Legal trouble for Anushka Sharma over caste slur in ‘Paatal Lok’

Guwahati: Anushka Sharma’s production Paatal Lok has landed in some legal troubles a few days after its release. A complaint has been filed against the actor (co-producer of Paatal Lok) by a Gorkha community group over sexist and casteist remark that was made on the series against the community.

Due to a sexist and cast slur made in the series that reportedly portrays Gorkha women in poor light, Bikash Bhattarai, Namsai unit president of the All Arunachal Pradesh Gorkha Youth Association’s (AAPGYA) and NHRC activist filed the complaint against Sharma on May 18.

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The complaint states that casteist slur in the second episode of the web series is against a woman’s character and a direct insult to Nepali speaking people. This slur has hurt the sentiments of Nepali speaking people in the country and the Gorkha community as well. AAPGYA even demanded the series to be either taken down from Amazon Prime Video or the team of Pataal Lok apologise to the Gorkhali people.

The youth wing of Bharatiya Gorkha Parisang, Bharatiya Gorkha Yuva Parisangh (BhaGoYuP) started an online campaign to mute a particular scene and the corresponding sub-title to be uploaded again with a disclaimer.

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The word in particular not only highlights racism against the community but also normalises it. Such stereotyping, that too in times of a crisis like COVID-19 which is already giving rise to violent racism all over the country can be demeaning to the community and its individuals says the complaint.

In a Tweet by BhaGoYuP, they state, “We strongly condemn in toughest terms and seek immediate removal. We cannot consume community content stereotyping and accept racist attack in the name of creative freedom.”

Additionally, Viren Sri Gurung a member of the Lawyers Guild which has been formed to provide free legal advice in the time of novel coronavirus crisis has also sent a legal notice to Sharma who is a co-producer of Paatal Lok on May 18 for the slur. He is yet to receive a response from the actor.