http://tehelka.com/
 Haasan lied. Vishwaroopam will not make Indian Muslims proud
Those opposed to the movie should have called for a debate. Demanding the cuts has harmed the community's image
VishwaroopamI was a little benumbed whilst watching this technically advanced, but socio-politically regressive movie. Kamal Haasan has lied to all of us when he had stated that this movie is his tribute to Indian Muslims and will make them proud. This movie had me even more worried than earlier! The message propagated all through the course of this slick production is basically – “One Good Muslim, All the rest – Bad Muslims”. The hero, Taufik is an Indian Muslim who saves the world, whilst the rest of the Muslims portrayed in the movie, are all committed to destruction and mayhem, all in the name of their religion. This is the state of the world – Vishwaroopam. Yet, let me categorically state that I do not support any cuts, or further censorship of the mobs, but will certainly strive to counter this movie and all like it – intellectually and on the ideological plane, where the true battle lies. This movie also justifies the US wars and occupation of Afghanistan in ways that even Hollywood would have felt ashamed of portraying. All this for the NRI audience I would tend to venture. My first opposition to the movie stemmed from the fact that the posters prominently posited the infamous ‘stars and stripes’ in the background and I knew that trouble was brewing. Mind you, the Indian Tri-colour is far less prominent and even missing for the most . . . so much for NRI nationalism, or for that matter that of the RNI’s, the Resident Non-Indians, the chatterati where these communal stereotypes hold sway. And coming back to the movie, I have never ever seen so many scenes of Namaz in any single film and there is certainly a sickeningly strong overdose of Islamic imagery and the overwhelming majority of it linked to negativity and violence. The movie is one big screenplay of Namaz and Bombs, Namaz and Terror, Namaz and Violence. I wonder as to how Kamal Haasan, who is also the scriptwriter, thought that this would help the cause of Indian Muslims, knowing full well what the community has been through for the past two decades and more. The way the entire community has been ‘terrorised by the terror’ and this has led to their further demonization and isolation. More so, the script is deeply flawed, lacks intelligence and an honest research. One would have tended to expect a little more from Bollywood after certain good movies dealing with this genre, such as ‘Dhoka’ (Mahesh Bhatt), ‘New York’ (Kabeer Khan), ‘Qurbaan’ (Saif Ali Khan), ‘My Name is Khan’ (Karan Johar & Shahrukh Khan), ‘Agent Vinod’ (Saif Ali Khan) and last but not the least ‘Tere Bin Laden’ (Abhishek Sharma), certainly the best political satire in a generation. It also had a far more genuine Bin Laden look-alike than the ones that appear in the CIA produced videos. All of the above movies were good honest efforts and there is a common thread as well as a degree of intelligent sensitivity that has gone into researching these scripts and directing these movies, none of which faced any public opprobrium or ire, even though they were far more complex than this ignominious, outrageous ill-conceived prejudiced charade called Vishwaroopam. Yet, I want no cuts here . . . The two lines attributed to Rahul Bose, whom many of us consider to be our own, are the most dangerous and misleading of all the dialogues in the movie. Rahul Bose, who plays Umar (alluding to Mullah Umar, the leader of the Taliban, I would presume), is facing an assault on his village. The Taliban have captured a few American soldiers and are on the move. The US army, attack the village where they have been led by a trace, with the help of Kamal Haasan, who plays Taufik, a RAW agent. Taufik has infiltrated the ranks of the Taliban to rise to be the ipso facto No. 2. Wonder what the RAW itself has to comment here. With the US helicopter gunships blazing away as they did in Vietnam and Iraq, as they do in Somalia, Yemen and Libya – and hope to in Syria – the Taliban are on the run. Here Rahul Umar Bose makes a statement to assure his fellow Talibani’s – “Don’t worry, the Americans do not kill women and children”. All I could think of in that Shakespearian moment was – “Et Tu Rahul!!” To what extent can an artist such as Rahul Bose sell himself, his very moral intellect, is a question that he and many others need to seriously ponder upon. This dialogue would be considered ridiculous and even blasphemous by the Americans themselves, who always refer to the deaths of civilians as ‘collateral damage’, but Kamal Haasan in his willful pandering has gone even beyond the worst in Hollywood. Thus the movie further portrays the US soldier manning the gunship, feeling sorry for killing innocents, whilst the Afghans are all portrayed as dehumanized killing machines. I do not think our immediate neighbours are going to appreciate this movie very much. But who cares, our movies are a reflection of our skewed foreign policy as it does appear. And the Afghans are not exactly a market yet. The second statement by Rahul Umar Bose is even more dangerous for Indian Muslims & for all the secular activists who have stood by the community as it was demonised, isolated and entrapped into the false-flag terror attacks that we have witnessed since the post-9/11 world. This was the phase of ‘controlled chaos’ and ‘unending perpetual state of wars’ – to use Neoconservative terms. Here whilst talking to Kamal Taufik Haasan, Rahul Umar Bose smilinglyand nonchalantly mentions that “We were also involved in the terror attacks of Malegaon, Bombay and other Indian cities”. In the Tamil & Telegu versions, Coimbatore and Madurai are mentioned. ‘Good God!!’, I exclaimed to myself, even dropping my popcorn – this movie is basically stating that the Taliban and Al Qaeda are active in Indiaand thus certain sections of the Indian Muslim population are certainly enmeshed with the global terror network. This will prove to be catastrophic in the subconscious perceptions that tend to get ingrained deep into our reality. This, Mr. Kamal Haasan, is going to be disastrous for Indian Muslims and we can all assure you that. But where is the research may we ask? Have you not heard of ATS Chief Hemant Karkare, who even served in the RAW? Are you not aware that since 2007 the role of the Abhinav Bharat & Sanatan Sanstha in terror attacks across the country is being probed? Particularly in Malegaon, Nanded, Samjhauta Express, Mecca Masjid, Ajmer, Goa & another 10 more as per the statements of the Home Ministry. Actually there are more than 16 recorded cases, but we will leave that for later. All of which are further linked to the right-wing Manuwadi Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)? Are you really unaware of these facts? Are you planning to leave the country, or had you already left India and were living in New York and are thus so ill-informed whilst writing the script, which lacks even an iota of honesty & responsibility? And this is thus a question that we as secular activists must ask ourselves. Many Hollywood movies with a geopolitical strategic agenda are produced in tandem with the Pentagon, so as to further the Imperial agenda of global hegemony and the advancement of the Military-Security-Industrial- The Zionist dominated Hollywood target and portray Palestinians and Arabs in particular and Muslims in general as terrorists and fanatics and thus these societies need to be invaded and civilized – and their resources taken over for good measure. This movie by Kamal Haasan in my estimation also certainly falls in that category of disinformation and propaganda to serve the cause of the Empire and to justify the wars, occupation and the genocide of the Afghan nation, as well as the people of Pakistan. Thus not even a fleeting reference to the drone attacks and the killings of innocents, of women and children – thus and as to how it continues to create and foster more and more militants and terrorists. Then comes the part where there is a meeting between the leadership of the Taliban led by Rahul Umar and Al Qaeda-Osama Bin Laden. Here again I would request all those who have been taken in by the recent supposed assassination of OBL at the staged operation at Abbotabad, to read the excellent & well researched book by David Ray Griffin – ‘Osama Bin Laden Dead or Alive?’ (http://www.globalresearch.ca/ It is also time, actually high time, for the Indian peace movement to address the issues of the 9/11 false-flag terror attack, which has been central, seminal and defining moment of the 21st century, changing the very trajectory of international politics and leading to an era of wars, occupation and genocide. (http://www.ae911truth.org/). Recently more than 12,500 police stations across America received petitions by peace activists stating that the attack on WTC 1, 2 & 7 were an inside job and demanding that the investigation be reopened. This movement is being spearheaded by more than 1700 architects & engineers and they have the support of many prominent intellectuals, scholars, and human-rights activists, whistle-blowers from within the CIA-FBI, as well as vast sections of American society and the numbers are growing. (http://www.ae911truth.org/ The reason as to why we will have to grapple with these issues is that, I personally know of Muslim youth who have been quizzed about their positions on 9/11, Bin Laden & Al Qaeda. The youth have been perplexed and horrified and left wondering as to what a job application in the engineering, IT and telecom sectors have to do with their knowledge or lack off, on these issues. With Muslim children who have tried to step out of their ghettoes and seek admission in a multi-cultural milieu, being denied and told to go back where they came from. Of Muslims being denied housing in secular neighbourhoods. All these discriminative practices have also increased in the last decade – thanks to the dominant paradigm of terror. Now, let us get back to the movie. Soon after the carnage at Rahul Umar’s village, we are transported into America. Here Kamal Taufik Haasan is working incognito singing and dancing to songs written by Javed Akhtar (Lyricist), as any good Muslim should be. Then a terror network begins to unravel andhere we have Rahul Umar now planning to explode a Dirty-Bomb made of waste radioactive material, which the good Muslim does foil, but after saying his Namaz! Whilst in the room inside wherein lies the Dirty-Bomb, is a bad Muslim, an African-American of Nigerian descent, busy offering Namaz before he is to blow the city to kingdom come. Herein lies another serious problem with this film and that is the tarnishing of African-American Muslims as part of the global terror network. In most Hollywood movies, they are sensitive enough to portray the African American as the FBI boss, under whom the White officers serve. But here the RAW agent is working with only Whites, presumably Anglo-Saxon agents, whilst the African-American Muslim, is in tandem with the Taliban. Another case of out-sourcing I guess. Yet again, Kamal Haasan fails in his research. The terror attacks portrayed in the film have never occurred. Also the FBI has been entrapping Muslim youth from various ethnic backgrounds and this too is a documented fact. Since there are no serious terror threats to America, the FBI actually manufactures them, as there is no other way to justify Homeland Security and it’s vast gargantuan powers and budget. FBI agents, informers, or ex-convicts working in tandem with the FBI are sent into Muslim communities with an attempt to create terrorists. During the course of the year, a couple of youth, mainly with a criminal background do get entrapped due to intensive indoctrination about the crimes of the American Empire against their people. These youth are then further induced & provided training to carry out a terror attack. Targets are indentified, funds, bombs & ammunition provided and the day that they do carry out the attack, they are apprehended red-handed. The bombs turn out to be fake and so do the guns and that is how stupid this supposed terrorists are. (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/ This information is now available in the mainstream corporate media and should have been studied by Kamal Taufik Haasan, before trying to give the FBI a positive image in India. This movie thus is basically a propaganda tool for the FBI, as well as the US Empire. And now apart from Hollywood, they even have some of the best known names from Bollywood to do their bidding. I wonder as to how much of the financial backing of this movie came from sources such as these and this question must be asked in all seriousness. The plot foiled, America saved, sorry, the world saved – Rahul Umar and his Taliban cohorts decide to flee to – India for God’s sake!! Thus we end with the inevitability of Vishwaroopam II-India! Actually Kamal Taufik Haasan, might even consider shifting the next locale to Qatar, where the ‘Good Taliban’ now have a functioning office. Here they will all have ample security as the US has a vast network of naval and airforce bases. (http://news.xinhuanet.com/ So Rahul Umar Bose, the FBI-CIA and Kamal Taufik Haasan can actually sort out all their problems there itself, without dragging India into the picture. But therein lies the threat, the clear and present danger to all of us. You can imagine the next movie where Mullah Umar is in Mumbai, or Delhi, maybe in Chennai (threatening Jayalalithaa for the way she dealt with Kamal Haasan), or in Malegaon, or in Srinagar, or Hyderabad, or in the Samjhauta Express, or in Ajmer. Thus taking the blame for all the terror attacks, that now are alleged to be the handiwork of the right-wing Abhinav Bharat and Sanatan Sanstha, as per the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and certain Anti-Terror Squads (ATS). And then, is Osama Bin Laden and his dreaded Al-Qaeda far behind in reaching India? The fear that it will instill amongst the ordinary masses of India and the further fear and isolation towards which will be driven the Muslim community is apparent to many. The terror of the politics of terror . . . Also a little sincere and not-so-secret advice to film producers, directors, financiers and aspiring writers. In case you are sure that your film (or a book) is going to bomb at the box-office, be sure to include a few scenes that you may think may be offensive to the emotions of the Muslim community. Then arrange a screening prior to the release, even though your film has been cleared by the censor board – & rest assured that a few Muslims will fall prey to your trap and voila – you have your much needed controversy. My sincere advice to the Muslim community is the following. Islam is too great a religion for one book or a movie to harm our faith. Let us overcome our insecurities and notice that the tide is turning in our favour. The protests against the film have harmed the image of the Muslim community, even more than Vishawaroopam was planned to. We need to learn to ignore certain barbs hurled at us and do not need to fall for the traps laid for us every time. We have every right to protest and this is our constitutional and democratic right. Our strategy should have been to evoke support and call for a debate on the movie, whilst pointing out its flaws and distortions. Demanding the cuts after the censor board had cleared the movie, has harmed our image and further portrayed the community as extremist and undemocratic. The problem with Vishwaroopam, is that it has projected only a miniscule part of the reality of the Afghan quagmire over a period of more than three decades. But one cannot deny that today the Taliban and their ilk do represent a form of a vitiated, extremist and a violent form of Islam. From the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddha’s, to the attacks on schools and clinics, to the enforced imposition of a regressive barbaric code on women, to the public flogging and stoning, to the sectarian hatred and killings, to the destruction of Sufi Mazar’s and the genocide of the Shia’s – all this is being waged in the name of Islam. This cannot be denied by any honest God-loving/fearing Muslim. This form of extremism is indeed alien and against the very letter, grain & spirit of Islam. Let us all stand up in unison and condemn this debasement & defilement of Islam. This we really do not venture into often enough – do we honestly? In the course of the last 2-3 years, the truth about the terror attacks is being revealed and this is due to the sustained struggle of Muslim organizations, in tandem with our secular allies, despite all the odds, with the entire media and dominant sections of the Government-intelligence- If India is not to go the way of Pakistan, with its assorted Lashkar-Frankensteins, then we have to put a stop to those religious extremist forces that threaten to destroy the unity and social fabric of our nation. Now after the statement by the Union Home Minister, the tide has clearly changed in our favour and thus let’s not undermine our struggle by isolating ourselves any further by taking to the streets in the manner that we have and I was personally both angry and ashamed at the public spectacle. There is a certain degree of double-standards, intolerance & hypocrisy within the Muslim community as well. Also I would want to appeal here to all those who rightly advised the Muslim community on the values of freedom of expression, democracy and modernity. Kindly stand up, script and produce a movie based on the charge-sheet filed by Hemant Karkare, in a movie that can be titled ‘Bharatroopam’. I would love to see as to how many takers there would be from Bollywood, especially all the ones shouting ‘cultural terrorism’. In terms of soft-targets, the Muslim community is far more of a soft-target, than many film makers & writers. Yet, I will not ask for a cut, even though both my mind and my heart have suffered a few deep searing cuts. This is because I have immense faith in the great legacy of this country. I have great faith in the teachings of Krativeer Jotiba Phule, Mahatma Gandhi, Maulana Azad, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and Shaheed Bhagat Singh. I have great faith in the people of India, in our secular democracy. |
Monday, February 4, 2013
Haasan lied. Vishwaroopam will not make Indian Muslims proud - By Feroze Mithiborwala - Tehelka.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment