New Delhi: The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) registered a police complaint against actress-comedian Surleen Kaur and Shemaroo Entertainment for a derogatory remark on Hindu faith during a stand-up act. The comedian had linked ISKCON with pornography and also made a remark on Lord Ganesh, following which she received a heavy backlash on social media.
Following an uproar, the production company issued an unconditional apology to the ISKCON community on the controversial remark and immediately took the offensive video down.
"This is with regards to the video that has been brought to our notice featuring comedian Ms. Surleen Kaur. The video was found derogatory and the same has been taken down with immediate effect. Shemaroo is committed to ensure our content is neutral and unbiased towards any religion, caste, creed or culture. We apologize to all brothers and sisters of the Iskcon community whose sentiments we might have unintentionally hurt. We extend our assurance that such matters will be dealt meticulously and with extreme sensitivity," said Shemaroo Entertainment in a statement they tweeted on social media.
On May 29, the entertainment company tweeted again, announcing disassociation with the remarks of comedian Surleen Kaur. "Further to our unconditional apology to ISKCON community for the comments made by Ms. Surleen Kaur, we have decided to disassociate ourselves from any further involvement with Ms Surleen Kaur and Mr Balraj Syal as they failed to meet our standards of public decency," the company declared.
Rejecting the production company's apology, ISKCON vice-president and spokesperson Radharamn Das wrote a letter to the Mumbai Police Commissioner requesting him to register an FIR against the comedian and Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd over defamatory language towards ISKCON community and Hinduism.
"This is highly objectionable and defamatory and it has caused great pain to the followers of Sanatan Dharma, Hindus and ISKCON worldwide devotees. ShemarooYoutube channel alone has over 23 million subscribers. Apart from this, the video has been shared on different social media platforms including what's app, Facebook, Tik-Tok, twitter etc. and it has caused irreversible loss to our society.
There is a growing trend in India, where Hinduism/Sanatan Dharma and our Rishi-Munis, Deities etc are being constantly abused by a group of people and organizations. They are misusing the tolerant nature of the followers of Sanatan Dharma and their abuses and language and volume of abuse has only grown louder day by day.
There is hidden propaganda and conspiracy to defame Sanatan Dharma, our Rishi Munis so that the youths can be easily manipulated. Through app's like Tik-Tok etc. the focus of the foreign power's is to destroy the character of the masses so that country can be easily controlled and destroyed," the letter read.
Founded in 1966, ISKCON is one of the most popular Hindu temples and has million congregational members across the globe.
