Ramayan (1987 TV series)

"When the Ramayana was being shown as a serial on TV, Leftist and progressive artists, led by doughty warriors like A.K. Hangal and Dina Pathak, organised a protest in Bombay to protest against this "communal" act... [Similarly...] Addressing a rally at the conclusion of the march, Dina Pathak castigated Doordarshan for showing another "communal" item on its network - a report of the archaeological discovery, by Dr. S.R. Rao, of the remains of ancient Dwarka...."

"Notice the controversies which were kicked up over the telecasting of Ramayana and Chanakya, notice the hesitations on account of which the telecasting of Krishna was delayed for months and months. And notice too that these controversies were kicked up by columnists and the like - not by the common masses they so adore - and the hesitations hobbled politicians and civil servants - not the masses. .... we are taught to look upon Ramayana or Mahabharata or the story of Chanakya as "communal", and the legends of Shivaji and Rana Pratap as "revanchist"..."

"They not only want to ban what is objectionable and hurting to followers of some religions : they also want to ban what is sacred or at least valuable and uplifting to members of another religion. A great many secularists have blamed the Ramayana and Mahabharata TV serials for the "rise of Hindu communalism" and for the Ram hysteria. Of course, Ram was never that far away from the ordinary Hindus consciousness, that the TV serials could have made much of a difference. Through Tulsidas Hindi Ramayana, the common people in North India are thoroughly familiar with Ram, Sita and Hanuman, and they dont need TV serials to remind them. For the urban elites, it may have been a reminder of the culture they are in danger of forgetting. But for those secularists who have been completely alienated from their culture, these TV serials were anathema, and so, of course, they wanted them to be banned... But I think it is time the secularists come out and admit that a ban on Hindu TV serials is dear to them not because of the law and order situation, but because of the fact that these serials remind Hindus of Hindu culture."