SGPC president calls for ban on Disney+ Hotstar series Grahan, based on 1984 anti-Sikh riots

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Bibi Jagir Kaur has demanded that Grahan web series based on the incidents of the 1984 riots be banned immediately as it portrays a Sikh character in an “objectionable manner”. She demanded that the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry should ban the series, which is scheduled to be released on the Disney+Hotstar platform on 24 June. Addressing the press conference here on Monday, Kaur said, “A Sikh character has been portrayed in an objectionable manner in a web series called Grahan based on the 1984 Sikh genocide. In the web series, the charge of Sikh genocide is being levelled against a Sikh character which is highly condemnable and fabricated.” “A legal notice has been sent by a witness of the genocide Nirpreet Kaur to Ajay G Rai, producer of Grahan web series and Sunil Ryan, head and president of Disney+Hotstar. The SGPC also supports this notice,” she said. SGPC president Kaur said, “Through this web series, work is being done to rub salt on the wounds of Sikhs which would hurt the Sikh sentiments. Such films also hurt the communal harmony in society. Therefore, the government should enact strict Information Technology (IT) rules to curb such sensitive and objectionable trends.” Kaur demanded from the Government of India that it should include Sikh representatives in the Censor board so that controversial scenes related to Sikhs and the Sikh faith could be removed in any film. The SGPC president warned the Grahan producer and the head of Disney+Hotstar that if the objectionable web series is released, legal action would be taken against them by the SGPC as well. Meanwhile, Bibi Jagir Kaur has strongly condemned the construction of a replica model of Sachkhand Sri Harmandar Sahib in a park near Punjabi Bagh in Delhi. She said the Sikhs could never tolerate a replica of the Golden temple anywhere in the world. Kaur said, “When this issue came to light, I was in regular contact with the president of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) Manjinder Singh Sirsa since yesterday. Today, the DSGMC in support of the Delhi Sangat has immediately removed the replica of Sachkhand Sri Harmandar Sahib.” Kaur said, “With such actions, some people are deliberately trying to provoke the Sikh sentiments. Such acts cannot be tolerated and should be stopped immediately. Strict action should be taken against the culprits so that no one could play with the Sikh sentiments.” Kaur said about two months ago on 7 April, 2021, the SGPC had written a letter to Twitter Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey about the alleged hate-filled tweets by some users against Sikhs in India and abroad. But the SGPC has neither received any response from Twitter nor any action as yet, she claimed. Kaur further said, “The threats to repeat the 1984 genocide of Sikhs on social media platforms are common which spoil the atmosphere and has created a lot of resentment in the minds of Sikhs. But no action was ever taken against those who spread hatred against the Sikhs. “Such hate propaganda has increased by many folds after the farm agitation was launched against three farm laws passed last year and many Sikh organisations including the SGPC supported the same.” She said the support to farmers’ agitation irritated certain elements in India and their supporters abroad. “We all know about this certain lobby and how it works in an organised and very vicious way. There has never been any legal action against those indulging in hate-filled propaganda against Sikhs and the utterly communal and anti-Sikh elements multiplied their efforts after the farm agitation”, said Kaur.