Quantico is an American television drama thriller series on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). Priyanka Chopra – Indian actress – stars as Alex Parrish, a bright FBI recruit who later becomes a prime suspect in a terrorist case.
The Indian fans were excited and had no problem with the TV series until the episode that carried a plot of "Hindu terrorism" was aired. This Indian source, India Today, gives a rundown of the terror plot controversy. HERE. According to the Indian diaspora, the Hindu terrorism plot was regrettable, hurtful, anti-Hindu and anti-India. They denied the existence of such a thing as Hindu extremism.
Members of a Hindu extremist outfit burned posters of actor Priyanka chopra. Photo: PTI
So What's Fact And What's Fiction?
Does Hindu terrorism exist? (If yes, then why the backlash?)
The answer in short is: YES. Saffron terror is a neologism for works of terrorism perpetrated by the Hindus. The term comes from the saffron colour that the Hindu militants generally made symbolic use of.
Indian media and politicians have used the term to categorise the acts of terror perpetrated by Hindu extremists. Former Home Minister of India P. Chidambaram warned of "Saffron terror" in August 2010 at a meeting of state police chiefs in New Delhi.
On 16 September 2011, according to a special director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Hindutva activists have either been suspected or are under investigation in 16 incidents of bomb blasts in India.
Fast forward to 2018, in the latest edition of the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook, multiple Hindu groups have been categorised as ‘religious militant organisations’.
Therefore, it's safe to conclude that violent Hindu extremism exists for real, no? Don't they kill you for falling in love as much as for eating certain food. If a Muslim falls in love with a Hindu, they'd call it "Love Jihad" – they'd arbitrarily put such a label on random relationships only to punish the individuals in love. Then you have this persecution and violence against those who eat beef. After all this, shouldn't we conclude that Hindu terrorism exists for real?
What Happened To Your Neighbors And Their Sentiments?
Hollywood and Bollywood have depicted Islamic terrorism nearly annually in their movies, but we can't have a Hindu terror plot shown on the screen, why?
If Priyanka Chopra and ABC must apologize for their fiction, then on what ground have other actors not been made to apologize for their fictions? Hasn't Bollywood actor Sunny Doel been hunting down the bad Muslims, for decades, in movies?
"Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself". — Potter Stewart
So What's Your Conclusion?
It's tragic Priyanka Chopra is sorry for ‘Hindu terror plot’ in Quantico, writes Sanjukta Basu. Some activists and writers – those that think Priyanka Chopra shouldn't have apologized – have been let down. The timing of Chopra's apology is significant, in that police investigation into activist Gauri Lankesh's murder has established that the killers were not only well connected to Hindutva outfits but groomed by Hindutva ideology itself. If you don't want to die, then you must apologize. Eh?
References
Quantico is not the problem. The reality of 'Hindu terrorism' is
It's tragic Priyanka Chopra is sorry for ‘Hindu terror plot’ in Quantico
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