Petition

Make TV show #ChakravartinAshokaSamrat rectify the error of maligning the revered Chanakya

Directed to ~ Mr. Arun Jaitley, Honourable Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India.

Contiloe Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai

 

To, The Honourable Minister of Information and Broadcasting, India

It is very unfair to distort History, malign a revered Indian historical figure, send across a wrong message to society and mislead uninformed viewers.
The TV series- Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat is meant to be about the life of Emperor Ashoka (lived from 304 to 232 BCE) who is regarded by many as the greatest Emperor of India. He ruled from about 272 or 268 BCE to 232 BCE and became a model of kingship in the Buddhist tradition.
(http://www.ancient.eu/Ashoka/).
The series is a prime time show telecast on Colors channel at 9.00 pm (Monday to Friday), from 2nd February, 2015. Produced by Contiloe Entertainment, which has its head office in Mumbai, India, the serial was conceptualized and written by eminent writer Mr. Ashok Banker.

Arya Vishnugupta Chanakya also known as Kautilya(Born: 371 BC, India Died: 275 BC, some records say 283 BC) is regarded as a great thinker and diplomat in India. He was the mentor of Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan dynasty

(http://www.ancient.eu/Chandragupta_Maurya/).
In History, Chanakya also served as adviser to Chandragupta Maurya’s son Bindusara and was alive until Bindusara’s son Ashoka reached his 20s(most sources say Chanakya lived till the year 275 BC) .https://books.google.tt/books?id=OFFWNqHeu6UC&pg=PT79&lpg=PT79&dq=chanakya+subandhu&source=bl&ots=z1HM6oxb6Q&sig=RmH4tlj06b5oaVORKufvO9HjJxQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjitPD3tcHJAhUBViYKHfs9BzQ4ChDoAQglMAM#v=onepage&q=chanakya%20subandhu&f=false
http://www.freeindia.org/biographies/greatpersonalities/chanakya/page18.htm

All authorities agree that it was mainly because of Chanakya or Kautilya that the Mauryan Empire under Chandragupta and later under Ashoka became a model of efficient government. Many Indian nationalists regard him as one of the earliest people who envisaged the united India spanning the entire subcontinent.

It is known that Chanakya's Arthashastra has been praised widely all over the world for its clear and precise rules which apply even today. For the uninitiated, apart from the diplomatic enclave in New Delhi, India’s capital being named Chanakyapuri, the Training Ship Chanakya, Chanakya circle in Mysore , Chanakya National Law University and Chanakya Institute of Public Leadership are named in honour of Chanakya. He is a personality of global importance

It has been understood that the TV show Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat can be called a historical fiction series and the show also has a declaimer which says that it is meant for entertainment and it has recreated Ashoka’s history with the help of hear-say stories, folk tales and so on.

But a thoughtless twist in the TV series, not mentioned in any text or historical record, has caused distress to numerous viewers and many have made posts on social media condemning the same. In the episode 218 of CAS aired on 27th November 2015, Chanakya is shown to be murdered by five characters: Helena, Charumitra, Khallatak, Sushim and Siamak. They are seen trapping the insightful (and not easy to be ensnared ) Chankaya and then stabbing him with knives. Then they were shown burning his body. This kind of ending of such an epic character has not been documented in any historical record. It does not have any historical evidence.

Some lesser known debatable characters of History and some fictional characters have been shown as murderers of the respected Chanakya in the show. Two people who are portrayed as grandsons of Chandragupta Maurya whom Chanakya mentored and helped to create the Mauryan dynasty, the emperor’s widow, a daughter-in-law and a corrupt minister of the Mauryas are shown to be involved in the despicable act and none of the same has been mentioned anywhere in history.

The CAS team is misleading people by showing something of this sort. They should not show such inaccuracy. They should not forget that this is a history based series and not a fantasy drama like Game of Thrones which seems to have inspired the makers of CAS greatly (among other things, GOT character Khal Drogo’s look was copied for a former character of CAS- Dastaan ~ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/hindi/Ashoka-Samrat-has-a-villain-who-looks-just-like-Khal-Drogo-from-GoT/articleshow/49831221.cms and the fabricated stabbing of Chanakya is very similar to GOT character Jon Snow’s group stabbing scene in the series~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6DmWeJtKKs ). We agree the serial makers can add some fiction. For example characters like Mir Khorason , Noor Khorasan, Dastaan, Justin and some others who were not there in history have been seen as characters in the series. There is no problem if the makers are adding some amount of fiction in the story, because they are trying to recreate history which occurred about 2300 years back. Some liberties and some fictional elements have been tolerated and accepted by viewers. But, the way they have ended the character of Chanakya, an esteemed historical figure in the serial is not correct. It contradicts the historical fact. One can’t kill a historical character which is so central to the story, that too by less eminent and fictional characters, just for the sake of drama. By doing this, they are disrespecting the great Indian ancient scholar Chanakya and his personality.

Most of the concerned and disappointed viewers are now saying that merely by giving a disclaimer does not give freedom to the makers of the TV series to distort history. They are not supposed to behave irresponsibly about Emperor Ashoka’s life story whose Ashoka Chakra (the most visible use today is at the centre of the Flag of India) and Ashoka Stamb( the national emblem of India) are of such great significance. Apart from that, there are other elements associated with his glorious life which are subjects of golden history.

The following are the historical facts collected from various sources:

History says that according to a legend, Chanakya retired to the jungle and starved himself to death.

(https://books.google.tt/books?id=9PdzBZegtvMC&redir_esc=y)

According to another legend mentioned by the Jain writer Hemachandra (https://books.google.tt/books?id=uI0ALSCLb24C&pg=PT87&redir_esc=y)
,Chanakya died as a result of a conspiracy by Subandhu, one of Bindusara's ministers. Subandhu, who did not like Chanakya, told Bindusara that Chanakya was responsible for the murder of his mother Durdhara. Bindusara asked the nurses, who confirmed the story of his birth. Bindusara was horrified and enraged. When Chanakya, who was an old man by this time, learned that the King was angry with him, he decided to end his life. In accordance with the Jain tradition, he decided to starve himself to death. By this time, the King had found out the full story which was that Chanakya was not responsible for his mother's death, which was an accident. He asked Subandhu to convince Chanakya to give up his plan to kill himself. However, Subandhu instead conducted a ceremony for Chanakya only to burn him alive

(Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanakya).

In the serial, it is unethical to kill Chanakya so early and in a humiliating way. In CAS, Chanakya has been killed in 289 BC .Ashoka is shown to be a 14 -15 years old in the serial when Chanakya died. This information is totally wrong.

According to most historical records, if Chanakya died in the year 275 BC, Ashoka would have been 29 years old then. Some records say Chanakya died in 283 BC. At that time Ashoka would have been 21. The Subandhu character who according to many records was responsible for Chanakya’s death was not incorporated in CAS.

If Contiloe Entertainment who produces the show for Colors was having any kind of disagreement with veteran actor Manoj Joshi who played the role of Chanakya in the series (as alleged by some media reports), there were other means and ways to tackle the situation. One option which is closer to History could have been minimizing Acharya Chanakya’s role by showing something on the lines of him heading towards the forest to choose an ascetic kind of life after being hurt by Bindusara's suspicion. Later ‘Subandhu’ could have been incorporated as a negative character.

That should also have ideally happened when Ashoka reaches his 20s on the show, but some liberties can be tolerated( just like how the viewers have accepted fictional characters and many twists and turns filling in the gaps in the historical records). Everything could have been sorted out amicably for the sake of respect towards History and viewer sentiments.
And that is not all.Colors posted the shocking video of Chanakya’s fabricated murder as ‘scene of the week’ on their FB page and the fictional murderers have been shown saying numerous derogatory words about the prominent historical figure in the series. The negative characters continuing to malign and belittle Acharya Chanakya by making jokes about his fictitious death and using many derogatory statements even going to extent of calling the scholar and the author of Arthashastra, Nitishastra (also known as Chanakya Niti) a fool, is very, very tragic and unethical.
The Siamak character is a younger boy in the show. A dark twist was brought in to avenge the deaths of fictional characters and Siamak transformed into a young murderer. We do not like to see children become violent and evil, even if it is for the screen. This world already has many issues with violence amongst and against children and this show which has taught some ethics, culture and values and can continue doing the same now has sent across a very wrong message with this twist. Some sections of Indian culture have equated/ continue to equate a Guru, a teacher with The Almighty and what they have shown being done to a Guru is almost unforgivable. It makes a mockery of History and the achievements and heritage of a historical figure. The makers have hurt many sentiments by disrespecting a great personality of History by showing his end this way.
Every day millions of viewers from India and abroad are watching this serial. Colors channel and the CAS team have a huge social responsibility. People who do not know better and don't read much might think this is real history and that's very, very bad. The subject History is a part of academic curriculum of many different levels. The makers are supposed to know that the audio-visual medium can have long lasting impact on many minds and therefore they need to act responsibly.

The makers are crossing way too many limits and are allegedly doing so for commercial and personal benefits. Currently too, the script and screenplay of the show are full of loopholes.
Ashoka has been shown going to Taxila from Pataliputra (modern day Patna) by sea. Taxila is in modern day Pakistan and it is known that there is no sea between India and Pakistan. The surface route is faster and the one that is preferred.

Emperor Bindusara has been shown to be imprudent, oblivious to almost everything while historical records don't say he was like that, even though he was not as mighty as his father Chandragupta Maurya or his son Ashoka. An important historical character, Radhagupta's personality is not developing strongly. Radhagupta’s characterisation is still weak and historically he is an eminent character with whose help Emperor Ashoka is able to create his successful and vast empire. The fictional characters can be there, but not at the expense of historical characters or to make up for the absence of an important personality of history such as Chanakya.

Ashoka can be shown triumphing over evil, but his character development is also very important. Ashok should not lose focus and appear too emotional when he was actually such a mighty Indian national hero. Therefore, he needs to look strong at all times. Most of all, the makers have faltered by portraying Chanakya's death in a wrongful manner.
It is difficult to make a daily soap based around History. Another option was to have a weekend show on Ashoka(of 2 hours or thereabouts). The makers needed to make a good authentic story and not commercialize and massacre History.They needed to keep it as close to History as possible( with some fiction and fictional characters added to fill in gaps in historical records). A recent series based on Buddha (2013 -2014) was a much appreciated historical weekend series.There have been many examples of shows from the not too recent past on Indian TV , which were very well-made such as the 1990s TV series on Chanakya, on Tipu Sultan(The Sword of Tipu Sultan) and on Jhansi’s Rani Laxmi Bai which have been made after years of painstaking research.

In this regard, the original writer of CAS, Mr. Ashok Banker has been contacted. Mr. Banker said that he is not associated with the show anymore, and that “there are major errors in the show and it is not in keeping with his original story or concept”. It is now evident that Colors channel and CAS team has been making some major mistakes in the serial which should be rectified as soon as possible. The damage has been done but something needs to be done quickly to make up for the blunder.
Bringing back much loved actor Manoj Joshi (his performance was highly appreciated by a majority of the viewers) as Acharya Chanakya to the series and showing something on the lines of his on -screen death being a case of mistaken identify, a part of a clever plan synonymous to Kautilya and then ending the character at the right time and the right way, is only way to rectify this great blunder.

We demand an enquiry into this matter and stop Colors channel and the CAS production team from tampering with History. If they are allowed to get away with this ‘wrong Chanakya death chapter’, they might do it again and again. It will send a wrong message to those who are unaware, more so the ones from the younger generation who are supposed to and have the right to know and learn correct History. The mockery of History and Culture is not to be encouraged.

Finally a general request: We also appeal for the setting up of a panel of researchers in Ancient Indian History to discuss more about this topic and to find the truth about Chanakya’s death.
History channel should be requested to make a well-researched documentary series on Ashoka the Great, and the subsequent spread of Buddhism outside of India. It can also have more information about the Mauryan dynasty, and about Chanakya, his Nitishastra and Arthashastra which are subjects with global appeal. Many misconceptions which CAS might have started to create can be cleared that way.