Anushka Sharma's Paatal Lok in legal trouble over casteist slur on Nepali community

Anushka Sharma produced Paatal Lok has been enjoying massive success these days. The crime drama has become a hit amongst the audience and has even got a thumbs up from the critics. However, it seems that a few people have been irked by a casteist slur used in the show on a Nepali character. A legal notice has also been sent to Anushka on May 18 by a member of the Lawyers Guild, Viren Sri Gurung, says the latest reports. Not only this, but an organization representing Gorkhas has claimed that a scene in the web series 'Paatal Lok' contains a sexual slur directed at the community and indulges in stereotyping of the people of the Northeast, and demanded that the conversation be muted.

Gurung told The Quint, "There is a clip wherein during an interrogation a lady police officer uses a casteist slur on a Nepali character. There wouldn’t have been any problem had only ‘Nepali’ been used. But the word that follows it is unacceptable. Since Anushka Sharma is one of the producers of the show, we have served her a notice."

The All Arunachal Pradesh Gorkha Youth Association filed its complaint online with the National Human Right Commission (NHRC) on May 18 over alleged "sexist slur" made against the community in the web series. The Bharatiya Gorkha Yuva Parisangh (BhaGoYuP), the youth wing of Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh, has also started an online petition seeking that the particular scene is muted and the corresponding sub-title is uploaded again with a disclaimer.

In the scene, the alleged Nepali slur has been used against a woman character whose name suggests she belongs to the Khasi community of Meghalaya, said the online petition started by Namrata Sharma, who is the social welfare secretary of the BhaGoYuP.

"Nepali is one of the 22 scheduled languages and there are 10.5 million people in India who speak Nepali as the common tongue. The Gorkha community is the largest Nepali speaking community and this is a direct insult to the community," the Bharatiya Gorkha Yuva Parisangh said.

"We strongly condemn it in toughest terms and seek immediate removal of the scene's subtitles and mute the slur," the petition to be sent to Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said.

The Gorkhas cannot consume content stereotyping a community and accept racist attack in the name of creative freedom, the BhaGoYuP statement said. "This is not just regressive but also racist stereotyping of Northeast people, in particular the Gorkhas. Racial discrimination exists is a known, seen, told fact. During COVID--19 crisis the NorthEasterners have been fighting corona racism." BhaGoYuP president Nanda Kirati Dewan said.