"Momo, Chowmein." How Indian Television Still Dishes Out Racism As Humour

The Raghav Juyal racism video, wherein the dancer-television host casually vomits a string of "gibberish Chinese" to call a minor show contestant from Northeast India on stage, has sparked debate on the internet. Should Juyal be penalised for his racist offences that draw from a larger culture of othering that, to date, contributes to the oppression citizens from the northeastern region are subjected to? Or was it a genuine lapse of judgment on his part that is justified for forgiveness?

The clip of Juyal drawing outrage is from the third season of the dance reality show Dance Deeewane, which has seated on the judges' panel the likes of Madhuri Dixit and Remo D'Souza, who witness his act unfold on stage. Before bringing on Gunjan Sinha, a young participant from Guwahati, Juyal rattles off an 'incoherent' introduction that includes words like 'momo' and 'chowmein,' which are common derogatory terms used to stereotype, and consequently marginalise, people from the Northeast.

The incident is reportedly not recent but caught the attention of netizens after videos of it went viral this week. It even drew a reaction from Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who condemned it as "shameful and totally unacceptable."

Watch below: 

What angers me is that this 3rd rate comedian is not just comparing us Northeastern people to the Chinese but look at the way the audience is laughing and clapping at this terrible joke ! And then people question us why we feel that we are not part of the mainstream ? pic.twitter.com/WR1dlHw73J

— Pradyot_Tripura (@PradyotManikya) November 16, 2021

Juyal's act with racist overtones coming to light prompts one to wonder about the other rot going unnoticed on Hindi television. What's perhaps more awful than the tone-deaf skit is the gleeful reaction it elicits from the audience on the reality show, which, in the viral video, is heard laughing at it. Is the reason why Indian viewers haven't been able to break out of prejudicial cycles that the content produced today encourages that perspective? Or is it the other way round, with the television catering to the impulses of people?

What does that say about us and how (little) far we have come in sensitising ourselves to matters like racism or casteism for the need to adopt more inclusive positions?

Raghav Juyal Racism Video And Clarification: The Social Media Age Demands Accountability

Television-watching habits are evolving in India, with chunks of the audience moving from daily soaps and reality shows to new, trending OTT films and series attracting viewership. This has perhaps granted some degree of liberty to small screen content to rehash, recycle and represent problematic tropes and cliches that have dominated the entertainment world for decades. And can this freehand exist without the complicity of the audiences watching and enjoying such content?

Juyal's "clarification," issued in the aftermath of the outrage surrounding his stage act, too has not gone down well with social media users. "When this contestant came to the show, she said she had a talent for speaking Chinese. My performance was based on that," he said. He proclaimed it was "unfair" and "not good" for his mental health that his video was apparently being taken out of context.

But in the digital era of social media, faux pas of this nature, whether willful or ignorant, does not go without accountability. Television actors like Munmun Dutta, Yuvika Chaudhary, Sambhavna Seth were all put in the dock this year for statements understood to be racist or casteist after their videos went viral.

It just doesn't sit right when figures as privileged as celebrities and with access to ample resources for education claim to be unaware of social issues as pervasive and pertinent as racism, after publicly partaking in a culture that has been designed to always subjugate certain communities.

Views expressed are the author's own.

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