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Hindu Groups Ban Telecast Of Talk Show That Discussed The Relevance Of The 'Mangalsutra'

Moral Brigade Blocks TV Show That Discussed The Relevance Of The 'Mangalsutra'
An unidentified Indian married woman admires a mangalsutra made of brass and featuring the symbol of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) for sale on the stall of electoral publicity dealer Prakashbhai Naik in Ahmedabad on April 15, 2009. Naik sells Mangalsutra at Indian Rupees 25 (US 50 cents) each. A mangalsutra is an Indian symbol of Hindu marriage, consisting of a gold ornament strung from a yellow thread, a string of black beads or a gold chain. It is comparable to a Western wedding ring, and is worn by a married woman until her husband's death. As many as 5,000 mangalsutras, made of brass, will be distributed in each of the 26 electoral constituencies in the westenr Indian state of Gujarat. India will hold its fifteenth parliamentary general elections in five phases on April 16, April 23, April 30, May 7,and May 13 and the new parliament will be constituted before June 2. AFP PHOTO/ Sam PANTHAKY (Photo credit should read SAM PANTHAKY/AFP/Getty Images)
SAM PANTHAKY via Getty Images
An unidentified Indian married woman admires a mangalsutra made of brass and featuring the symbol of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) for sale on the stall of electoral publicity dealer Prakashbhai Naik in Ahmedabad on April 15, 2009. Naik sells Mangalsutra at Indian Rupees 25 (US 50 cents) each. A mangalsutra is an Indian symbol of Hindu marriage, consisting of a gold ornament strung from a yellow thread, a string of black beads or a gold chain. It is comparable to a Western wedding ring, and is worn by a married woman until her husband's death. As many as 5,000 mangalsutras, made of brass, will be distributed in each of the 26 electoral constituencies in the westenr Indian state of Gujarat. India will hold its fifteenth parliamentary general elections in five phases on April 16, April 23, April 30, May 7,and May 13 and the new parliament will be constituted before June 2. AFP PHOTO/ Sam PANTHAKY (Photo credit should read SAM PANTHAKY/AFP/Getty Images)

The 'mangalsutra' — an auspicious neckpiece worn by millions of married Hindu women around the world — is well-ingrained in Indian culture. Surely this innocuous piece of jewellery, a symbol of monogamous fidelity, is incapable of raising the hackles of India's ban-happy moral brigade?

Not so, according to this report in The News Minute. Published on Monday morning, the piece says that a Tamil news channel, Puthiya Thalaimurai, had upset certain groups over an episode of talk show Urakka Sollungal that would debate the relevance of the mangalsutra or the 'thaali' (as it is called in Tamil). The report stated that the telecast of this episode, scheduled for last Sunday, was cancelled and the channel was undecided on whether to air an edited version of the show or not.

Now, however, it seems that the channel has backed away from the issue for good. "The show has been cancelled because of pressure from the public," said an employee at Puthiya Thalaimurai, who wished to remain anonymous, in a phone conversation with HuffPost India.

On Thursday, the channel had telecast a promo featuring an all-women panel discussing whether the thaali has now become a redundant symbol, especially in cases where husbands have abandoned or tortured their wives. However, the direction of this debate did not go down well with many. Speaking to The News Minute, a senior editor from the channel said, "From Thursday to Sunday, we have received more than 3,600 threatening calls. If women in the newsroom picked up some of these calls, they were asked, 'Do you wear a Thaali, first take it off and then speak (sic).'"

On Saturday, members of the Hindu Makkal Katchi (Hindu People's Party), protested outside the channel's office in Guindy, Chennai. A day later, despite the telecast having been cancelled, another protest was held by religious and cultural organisation Hindu Munnani. This one turned violent, with some protesters reportedly attacking a cameraperson, E Senthilkumaran, capturing the incident and damaging his equipment in the process. Senthilkumaran was hospitalised for his injuries and discharged the next day.

BJP National Secretary H Raja was amongst those who objected to the show. "Why should this channel be allowed to air the show? What is the need to discuss the relevance of the Thaali? Will the same channel discuss the Purdah for Muslim women or if Christian nuns should wear the cross?" he said.

As evidenced from these reactions on Twitter, this seemingly innocuous debate has touched a raw nerve.

#boycottPuthiyaThalamurai TV channel for questioning sacredness of Mangalsutra! Will they debate Burka ever? & if they do condemn it too!

— MRV (@MRVChennai) March 8, 2015

The talk show on mangalsutra is a planned attack on Hindu culture.Change of mind on long cherished belief shud evolve not induced by oratory

— Swamy (@bharativamsi) March 9, 2015

@rukmini_shrini a thaali or a mangalsutra must be worn by every woman .. Why should all of a sudden women start debating otherwise ??

— Ganeshan (@ganeshan_iyer) March 9, 2015

This incident comes closely on the heels of the ban on BBC documentary India's Daughter, which examines the infamous Delhi gangrape of December 2012, as well as a growing national conversation about tolerance and free speech — or the lack thereof.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.