The Amazon Prime Video show Paatal Lok, which has been garnering massive praise and attention from viewers and critics alike, has landed itself in a spot of controversy.
According to The Hindu, the Gorkha community has started an online petition demanding the removal of a casteist slur that they say portrays Gorkha women in a poor light.
The petition was addressed to the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry, the Minister Prakash Javadekar, Amazon Prime Video and series producer Anushka Sharma. They are asking that Amazon mute the slur, blur the subtitles and upload an edited video along with an unconditional apology and a disclaimer.
The Bhartiya Gorkha Yuva Parisangh has claimed the second episode of Paatal Lok had a scene at 3:41 where the Nepali speaking community was maligned.
In the scene, the character named Mary Lyngdoh is being abused by a policewoman, and is referred to by the derogatory term. Nanda Kirati Dewan, President of the Bhartiya Gorkha Yuva Parisangh, said,
The word has been used in a filthy, regressive way… We shouldn’t and cannot consume anything that is stereotyping and targeting the community in the name of creative freedom and in pursuit of entertainment excellence.
Further updates to the story are awaited.