My Father Lived and Died Serving the Nation: Rahul Gandhi Reacts to Sacred Games Row

New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi broke his silence on the controversy regarding Sacred Games — a Netflix web series — on Saturday, saying unlike the BJP and the RSS, he believed that freedom of expression was a fundamental democratic right.

The series has been in the news after a Congress worker filed a complaint in Kolkata against the streaming platform, actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui and the producers for using an ‘objectionable word’ to describe late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Talking about the reference to his father, the Congress chief on Saturday said, “My father lived and died in the service of India. The views of a character on a fictional web series can never change that.”

In the series, Siddiqui plays the role of Ganesh Gaitonde, a Mumbai gangster. In one of the scenes, he calls the late PM ‘fattu’ (coward). The complainant, Rajeev Kumar Sinha, told News18 that he felt RSS and BJP could be behind this. “We are deeply hurt and we want stern action to be taken against the offenders,” Sinha said.

The complainant further alleged that the show misrepresented facts during Rajiv Gandhi’s regime. “In one of the scenes, Shah Bano Begum case was discussed where Nawazuddin Siddiqui said he (Rajiv Gandhi) started the Ramayana TV serial to appease the Hindus so that people forget the case. We strongly oppose such objectionable words,” he told News18.

In his letter to the police, the Congress worker urged that Netflix, Siddiqui and the producers of the show be booked under appropriate sections of the IT Act and Indian Penal Code.

Reacting to the Congress chief's statement on Saturday, Sinha told News18, "It's the greatness of Rahul Gandhi, who has not made this an issue. I have done this as I was hurt that my leader has been badly presented."

He added, "Rahul is a great leader and has shown his quality. My leader has done what we expected. He has forgiven somebody who used wrong words against his father."

Sacred Games is directed by Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane and was produced in partnership with Phantom Films. Shooting for the first season was completed on January 28 this year and all eight episodes were made available for streaming on July 6.

It is the first political drama to come from Netflix in India and it took just five days for it to land in trouble. Apart from Siddiqui, the show stars Saif Ali Khan and Radhika Apte. The story revolves around a police officer who tries to thwart a terrorist attack in Mumbai after being warned by a notorious criminal.