Outrage as ZEE5 show depicts freedom fighter Khudiram Bose as 'criminal'

Kunal Khemu-starrer Abhay 2, a webseries on OTT platform ZEE5, has waded into a controversy for allegedly portraying freedom fighter Khudiram Bose as a “criminal” in one of its scenes, triggering outrage among the Bengali community.

Several netizens have taken to the social media to point this out, including actor Rudranil Ghosh and MLA Madan Mitra.

Khudiram Bose was only 18 years old when he was executed by the British government for his role in the Muzaffarnagar conspiracy case, in which he and revolutionary Prafulla Chaki had attempted to assassinate a British judge, but failed. Bose, hanged on August 11, 1908, was the youngest freedom fighter to have gone to the gallows. Newspapers that time reported that he went to the gallows with a smile on his face and the Bhagvad Gita in his hand.

In one of the three episodes of Abhay 2, released on the occasion of Independence Day, Bose’s portrait is seen along with other criminals on a board in a police station. Netizens were quick to take to the social media to point this out. Soon, Twitter was flooded with angry reactions.

Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra termed this as “extremely shameful” and slammed the BJP for “undermining contribution of Bengalis in all fields.” “I guess this the new norm in the BJP government, distorting of history to undermine the contribution of Bengalis in all fields,” he said.

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Rudranil Ghosh, a prominent actor in the Bengali film industry, shared a video on his Facebook account, in which he showed the scene playing on his TV and said, “I believe this was an unintended mistake. I request ZEE5 to edit this out.”

In response to the one of the tweets, the official handle of ZEE5 Support said the makers of the show have no intent to offend any community or hurt anybody’s sentiments. It said it has blurred the image used in one of the scenes of Abhay 2.

“The producers, show & the platform, have no intent whatsoever to offend any community or hurt anybody’s sentiments. Keeping in mind the feedback received and with utmost respect to our audience, we have blurred the image (inadvertently) used in one of the scenes of Abhay2,” the tweet said.