‘Stop Tandav else saints will take to streets’

PRAYAGRAJ: : The Akhil Bhartiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP), the top decision-making body of the 13 recognised Hindu monastic orders —has demanded a ban on the web series ‘Tandav’.

ABAP president Mahant Narendra Giri said that Hindu gods and goddesses have been insulted in the series.

He said if the government does not stop this web series, then the saints will be forced to stage protest on the roads.

Tandav, starring actors Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Sunil Grover, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Dino Morea, Kumud Mishra, Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, Gauhar Khan and Kritika Kamra, premiered on the streaming platform on Friday.

“Everyone who has made this series should keep in mind that all religions in the country have equal respect,” the ABAP president said demanding a ban on the webseries. “It has become a habit of the film industry in our country to insult Hindu gods and goddess and those who are into making films and web series are taking saints too lightly. They have to be reminded that saints and common man of the country will no longer tolerate such acts of making mockery of religion and deities,” Mahant Narendra Giri said.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has also demanded removal of the objectionable portion from the web series ‘Tandav’. In a tweet the BSP chief has said that protests are being registered over some scenes of the web series ‘Tandav’ which have hurt the religious and ethnic sentiments. She demanded objectionable portions be removed to maintain peace, harmony and mutual brotherhood.

On Sunday, a First Information Report (FIR) had been registered against Amazon Prime’s India head of original content Aparna Purohit at Hazratganj Kotwali in Lucknow in connection with the controversy around the web series ‘Tandav’. The director of the series Ali Abbas Zafar, producer Himanshu Krishna Mehra, writer Gaurav Solanki and others have also been named in the FIR.