A member of the Shiv Sena's IT cell has lodged a police complaint against Netflix for "defaming the country" and portraying "an incorrect picture" of India through the shows streamed on its platform.
Ramesh Solanki, the Shiv Sena member who filed the complaint at Mumbai's LT Marg police station, alleged that shows like Sacred Games, Leila, Ghoul and the comedy talk show Patriot Act hosted by Hasan Minhaj was streamed on Netflix India with "the intention to defame the country on a global level".
Accusing the online streaming service of "deep-rooted Hinduphobia", Solanki claimed that the platform was "portraying the nation in a bad light" and urged the police to "take necessary legal action" against Netflix for "hurting Hindu sentiments".
"I urge the authorities to look into all of the above-mentioned content and take the necessary steps from summoning their team to cancelling their licenses as deemed fit. One cannot allow an incorrect generalisation based on bogus rhetoric trying to defame a religious minority, that is, Hindu in countries other than India," he said in his complaint.
According to several media reports, a copy of Solanki's complaint has been sent to Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Mumbai's police commissioner.
Speaking to News18, Patrick Graham, a writer for the Netflix series Leila which is set in a dystopian future, denied the charge and claimed that the "depictions are purely fictional" and that the makers had "not hurt anyone's sentiments".
He further said that there was no point in banning stories and works of fictions. "If you want to criticise them then write about it or write another story. You cannot call for a ban on content in a democracy," he said.
Previously, Delhi BJP spokesperson Tajinderpal Singh Bagga had also claimed to have filed a complaint against Anurag Kashyap for "insulting" Sikh sentiments in the Netflix series Sacred Games. Additionally, Hasan Minaj's episode in March 2019 on the Indian general elections on Patriot Act had prompted significant outrage.
