Shemaroo Disassociates With Comedian Surleen Kaur After Complaint, ISKCON Says Won’t Pursue The Case

Update: Shemaroo has unconditionally apologised for the video in which Surleen Kaur is seen making ‘derogatory statements’ against ISKCON and Hindus, and ISKCON in turn has decided not to pursue the case anymore.

The company tweeted on 29 May:

In turn, a statement shared with Swarajya by Yughistir Govinda Das, director of ISKCON’s communications in India, said, “...Shemaroo has offered unconditional apology for the same and disassociated itself from the persons involved in spreading this falsehood about ISKCON. Therefore ISKCON will not proceed against Shemaroo.”

The statement also said that “ISKCON being tolerant organisation does not believe in revengeful acts and always believed in acting morally, ethically and as per law”.

Here is the story that Swarajya published yesterday on all that had unfolded in the matter:

Hindu religious organisation ISKCON (or International Society for Krishna Consciousness) has filed a police complaint against a woman stand-up comedian and Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd for “using inappropriate words for ISKCON, for our rishis, and Hindus”.

The complaint came after a video of one Surleen Kaur went viral on social media.

Kaur is seen saying this in the video, which is part of her stand-up comedy act: “Beshak hum sab ISKCON waley hain, par andar sey sun harami porn waley hain…Dhanya ho hamare rishi-muni jinhone thodi se Sanskrit use karke apne bade bade kaand chupaye hain…Kamasutra.”

Watch the video here:

ISKCON’s spokesperson Radharamn Das posted the copy of the complaint on Twitter on the evening of 28 May, tagging Mumbai police chief.

“This is very unfortunate that there has been narrative building against the followers of Sanatan Dharma on different platforms,” his post said.

ISKCON’s complaint cites those lines by Kaur and says, “This is highly objectionable and defamatory and it has caused great pain to the followers of Sanatan Dharma, Hindus and ISKCON worldwide devotees.”

The complaint further says, “There is a growing trend in India, where Hinduism/Sanatam Dharma and our Rishi-Munis, Deities etc are being constantly abused by a group of people and organisations. They are misusing the tolerant nature of the followers of Sanatan Dharma and their abuses and language and volume of abuse has only grown louder day by day.”

Hours after the video created outrage on social media, the official Twitter handle of Shemaroo apologised to ISKCON and said that it had taken down the video from its platform.

The handle said,“This is with regards to the video that has been brought to our notice featuring comedian Ms. Surleen Kaur. The video was found derogatory and the same has been taken down with immediate effect. Shemaroo is committed to ensure our content is neutral and unbiased towards any religion, caste, creed or culture. We apologize to all brothers and sisters of the Iskcon community whose sentiments we might have unintentionally hurt. We extend our assurance that such matters will be dealt meticulously and with extreme sensitivity.”

The handle tagged Yughistir Govinda Das (@yudhistirGD), whose Twitter bio says he is director of ISKCON’s communications in India.

In response, Yughistir Govinda Das tweeted, “Spoke with the senior management of Shemaroo & they were apologetic for the hurtful comments made by a 'stand-up comedian'. They said they don't subscribe to such insensitive content targeting any religion. Video being removed from all their platforms.”

However, Radharamn Das tweeted that the organisation will proceed legally against Shemaroo.

“We don't accept your apology @ShemarooEnt . We will proceed legally against you, @BalrajSyal & Surleen Kaur. This has become a trend to demean Sanatan Dharma. No more. We will make an example out of this nonsense. Enough is enough,” he posted.