Kuala Lumpur:
A Consumers Association in multi-ethnic Malaysia has called for a ban on Tamil serial dramas from India that depict violence.
Consumer Association of Penang education officer NV Subbarow said that many homes "were left neglected as the families were busy watching these shows every day."
Local daily
Tamil Nesan quoted him as saying that the "negative scenes in these dramas have had a negative influence on the ethnic Indian community, with many youths involved in crime".
Mr Subbarow asked the censorship board to come down hard and ban these dramas, adding that the local ethnic Indian community should also boycott these dramas.
Eight per cent of Malaysia's 28 million people is ethnic Indian and majority of these are Tamils. Tamil language television serials are very popular in ethnic Indian households while Tamil movies are released here simultaneously with Tamil Nadu.