The Hyderabad Cyber Crime police have registered a case against noted music composer Devi Sri Prasad, popularly known as DSP, in the wake of a complaint alleging that his recent song hurts the religious sentiments of Hindus. The complaint against the music director of the Telugu blockbuster movie Pushpa’s famous song Oo Antava was registered on November 2 for his recently released Hindi song O Pari. Based on the complaint, the Hyderabad police registered an FIR against DSP under IPC sections 153(A) and 295 (A).
@ThisIsDSP u hurted the sentiments of crores of Hindus. Take back the song and ask unconditional apology complaint filed in cyber crime police station by all hindu org. FIR booked u/s 295 A &153A @HinduJagrutiOrg@Ramesh_hjs https://t.co/AifwpHWGa8 pic.twitter.com/pVxQh1QyPD
— Chethan Janardan (@GJChetan) November 2, 2022
The complaint was filed by actor Karate Kalyani, who is also the woman president of the Rashtriya Hindu Joint Action Committee, and Lalith Kumar, president of Hindu Janashakti, in connection with a song released by Devi Sri Prasad a month ago. The song titled ‘O Pari’ was released in different languages by T-series and has garnered over 20 million views on YouTube.
‘Skimpily dressed women reciting the Hindu devotional chant is offensive’, the complaint seeks apology from Telugu music composer DSP
Karate Kalyani’s complaint alleged that the song in question contained skimpily dressed women reciting the Hindu devotional chant ‘rama rama hare bolo krishna krishna hare,’ which offended Hindu religious sensitivities.
“This is not DSP’s first time abusing Hindu gods. He has already sung spiritual songs to the tune of item songs,” she wrote. The term “item song” refers to a snappy, lively, and frequently sexually explicit dance routine for a song in a film. The allegation refers to a statement made by DSP at a press conference in which he stated that all music, whether devotional or item tunes, was the same to him as a composer. He went on to sing a song that mixed devotional and item song tunes.
She further alleged that the lyricist of ‘O Pari,’ Raqueeb Alam, wrote the lyrics with the objective of offending Hindus. “As Hindus, we strongly believe that the lyricist does not value Hindu gods, which is the reason he wrote such lyrics to demean the Hindus. Despite being Hindu, Devi Sri Prasad has also become a partner in crime,” she asserted.
“If someone can’t say the complete verses of Bhagavad Gita or any other sacred hymns, we simply ask them to chant Hare Krishna Hare Ram,” said Kalyani, adding that even those lines are powerful. “Did he even once think how hurt we’ll all feel before putting out a song showcasing such provocative depictions “If you aren’t able to save what’s left of Hindu dharma, at least don’t disgrace it. That’s what we’re requesting. We are demanding your apology for the same. We demand the song be taken down. If necessary, we will even storm into his studio to make him hear us,” Kalyani added.
The complaint also demanded that action be taken against the music production company T-series, as well as the cast and crew participating in the song.
Speaking about the complaint, Prasad, ACP, Hyderabad Cyber Crime said, “On November 2, we received a complaint from Lalit Kumar as well as Karate Kalyani, an actor, regarding the song by music director Devi Sri Prasad. We will be enquiring into this matter as it is a legal issue.”
Based on the complaint, the police filed a case under sections 153(A) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc) and 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Apart from singing the song, Rockstar DSP has also given music to it, and the video of the song features models Yvette, Shalae, Amarah and Maria.
How mocking Hindu faith and culture has become the new normal with celebrities, journalists and politicians
However, this is not the first time that members of the film industry have insulted Hindu gods and goddesses or openly mocked the Hindu faith and culture. In fact, everyone is aware of how anti-Hindu sentiment and Hinduphobia are subtly fostered in Bollywood films through one-sided, faulty, and fake stories. A similar strategy was adopted recently in the film Shamshera, in which the filmmakers portrayed the antagonist as a savage barbarian who is also a devout Hindu.
In fact, amidst the controversy over the comments on Prophet Muhammad by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and former Delhi BJP leader Naveen Jindal, OpIndia had presented an indicative and not an exhaustive list of instances where over the past few years, many celebrities, journalists and politicians have gotten away with abusing Hindu Gods without any backlash.
