I&B ministry issues notice to Tamil Nadu kids show that 'mocked' PM

Chennai: Following a complaint lodged against the 'Junior Super Star Season 4,' programme hosted on Zee TV by Tamil Nadu BJP leader CTR Nirmal Kumar, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has issued a notice to Zee TV seeking explanation on the matter.

Kumar, who is the Tamil Nadu BJP State President of IT and Social Media, had filed a complaint against the show for alleged comments that 'mocked' Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The notice states that the "Ministry has received a complaint against telecast of a TV programme Junior Super Star Season 4 on 15.01.2022 (January 15) by Zee Tamil TV channel" and that the extract of the complaint was attached to the notice according to India Today.

Further, the letter states that ZEE "is requested to provide comments on the complaint to this Ministry within a period of 7 days, failing which further action will be taken."

The portion flagged by Kumar involves two children dressed as a king and minister performing a skit modelled after the popular Tamil historical, political satire film Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi.

In the skit, the dialogues used mention the King of a fictional country, 'Sindhiya', who demonetised currency to stop black money and failed, and who then travelled the world wearing different fancy jackets to cover it up. They are also seen making veiled references to a disinvestment scheme and also mocking the rule of the king in the country, which the BJP leader said was a direct reference to Prime Minister Modi.

Kumar said that the judges, who were seen applauding the skit and laughing, said that their expressions were edited into the show. The BJP alleged that the show 'made fun' of the Prime Minister over the 2016 demonetisation exercise and spread misinformation regarding his tenure.

The young children were forced to perform this dialogue with malicious intent, Nirmal Kumar alleged in his letter to Tamil Nadu Chief Cluster Officer of Zee Enterprises Limited.

"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...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 reads, as quoted by the Indian Express.

Nirmal also added that the channel had promised to remove the concerned part from its website and will abstain from re-telecasting the same, following his letter