ADL Calls On India's Zee TV To Remove "Hitler" From Title Of New Soap Opera
New York, NY, November 22, 2011 ' The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called on a television network responsible for marketing and distributing a popular new soap opera in India to remove the name "Hitler" from the program's title and to rename the show with a less offensive title.
"Hitler Didi" is the name of a new soap opera airing five days a week on Zee TV, a division of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, based in Mumbai. After receiving numerous complaints about the title and its use in online promotional materials and videos, ADL last week wrote network executives with a request to change the name to one "not freighted with the taint of the Nazi Holocaust."
"The name Hitler doesn't belong in the title of a soap opera, and we think the producers of this program have made a terrible error in judgment that can only be remedied with a title change," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director and a Holocaust survivor. "Hitler was an anti-Semite, fascist dictator and mass murderer responsible for the annihilation of European Jewry. That millions of soap opera fans in India are now hearing and talking about a program with the name 'Hitler' on a daily basis is shocking. This is a terrible trivialization of a name freighted with the taint of the Nazi Holocaust."
According to the network's marketing materials, the title "Hitler Didi" (roughly translated, "Auntie Hitler") refers to the lead character, a young woman known in her locality as a strict disciplinarian who takes a no-nonsense attitude with her family.
"Let's preserve the name 'Hitler' as a villain of incomparable evil and not trivialize his legacy or the Holocaust with a serial TV title," ADL wrote in a letter to Punit Goenka, Managing Director & CEO, and Subhash Chandra, Chairman of Zee Entertainment. "We strongly urge you to reconsider the choice of title and rename your show."
India's Zee TV to Change Name of Soap Opera 'Hitler Didi' After Anti-Defamation League Criticism
(For the ones who cant read frm the scn cap of the article & Mobile viewers)
"It was never our design to cause any grief and for that we deeply apologize," the Indian TV network operator said.
NEW YORK - India's Zee TV said Tuesday it would change the name of soap opera Hitler Didi, roughly translated as Auntie Hitler, that had attracted anger from the Anti-Defamation League.
The ADL on Thursday had called on the network "to remove the name Hitler from the program's title and to rename the show with a less offensive title." According to the network's marketing materials, the name Hitler refers to the lead character, a young woman known as a strict disciplinarian.
"Let's preserve the name Hitler as a villain of incomparable evil and not trivialize his legacy or the Holocaust with a serial TV title," ADL wrote in a letter that it said it sent to Punit Goenka, managing director and CEO, as well as Subhash Chandra, chairman of Zee Entertainment.
"We deeply regret any distress that this name may have caused and it is our intention to change the name immediately," Zee TV, a division of Zee Entertainment Enterprises, said in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. "It was never our design to cause any grief and for that we deeply apologize."
The show premiered on Nov. 7 on Zee TV in India and is also carried on the network's affiliates in other countries, including the U.S., according to the ADL.
"The name Hitler doesn't belong in the title of a soap opera, and we think the producers of this program have made a terrible error in judgment that can only be remedied with a title change," Abraham Foxman, ADL national director and a Holocaust survivor, had said earlier in the day. "Hitler was an anti-Semite, fascist dictator and mass murderer responsible for the annihilation of European Jewry. That millions of soap opera fans in India are now hearing and talking about a program with the name Hitler on a daily basis is shocking. This is a terrible trivialization of a name freighted with the taint of the Nazi Holocaust."
Chandra was in New York in recent days to accept an award at the International Emmy Awards on Monday.
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