About a week ago, 'Vivek' wrote on Goanet: > From: Vivek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [Goanet] Final Solution- attn Vidyadhar gadgil
> I will take your advice and write to rakesh too and > share his response with all. > > -vivek Well, Rakesh Sharma replied to all his questions point-by-point on Tuesday, 15 August and kindly copied the reply to me. Have been waiting patiently for the reply to be posted on Goanet by 'Vivek', but nothing has happened as yet. Rather than speculate on the reasons for this, I am posting Rakesh's reply here. -- From: Rakesh Sharma <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Vivek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Final Solution screening- some questions Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2006 22:11:19 +0530 Dear Vivek - I have attempted to answer your questions in the mail below. Though you profess to prefer free and fair discussions, your 'questions' seem to bear an uncanny resemblance to the Hindutva blogs as well as some pamphlets distributed by VHP fronts at my US screenings. I am also requesting the seculargoa moderator to post your questions as well as my responses as you started this "discussion" on that forum. From your questions, it appears to me that you are yet to see my film in its entirety - I do hope you watch it fully soon. To order a copy, just send us an email on [EMAIL PROTECTED] For any further clarifications, please visit my website www.rakeshfilm.com and my blog rakeshindia.blogspot.com. Kind Regards. Rakesh On 8/12/06, Vivek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Q1. why do u want people to seek permission to screen the film outside india but no such permission in india? A: I have made the film for primarily an Indian audience. I firmly believe that politics of hate and intolerance can not be the foundation or the basis of creation of a harmonious society and a robust democracy. I feel that the issues involved merit much discussion and I hope my film can serve as a catalyst for these discussions. In India, people neither need to seek my permission nor pay me a rental or a screening fee - I want as many screenings and discussions possible. However, as a self-financed, independent film-maker, I must recover costs as well as make a living. Screenings outside India are charged a rental/ screening fee etc. Q2 : You gave some coverage to the trishul distribution ceremony. Are u aware that some muslim organizations distributed "suleimani talwars" Is this allegation true? Did you investigate these claims? A : Vivek - I'd be fascinated to find the source of your information. Is it Hinduunity.org? Or the Bajrang Dal/ Friends of VHP literature? Do let all of us know where these swords were distributed in Gujarat and when? Were these people booked or arrested by the Modi government? Quite obviously, Mr Modi can never be accused of being a Muslim-lover, turning a blind eye to mass distribution of swords to Muslims - do let all of us know the details you seem to have previliged access to. Q3 : the documentary sems to suggest that narendra modi introduced text books glorifying Hitler. Isnt it true that those text books were prescribed by the congress govt in 1993? A : Have you, as you claim, really seen the film? The film does not suggest that Modi did so - that it has happenned under the BJP rule is far too well documented already. The film specifically quotes two passages - one from an English language question paper from 2002-03. Quite obviously, the Congress did not set these question papers 10 years in advance. The second passage is from a textbook. The slide that mentions Modi refers to him winning the Harishchandra award for honesty in public life - the text in quotes is from Narendramodi.org, his own personal website. Q4: Over 254 rioteers were shot dead by the police yet the documentary claims that the police colluded with the rioteers. What is your comment on this? A : My comment is my film. The Election Commission, the NHRC and the Supreme Court have all remarked on state complicity - the SC even made references to Nero. Do you think all of them are lying, hand in glove with over 50 independent fact finding teams? On Feb 28, of the 40 shot dead by Gujarat police, 38 were Muslims! Would you like to explain that to all of us? Q5: The Minister of State for Home, SriPrakash Jaiswal tabled a report and the number of dead during the riots was significantly lower than 2000 plus as you film seems to suggest. Where did you get the figure from? What steps did you take to verify the figure? A : Vivek - you might not know that law and order is a state subject. When such a query is tabled in Parliament, it is referred to the State government. The figure 754 comes from the Modi government and the Gujarat police. Mr Jaiswal hasn't personally counted the dead and reported it to the Parliament. Again, I wonder whether you have really seen the film - in story after story, from areas far-flung from eachother, survivors repeatedly speak of the figues (several people tell us of under-reporting - 72 missing here, but cops say only 43 dead etc). The police tried to gloss over the deaths, bury cases etc - the Supreme Court ordered the reopening of nearly 2000 cases - I trust the SC more than the Gujarat Police - I'm sure many of the horrifying aspects of Moditva in Gujarat will come out in Court. Under-reporting of deaths is just one of the aspects. Q6: The documentary gives a lot of examples of how right wing hindus like Togadia , Acahrya dharmendra and Shastri spew communal venom against minorities. Is it not true that muslim fanatics use the same language against Hindus? Why does your documentary not document even a single instance of muslim fanatics indulging in provocative hae speech? A: I shot my film in Gujarat in 2002 and 2003. I did not come across a single such speech or else it would've figured in the film. Curiously, even the Modi government did not make such a claim during this period, nor did it arrest or file cases against any Muslim Togadia. Again, you seem to have information which is ot in public realm. Do let us know where and when in Gujarat such hate speeches were delivered during the period? Or do you just have a 'feeling' that it must have happened, Muslims must have delivered similar speeches? Q7: There have been equally horible riots in India before like the 1969 Gujarat riots, bhagalpur nelie in assam, mumbai , and many many more.There have acts of violence by naxalites too Have you ever made any documentary related to these riots? If not , why not? A : Vivek - I do not owe you any answers for why I make or not make a specific film. But, since you have asked, yes, my previous work has dealt with fundamentalist violence. In 1969, I was 5 years old - even you'd agree it would've been impossible for me to make films. From the time I started on my film-making career in 1990, these issues have figured in my work, especially when I was travelling with Sadhvi Ritambara, Advani and Uma Bharti in 1991-92. I am very distrubed though by your implication - if I hadn't looked at violence in Benares or Meerut or Aligarh in the past, do you mean I have no right to comment on the barbaric state-supported genocide in Gujarat? Q8 : You claim that the gujarat riots were the first instance of state sponsored violence against minorities. Were not the anti sikh riots of 1984 state sponsored too? DO you believe that they were a genocide against sikhs? If not, can you please explain why? A: I have consistently held and expressed my opinion on the issue - I have said that to me, Gujarat was a turning point. Of course the state was complicit in 1984. I'd even suggest to you that minor riots apart, no large-scale violence can take place anywhere without the State's involvement. What sets Gujarat apart from 1984 is : Congress cadres got a license to riot and kill for 3-4 days. Like Modi, the Congress prevented justice for victims. But, unlike Modi, no Congress leader went around Sikh-bashing in public rallies, the election itself wasn't fought on an anti-minority plank, continuing and systematic persecution or oppression of an entire community did not become an informal state policy, no one from the Congress suggested that Sikhs should reconcile to being second-class citizens whereas in Gujarat, VHP leaders with Y or Z class state security openly deliver such speeches, going even to the extent of saying this election is not "Congress vs BJP but Hindus vs Muslims" or that we have been "fielding for 50 years, now for the first time we are batting" - a sickening cricket metaphor. Finally, I want to know from you - do you personally approve of the rapes and slaughter of innocents in Gujarat? Do you think the State's communal polity is justified and in fact should be emulated in other states? Do you think the guilty must be punished? Will you join me in condemning Modi and demanding his prosecution for failing to discharge his constitutional obligations? Will you ask for arrests under POTA of the Gujarat govt Ministers who led mobs, directed police operations etc from PCR vans and presided over the bloodbath? Do you not think violence against helpless innocents on the streets of Gujarat was an act of terrorism? Will you join me in asking for the prosecution of the NDA's Rail Minister and the Gujarat CM for failing to protest innocent Hindu victims of the S-6 tragedy? After all, Railway Police inside the train and Gujarat Police on the platforms should have been deployed, especially since intelligence reports as well as newsreports had already documented violence being unleashed by Karsevaks on several stations prior to Godhra - in Rudauli in UP, when the Sabarmati Express passed through, there were stabbings of Muslim vendors on the platform as well as minor rioting. That this happened before Feb 27 should have been reason enough for police deployment all long the route, especially in Gujarat. Should these Modi and Nitish Kumar not be held accountable for criminal negligence and dereliction of duty? Q9: does your documentary carry a single interview with hindu victims of violence? A: It is shockig that you entirely ignore interviews with families of karsevaks as well as those of the Akshardham victims? Just because they blame the VHP/BJP combine and accuse politicians of "using them as pawns", do they stop being Hindu enough for you? Vivek- I urge you to rise above your prejudices. Think about the society and the country you want your children to inherit. Do you want them to grow up in a climate of terror and hate? Do you really want a Hindu Taliban to govern us? Do you think it will make India stronger or safer? We are a plural society. Hatemongers - Muslim, Hindu and others would be happy to find others endorsing hate politics, as it feeds their own brand of hate politics. Finally, if it India were to become a true Hindu Nation, we would need broad scale radical changes. To begin with - "Hindu" itself is a persian word, as is Hindi... Kind Regards Rakesh Sharma -- Question everything -- Karl Marx _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list Goanet@lists.goanet.org http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org