Sacred Games protest: Rahul backs freedom of expression

Days after party workers voiced their opposition to the Sacred Games series on Netflix and the AICC backed the protests against the show, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday appeared disapproving of any such reaction.

"BJP/RSS believe the freedom of expression must be policed & controlled. I believe this freedom is a fundamental democratic right. My father lived and died in the service of India. The views of a character on a fictional web series can never change that," the Congress President tweeted with the hashtag Sacred Games.

On Tuesday, a member of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee Rajiv Sinha had registered a complaint with the Kolkata Police against the producers of the show, Netflix and actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui for "insulting" Rajiv Gandhi.

Again on Thursday, Suresh Shyamal Gupta, a Youth Indian National Trade Union Congress' (INTUC) office-bearer filed a complaint at the Chembur police station in Mumbai seeking the registration of the FIR against Netflix, actor Nawazuddin, director Anurag Kashyap and the producer of 'Sacred Games' under appropriate sections of IT Act and Indian Penal Code.

Controversy had kicked in soon after Sacred Games aired on Netflix on July 6. BJP IT Cell chief was quick to react saying "Congress remains steadfast in its commitment to muzzling freedom of expression."

At the AICC briefing on Thursday, Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi had also backed the voices of Opposition from Congress to the "Sacred Games" series saying while freedom of speech is everyone’s democratic right, using that freedom of speech to "spread a whole set of lies is a conspiracy".

She had also said the dialogues in the show were on the basis of lies "which have been projected by the BJP for political gains."

Rahul's tweet is seen as a correction as Congress' all-out attack on the show was seen as contrary to Rahul's strong position in favour of freedom of expression and his repeated attacks on the BJP and RSS over the issue.