Hindu preachers such as Sadguru Riteshwar of Anandam Dham Vrindavan and Paramatmananda Saraswati of Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha are now demanding stringent laws to prevent the spread of what they claim to be “anti-India forces” using vulgar content as a cultural weapon.
Padma Shri awardee Nivedita Raghunath Bhide said there is a need to prevent “anti-social and anti-India elements” from exploiting “our tolerance and relaxed norms”, particularly in regulating the OTT space in India.
“This is not an expression of art but is linked internally. While academic organisations depict Ramayana as ‘atrocity literature’, these OTT platforms now show that when a woman quotes Ramayana, innocent Muslims are killed. This is an anti-national act,” Bhide said. Incidentally, Bhide was removed by the Parliament of the World’s Religions from its list of guest speakers at this year’s conference in Chicago. Campaigners had voiced concerns over her Islamophobic tweets and her close ties to the RSS, prompting the organisation to drop her name from the group of “Featured Global Luminaries”.
Last month, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting released a draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill that aims to consolidate the regulatory framework for various services, including OTT content. The draft Bill, on which stakeholder comments were invited, proposed to regulate content by setting up content evaluation committees.
The journalist audience seemed divided in its assessment, with some questioning the need for more stringent regulation while others discussing how ‘objectionable’ content is now accessible in 30-second reels and clips on social media.
(Edited by Prashant)