Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former minister of state for the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, on Tuesday criticised remarks about the Maha Kumbh Mela made during a programme telecast by Asianet News, a Malayalam TV channel that he owns, reported The Indian Express.
In a Facebook post, Chandrasekhar claimed that several Malayalees had reached out to him saying they were hurt by the programme’s content.
“They felt the programme was ridiculing the Kumbh Mela,” he said. “My family was among crores of devotees who participated in the Maha Kumbh mela. I have brought this to the attention of those at the helm of Asianet News. I have asked them that there should not be such careless, sarcastic remarks about such an event, which is attended by lakhs of devotees.”
Chandrasekhar added: “As in any religion, faith is important for every Hindu. We, crores of Hindus across the country, including Kerala, want that to be respected.”
The controversy stems from the latest episode of the weekly programme Cover Story, which was aired on March 1. The show commented on the increasing number of people from Kerala attending the Kumbh Mela and taking a dip at the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna rivers.
“Hundreds of people from Kerala took part in the Ganga snan [holy dip,” it stated. “Hindu sentiments, interest in rituals, and the Kumbh mela snan, which were not prevalent until now, have emerged in a state where CPI(M) [Communist Party of India (Marxist)] is ruling. Even when Kerala is claiming to be 100 percent literate, Kumbh mela snan and propitiating BJP are favourite matters for a lot of Keralites.”
The programme also showed visuals of Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking a holy dip in the Ganga, commenting: “Good advertisement, good business and good PR. When all came together, the Kumbh mela turned into a favourite here in Kerala too.”
BJP state president K Surendran criticised the programme on Monday, alleging that the Malayalam media was being influenced by foreign funding.
“Malayalam media are also getting the funding which Donald Trump had referred to, and the Soros funding,” he wrote on Facebook. “There is no counting the hajjis going for hajj in Mecca. The concern is about the number of people who go for the Kumbh Mela snan. First class urban naxals, for whose support there is jihadi money.”
The BJP in Kerala has previously clashed with Asianet News. In 2015, the state unit announced a boycott of the channel, accusing it of being dominated by “journalists with Left background”.
In 2021, Union minister and senior BJP leader V Muraleedharan refused to allow Asianet News reporters at his press meetings, citing dissatisfaction over the channel’s coverage of post-poll violence in West Bengal.
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