New Delhi, July 14: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday reacted to the controversy stoked by Sacred Games, a debuting political web series on Netflix, which shows his father and late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in poor light.
Despite a Congress worker in Kolkata registering an FIR against the show's lead actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, producers and streaming platform Netflix, Rahul Gandhi said he is not inclined towards curbing anyone's freedom of expression.
"BJP/RSS believe the freedom of expression must be policed & controlled. I believe this freedom is a fundamental democratic right (sic)," the Gandhi scion tweeted.
He, however, came out in defence of Rajiv Gandhi saying a web series cannot undo his sacrifice for the nation.
"My father lived and died in the service of India. The views of a character on a fictional web series can never change that," he added in the tweet.
BJP/RSS believe the freedom of expression must be policed & controlled. I believe this freedom is a fundamental democratic right.
My father lived and died in the service of India. The views of a character on a fictional web series can never change that.#SacredGames
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 14, 2018
Earlier in the week, Congress worker Rajeev Kumar Sinha filed a complaint in Kolkata citing the abusive words used in the web show against the late prime minister.
Siddiqui, who plays the role of a Mumbai-based gangster in the series, calls Rajiv Gandhi a "fattu" (coward) in one of the scenes for not backing Shah Bano Begum in the matrimonial lawsuit since a section of the Muslim clergy were against her.
The character of Siddiqui further accuses Rajiv Gandhi of ordering the airing of Ramayana on television to appease Hindus and divert attention from the Shah Bano case.
While speaking to News18, Sinha, the complainant, said it is the "greatness" of Rahul Gandhi to forgive even those who are abusing his father.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 14, 2018 08:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).