Amidst the Coronavirus lockdown in India, Doordarshan decided to air some of its classics again. Among classics like Shaktimaan, Dekh Bhai Dekh etc being aired, the two most popular TV Serials telecast on Doordarshan were Hindu epics Mahabharat and Ramayan which were made in the 1980s. As soon as the first episode aired, the re-run became a hit, becoming the top trend on Google and even crashing the Doordarshan website. This move and the eventual popularity of the epics was bound to anger the Communists and Islamists who are averse to the realisation that India is still predominantly Hindu, much to their chagrin.
Now, a Columnist who goes by the name Anil Biswal has alleged that he was ostracised from a WhatsApp group meant for writers and journalists simply because he pointed out that Ramayan had become the highest viewed TV program in the wake of its re-run on Doordarshan.
https://twitter.com/BiswalAnil/status/1246024558374572033?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwTaking to Twitter, Anil Biswal uploaded a snapshot of his WhatsApp chat where it could be seen that in a group meant for writers, columnists and journalists, Biswal had written: “Retelecast of Ramayan garnered the highest-ever rating for a Hindi General Entertainment Channel (GEC) programme since 2015 when the Broadcasting Audience Research Council (BARC) started measuring the television audience informed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting”.
After this message was sent by Biswal, it could be seen that he was thrown out of the WhatsApp group by one Balachandra Sarangi whose name was accompanied by ‘CPI-ML’. Thus, presumably, Biswal was thrown out of the WhatsApp group by a CPI-ML functionary for merely pointing out that the re-telecast of Ramayan, The Hindu epic, was doing well on television.
Biswal took to Twitter to write, “If you say that #Ramayana became the most viewed TV programme, then the Communists will remove you from WhatsApp group blaming you as Communal. Bhalachandra Sarangi, a hard core CPIML leader from Odiaha did so to me. Screenshot attached”.
It is not surprising that Biswal would have been ostracised when he was seen as someone who does not harbour a deep-seated hatred for Hindu epics. Several times, The Hindu epics have been denigrated by Communists, Leftists and Islamists. Even the chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’ was vilified internationally by alleging that the chant had turned into a murder cry in India.