Hotstar Blocks John Oliver's 'Last Week Tonight' Episode That Criticised PM Modi

Comedian John Oliver's show, 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,' hosted an India-special episode this week, specifically focusing on US President Donald Trump's visit to India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He questioned the 36-hour visit of US President Trump in India and the communal clashes over the CAA in the national capital. From demonetisation to anti-CAA protests and the government flagship programmes, Oliver brought up several issues targeting the Modi government.

The episode was supposed to be available for Hotstar subscribers from 6 am on Tuesday, February 25. However, the platform did not release the recent episode.

This came to light after Indian users logged on to Hotstar on Tuesday to watch the latest episode and only found previous episodes of the show. The platform mentioned no details about the reason for the delay or the new release date of the latest episode.

Several reports have claimed that the episode wasn't intentionally uploaded due to its political content.

A 19-minute clip that is still available on the channel's YouTube page where John Oliver can be seen taking a very critical stand on PM Modi's actions and the ongoing nationwide anti-CAA protests and riots.

The comedian referred to the recently passed Citizenship Law as 'discriminatory' in nature. He said: "While Modi may have charmed Bear Grylls, the world, and our current president, in India, he is an increasingly controversial figure because his government has pursued a steadily escalating persecution of religious minorities."

"India, home of this (the Taj Mahal) permanent symbol of love needs much more than this temporary symbol of hate," Oliver said, concluding the episode.

He also lashed out at one of Trump's previous comments where he had claimed that Modi is the father of India because he unites India like a father.

In several instances, political satires by comedians have been disregarded and come under objection. In 2019, an episode of Hasan Minaj's Patriot Act on the Lok Sabha elections went viral online. It later received massive criticism from people and Hasan was banned from entering the Howdy Modi event in Texas.

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