What’s the matter with Gujarat?
Under threat of violence in Gujarat, movie theaters have refused to show Parzania, an award-winning indie film about… violence in Gujarat:
… Parzania… is based on the attack on the Gulberg Society [in Ahmedabad during 2002] in which 39 persons were burnt alive… [Link]
Not a single cinema hall in Gujarat is showing Parzania. Theatre owners say they don’t want to stir up dormant emotions and incur the wrath of Hindu activists. [Link]
The lead actress, Sarika, won the national award for best actress, yet even theaters showing black market copies are being threatened:
The piracy market will also have to contend with outfits like the Bajrang Dal which does not want the film to reach the state through the illegal route if it portrays Gujarat “in a poor light”. “We are looking for copies of the film. If the film does portray the state in a poor light, we will deal with the CD mafia in the language they understand,” Babu Bajrangi of Bajrang Dal told TOI. [Link]
Bajrangi, incidentally, is one of the main accused persons in the Naroda Patiya massacre case… [Link]
What really portrays the state in a poor light, of course, is murderers openly running political parties. Saffronists had previously warned theaters against showing Fanaa because they disagreed with lead actor Aamir Khan’s stance against the Narmada dam. Add this to the anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat and the subsequent re-election of butcher Narendra Modi, and Gujarat starts looking like one of the most regressive states in the union.
Which may not be entirely fair. Many states have undergone communal riots, including Karnataka in recent years, and states with active insurgencies are certainly the scenes of tremendous carnage. But Gujarat seems to have had the most gruesome communal riots in recent years. Is it India’s reddest state, a politically conservative equivalent of Utah?
on Tuesday, January 30th, 2007, 3:09 pm in Film, Issues, Politics › 
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I have always wondered the same thing. I come from an eerily uber-saffron Gujarati family who seem really cool but then slip in an Hindutva-ism when you least expect it. I like to be on my toes with a witty response, but have found that the words Narmada and Medha create adverse reactions. You only have to whisper it, and suddenly everyone’s a bitch and a whore.
Manish…you seem to ask onesided the question and assume, complete innocence of the Muslims.
I assume killing B for A’s sins is murder, mob justice is incompatible with democracy, and focus on those killed in the largest numbers.
No question - Fully & completely agree with your statement.
Its a fundamentally flawed rationale. By saying so, you are essentially saying the coverage,importance and grief of those ‘burnt in the train’ can be lesser in some way than the approx 2000 killed in the aftermaths. Approach of these nature aggravate Hindus to no bounds and feel victimized by the ‘politically correct’ leadership/media.
If one wants to find an acceptable solution…its should begin with a focus on the perpetrators from both sides…& it should be the same. Why do we always seem to give the Muslim community a pass on the events that are fundamentally supported and executed by them? Why isn’t there the same focus and noise on those as well?…..
1. Bombay blasts of 1993. Abu Salem is thinking of standing for election?where is the outrage?
2. The consiprator of the Parliament attack? (Muslim Politicians from J&K threaten with Nation wide communal flares if the govt. goes ahead with the execution…..as a proud Indian, it hurts real bad to see/hear this. But where is the outrage?)
Things of these nature..over a period of time, confirm and harden the bias the majority community has. Its for the leadership to understand the historical dynamcis & events…before they start blaming ‘one’ community. It will only harden existing beliefs.
It may be the reddest, but the right comparison is either Texas or CA. Texas because it is also conservative and also a border state, same as Gujarat. CA because Gujarat is the commercial engine of India’s economy, and if you look at California, as you go away from the costs, it is as red as Utah.
Both are horrible, but there’s a huge difference between a pogrom with state support, done by a vastly larger majority community, and one conducted without.
No wonder India never wins Oscars. If they hadn’t refused to show Water, it might have gone under the Indian nomination for the foreigh film category. They can ban as many good films as they like - but they should know this - freedom of expression is crucial to democracy and they need to quit being so self-righteous and hot-headed.
(((and Gujarat starts looking like one of the most regressive states in the union)))
Not a question of starting to look like one of the most regressive states, it unequivocally has that status. Something repellent about all this.
It’s not so much that other states do not have communal riots, it’s that they were re-elected and the cover-up is so extensive.
Alot of support for all this from the diaspora in England and America too, you know.
Is the family the story’s based on still living in Gujurat?
They were on TV last week calling for the film to be screened there, saying, sadly, that they hope someone will see it and come forward with news of their missing son.
Who’s to blame who banter aside, why not just let the movie be shown. If you think it’s not true, I’m sure you can churn out enough vcds with shitty weepy music and constant shots of the burned karsevak train. We know what you did.
Iam so glad they are making movies like this one…I would love to see this movie..so sad..
They always ban movies which are based on real life roits or injustices…
Movie “water” was banned too in India until recently, now that it is up for oscars they are releasing it in India.They had the same reasons earlier for releasing the movie in India for water too like Parzania..
Probably if this movie “parzania” wins an oscar next year (must be good considering its cast naseeruddin shah, sarika and storyline is realistic), they will release it in India…
I second what Anangbhai said.
From all your comments i presume none of you have lived in Gujarat(remove those who are born there) and fail to understand Gujarati people’s mindset, hence cant blame your Page3 influenced judgments. Yes what happened in gujarat was beyond control but at the same time if you ask any Gujarati they will not be sorry for it.
ashu
I aplogise (I could not find your email address online), your comment to my posting came too quickly. It was published by accident when I published another one that was dated after it. I removed it (I thought immediately) but I still recieved your email response.
I stress the removal of the post was before you posted, and not a response. I hope to have the complete post up in a few minutes, but will certainly include your link in response. I still think some questions would be interesting to address!
Kind regards,
PALGOLAK