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Our Parliament is the biggest converging point of criminals in India

By
Vaidehi Taman
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Politics and crime in India are so intimately knotted that the phrase ‘politicians with no criminal records’ might come across as an oxymoron. During 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its list of 184 candidates out of contenders among which 35( 19 per cent) of the total had declared criminal cases against themselves in 2014, according to myna.info, a website that analyses the self-sworn affidavits of the candidates who are in the fray in the Lok Sabha polls. These 35 BJP candidates with criminal records are also among the 78 candidates who have been re-nominated during this Lok Sabha as well. News18.com could not analyse other 106 candidates because they haven’t yet filed their nomination papers along with self-sworn affidavits that show the number of criminal cases registered against a candidate, if any.

The Apex court says that they must also explain why the candidates were chosen. Now the Supreme Court has put political parties on a tight leash by ordering them to publish the criminal history of their candidates for Assembly and Lok Sabha polls along with reasons that goaded them to choose those with criminal antecedents over decent people within 48 hours of the selection of the candidates. A Bench led by Justices Rohinton F. Nariman ordered political parties to publish the criminal antecedents of their candidates in local and national newspapers and on their social media handles. Following this, the parties would have to file compliance reports with the Election Commission of India (ECI) or face contempt action. The judgement signified the court’s alarm over the unimpeded rise in the accommodation of criminals often facing heinous charges like rape and murder, in the political arena. It is based on a proposition made by the ECI to ask parties not to give tickets to persons with criminal antecedents for contesting elections.

The ECI has said that 46 per cent of members of Parliament have criminal records. The Supreme Court’s long strings of judgements against criminalisation of politics have hardly scratched the surface of the deep rot. Justice Nariman, speaking for the Bench in the judgment, said a move to steer politics away from the denizens of the criminal world would definitely serve national and public interest.

Thursday’s verdict is sourced from a contempt petition filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay who sought action against the authorities and parties for not complying fully with a September 2018 judgement by a Constitution Bench that had directed parties to publish online the pending criminal cases of their election candidates.

The 2018 judgement had urged Parliament to bring a “strong law” to cleanse parties of leaders facing trial for serious crimes. Two years ago, a five-judge Bench led by the then Chief Justice Dipak Misra had concluded that rapid criminalisation of politics could not be stopped by merely disqualifying tainted legislators but should begin by “cleansing” political parties. It had even then issued guidelines, including that both the candidate and the party should declare the criminal antecedents of the former in widely circulated newspapers.

The number of candidates with criminal cases registered against them, however, is expected to rise once the remaining 106 new candidates file their nominations. According to the myneta.info, the candidate who had the highest number of criminal cases filed against him till 2014 was Hansraj Gangaram Ahir from Maharashtra’s Chandrapur constituency. There were a total of 11 criminal cases filed against him till the last Lok Sabha elections. Ahir is a member of the 16th Lok Sabha and currently serves as the MoS Home Affairs. Following him is Pratap Sarangi from Odisha’s Balasore. Sarangi had ten criminal cases filed against him. Interestingly, among other BJP candidates with criminal charges, the current Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Nitin Gadkari, also features in the list. Gadkari, till 2014, had five criminal cases filed against him. Other notable mention is Sakshi Maharaj. He had thirty four criminal cases filed against him till 2014.

In 2014, Association for Democratic Reforms’ (ADR), analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 542 of 543 winners in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and found that BJP led the chart with as many as 98 winning candidates (35 per cent) out of total 282 who back then were facing criminal charges. Eight out of a total of 44 candidates of the Congress were facing criminal charges. The study also found that a candidate with a criminal background was almost twice more likely to win than a candidate with no criminal background. The winning chances of a candidate with criminal background were 13 per cent while those of a candidate with no criminal background were 5 per cent. Out of the 539 winners analysed in Lok Sabha 2019, 233 MPs had declared criminal cases against themselves. This is an increase of 44 per cent in the number of MPs with declared criminal cases since 2009. The 17th Lok Sabha will have close to half of its new MPs with declared criminal cases.

The chances of winning for a candidate with declared criminal cases in the Lok Sabha 2019 are 15.5 per cent whereas for a candidate with a clean background is 4.7 per cent. This is due to the fact that the 17th Lok Sabha will have close to half of its new Members of Parliament (MPs) with declared criminal cases.

Congress MP Dean Kuriakose from Idukki constituency in Kerala has declared 204 criminal cases against himself. These include cases related to committing culpable homicide, house tresspass, robbery, criminal intimidation, etc. As per the self-sworn affidavits submitted by the candidates at the time of filing nominations, the new Lok Sabha has surpassed the previous two in electing MPs with criminal records.

Out of the 542 MPs analysed during Lok Sabha elections in 2014, 185 (34 per cent) winners had declared criminal cases against themselves while out of 543 winners analysed during Lok Sabha elections in 2009, 162 (30 per cent) had declared criminal cases against themselves. This time its close to half. Out of the 539 winners analysed in Lok Sabha elections 2019, 233 (43 per cent) MPs have declared criminal cases against themselves.

The figure is far more alarming when it comes to serious criminal cases. Around 159 (29 per cent) winners this time have declared serious criminal cases including cases related to rape, murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, crimes against women, etc.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

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Five day working for MAHA govt employees

By
Afternoon Voice
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uddhav thacereyThe state cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal to allow its 22 lakh employees a five-day working week. Employees will now work 45 minutes more Monday to Friday to avail of the weekend off. The five-day week is followed by the central government, in Rajasthan, Bihar, Punjab, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

Right now the working hours of government office is from 9.45 am to 5.30 pm. The same has now been extended from 9.45am to 6.15pm with a 30-minute lunch break. This includes the employees of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as well. Currently, employees would get the second and fourth Saturday off. Offices located outside BMC limits too will follow 9.45 to 6.15 work schedule.

Among those who will not be affected by the government’s decision are government dispensaries, hospitals, police, jail employees, water supply employees, medical colleges and employees, fire brigade, cleanliness employees etc.

The state government employees union has been raising the issue with successive state governments. Last week, they met chief minister Uddhav Thackeray who promised to do it provided work did not suffer.

A week later, the state cabinet approved the five day week.

According to a government press release, currently, employees have 288 working days which will reduce to 264 days. However, the working hours per day will go up from seven hours 15 minutes to eight hours per day. Employees will actually work one-day or 24 hours more every year.

It will not apply to government offices covered under the Factories Act and the Industrial Disputes Act and to those that are considered essential services. These include government hospitals, dispensaries, police, jails, water supply projects, fire brigade, conservancy workers, educational institutes both schools and colleges and technical institutes and others. Due to the five day week policy the government offices will save electricity, water, diesel, petrol.

How Valentine’s Day came to be celebrated

By
Jubel D'Cruz
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Happy Valentines DayValentine’s Day is an international festival that celebrates the feeling of love. Though the festival commemorates the martyrdom of a Christian saint called St. Valentine, the festival as it is celebrated today, has very little religious significance. In present times, Valentine’s Day has assumed a secular and global flavour and is celebrated by people of all castes and communities. Another noticeable factor in the Valentine’s Day celebration is that the festival celebrates love in all its forms and is not just restricted to romantic love. People therefore exchange Valentine’s Day greetings with their parents, teachers, siblings, friends, sweethearts or anyone very special or close to them. Valentine’s Day is supposed to be an occasion to display love, affection and care for our families, friends and romantic partners. But today, it does not seem that way anymore, for families and friends are mostly wiped off the list, leaving only the partner in it.

Valentine’s Day started with a priest named Valentine who lived in Rome during the third century A.D. At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius II. Valentine did not like the emperor as he wanted to have a big army and expected men to join it. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families behind. Hence, not many men signed up. This made the emperor furious which led him to a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. Emperor Claudius then decided not to allow any more marriages to take place in the country. Young people thought his new law was cruel and preposterous.  Being a priest, his (Valentine’s) job was to marry young couples. Even after Emperor Claudius II passed his law, Valentine kept on performing marriage ceremonies secretly. He would lead the couples into a small candlelit room. They would then whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the footsteps of soldiers who would arrive any moment and arrest them. Valentine’s time was over when he was caught one day. He was thrown into prison and told that his punishment would be death.

Consequently, many young people came to the jail to visit this priest. They threw flowers and notes up to his window. History says the men and women wanted Valentine to know that they too believed in love.  One young woman who visited him was the daughter of the prison guard. She helped Valentine to keep his spirits up. She agreed that Valentine did the right thing by ignoring the emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. One day, he left his female friend a note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. Valentine signed it as “Love from your Valentine”.  In honor of Valentine’s heroic death, the Pope declared that February 14th would henceforth commemorate the soft-hearted St. Valentine. Today, Valentine’s Day has become an iconic day for celebrating love and spending a lot of money on various gifts for our loved ones. This is how Valentine’s Day came to be celebrated.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

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Major fire breaks out at Rolta Company building in Andheri, no casualties reported

By
Hema Singh
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major fire breaks out at rolta company building in andheri midc, midc , andheri, fire

A major fire broke out on Thursday morning in a commercial building in Andheri’s MIDC area. The fire broke out at the Rolta Company building located inside Rolta Technology Park based on the 22nd Street in Andheri east.

It has been reported that the first fire call that was reported at 11.30 am went up to Level-III. Visuals from the area showed dense smoke coming out of the building.

Talking of the incident, P.S Rahangdale fire brigade chief said, “The fire was confined to the server room on the second floor of the ground plus three-storey commercial structure. Dense smoke has engulfed the structure and the staircase.”

Twelve fire engines of the Mumbai Fire Brigade were at the spot and fire-fighting and search operations were on when last reports came in. It has been reported that operations to bring the blaze under control continued till late evening.


“Due to aluminium cladding, glass facade and no ventilation, situation is still intense. Firefighters are fighting fire from inside as well as outside, using special appliances and donning breathing apparatus sets,” Rahangdale added.

The Fire Brigade informed that the operation to douse flames was still on but there has been no report of any casualty or anyone being trapped in the premises. More details waited.

Police determined to break backbone of Mumbai Bagh protesters

By
Afternoon Voice
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Mumbai Bagh CAA ProtestsLooks like the police will not leave the Mumbai Bagh protesters to protest in peace. A day after cracking down on the Mumbai Bagh protesters, the police are now behind fruit sellers and locals distributing food and water to the anti-CAA demonstrators at Morland Road.

The police on Thursday served notices to several fruitsellers under the CrPC and warned them that they would be held equally responsible if something goes wrong at Mumbai Bagh.

Said a fruit seller on conditions of anonimity, that he was served notice under Section 149 (police to prevent cognisable offences) of Code Of Criminal Procedure on Thursday for selling bananas to one of the visitors who wanted to distribute the fruit among protesters on Sunday. He fears that he may face police action after the protest is over.

Most of the vendors who had been distributing food and water to the Mumbai Bagh demonstrators have stopped coming fearing police crackdown, protesters fear. The police’s intimidation tactic seems to be working even as the number of the demonstrators has come down to 60 per cent now.

The police are not only serving notices to the protesters and the vendors, but also to those who have extended their support to the Mumbai Bagh women. “Notices are being given randomly to those who came there to express solidarity with the protesters,” said an advocate who has been approached by a few protesters for legal help.

Letters to the Editor: 13 February, 2020

By
Web Team
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letters to the editor, afternoon voice,

1Rise of Arvind Kejriwal

Poll-results for Delhi state-assembly giving Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) a thumping majority and Congress faring badly confirms elimination of the outfit as a national political party. The rise of Arvind Kejriwal aiming towards a probable opposition-face for top post in governance of the country in case AAP goes ahead by establishing its strong units in other states starting from UP because residents of the state are amongst most beneficiaries of free medical facilities available in Delhi at cost of money of the state’s tax-payers. Poll-strategist Prashant Kishor has once again established his expertise in AAP leading to historical victory, and can be instrumental in the party aiming to replace Congress as national outfit.

Poll-results should lead BJP to think of much-required change in state-leadership to hand over charge of Delhi to a local respectable face known for honesty even though he may have to sacrifice his present post of Union Cabinet Minister. BJP-ruled Central government should re-think its governance-strategy. It should carry forward with reformative-bills like on Population Control, Poll Reforms and Uniform Civil Code first rather than prioritizing on bills that may create controversy. Economic policies should be completely overhauled to make it user-friendly and employment-generating. Voters can never digest excuse of global recession because the party-mentor RSS always stressed on Swadeshi economic policy. Stress should be to revive ancient tradition of making people adopt to savings rather than on loans.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal

2Prevention is better than cure

Coronavirus is fatal and more dangerous than the world is anticipating. Even the whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang who first highlighted about the disease in December has died of the virus. Medical teams looking after Coronavirus patients are getting infected and dying. China is a communist country and they are not disclosing to the world about the seriousness of the disease which has the potential of even wiping out the human race from the earth.

World superpowers including US need to pressurize WHO to take extensive measures to invade China by the best of medical researchers and doctors to know more about the disease to find vaccine to deal with the virus. China themselves should forget all rivalries as well as protocols to join hands with the globe to fight this deadliest virus which is life threatening. Coronavirus has no cure and prevention is the only option under the circumstances. Turning vegetarian too is healthy amidst the dangers of eating meat which has come to the forefront at the spread of Coronavirus.

S.N.Kabra

3Parameswarji: A towering intellectual

In thinker, writer, orator, scholar and director of the Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram P Parameswaran’s demise the Sangh Parivar, the RSS and Indian political and spiritual field in general has lost a stalwart who dedicated his life on Hindu and Indian spiritualism and ideology.
He was fondly called as Parameswarji by Sangh Parivar and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and worked with prominent leaders like Deendayal Upadhyaya, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani during the Jana Sangh days. Parameswaran was also a freedom fighter and served as all India general secretary of the Jana Sangh in 1960s.

He was honoured with Padma Shri in 2004 and the country’s second highest civilian award the Padma Vibhushan in 2018. Parameswarji was a prolific writer, poet, researcher and a widely-respected RSS ideologue. He was the Bharatiya Jana Sangh’s secretary (1967–1971) and vice president (1971–1977), as well as the director of the Deendayal Research Institute (1977–1982).

He had served the political and social spheres in Kerala and played a pivotal role in spreading the influence of the Bharatheeya Jana Sangh in the Kerala politics dominated by the LDF and the UDF.  A very well known scholar, writer and orator he was attracted to Sangh ideology at a very young age and later became a ‘pracharak,’ full-time worker of the RSS in 1951 and devoted his life to it. He was  wisely respected and admired by all including his political opponents. Though he was offered many posts owing to his calibre and mettle he declined all of them clearly showing his dedication to his duty and work rather than being avaricious for power.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi  in his message has said that his was a life devoted to India’s cultural awakening, spiritual regeneration and serving the poorest of the poor. Parameswarji’ will remain an immortal colossus in the political and social spheres and a role model and guide to those researching and studying on Indian spiritualism, heritage and culture. May his soul rest in peace.

M Pradyu

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

SEC serves notice to MNS for using Shivaji Maharaj’s insignia in its flag

By
Afternoon Voice
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Amit Thackeray new face in MNS, amit thackeray, new mns face, maha adhiveshan, maharashtra navnirman sena, raj thackeray, thackeray, amit, bal thackeray birth anniversary, bal thackerayIn a jolt to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), the State Election Commission (SEC) has served a notice to the party for using Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s insignia in its flag. The commission has asked MNS to take appropriate action on the complaint.

Confirming that they have received a note from the SEC, MNS General Secretary Shirish Sawant said, ” It is just a letter with complaint copies with the State EC informing us to take appropriate action on the same. According to me, it is unclear about the kind of action state EC expects from us by sending that letter.Further Sawant said, “Both the flags were sent to the EC before the launch. We need more clarity in this letter from the State EC.”

In January, the Raj Thackeray-led MNS had launched its new party flag. The new saffron-coloured flag of the party features Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s Raj Mudra, the royal seal of the Maratha king.

LPG gas fire injures nine at Kandivali

By
Hema Singh
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Kandivali Cylinder Blast,Kandivali Blast,Kandivali, Cylinder Blast, Cylinder, BlastAt least nine people sustained injuries after a fire from a leaking LPG  cylinder engulfed a house on Wednesday night at Kandivali. The incident took place at Vikas Mandal chawl in Kandivali (East). A few minutes after the fire broke out, a cylinder exploded in the house causing severe damage to the property.

According to a report, all the injured people were rushed to Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali for treatment. Soon after the incident, the fire brigade reached the spot and doused the fire. This is how the damage was prevented.

The injured victims were identified as Mehul Surti (30), Devyani Surti (46), Jayesh Sutar (30), Nishant Panchal (10), Sandeep Kanade (28), Sharda Kanade (56), Omkar Chile (18) Divesh Patel (22) and Rajesh Dubala (40).

As per the assistant Medical officer of Shatabdi hospital, five people sustained 35 to 45 per cent burns and are undergoing treatment. On the other hand, other victims who suffered minor injuries were given basic treatment and were discharged.

Shikara gets into controversy: ‘Hindu Janajagruti Samiti’ urges boycott

By
Hema Singh
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Boycott Shikara, Hindu Janjagruti, ShikaraThe recently released film Shikara that opened on February 7 has been produced and directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film is based on the Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from Kashmir.

Soon after the release, the film got into a controversy because it commercialises the plight of Kashmiri Pandits. A communiqué in the matter says that it is being widely felt that the movie fails to depict the persecution of Kashmiri Hindus in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s as thousands of Kashmiri Hindus were killed, women raped, thousands of temples destroyed and 4.5 lakh people were displaced to other places.

The communiqué felt that Vidhu Vinod Chopra has suppressed the brutal and blood imbrued history of Kashmiri Hindus. Instead of consoling the grieving Kashmiri Hindus, Chopra has rubbed salt on their wounds, the wounds that remain uncured for the past 30 years.

This is not the first time that any Bollywood movie has been mirred in controversy and is suggested by the audience to boycott a movie. In the past also there had been movies which were been into several controversies such as The Accidental Prime minister, Padmavat, Udta Punjab among others.

Soon after the release of the movie, the hashtag of #BoycottShikhara started trending on Twitter. Even it is reported that a woman belonging to the Kashmiri Pandit community broke down after watching the film as she felt that Chopra “commercialised the plight of Kashmiri Pandits in the movie.”

After that on February 11, Hindu outfit ‘Hindu Janajagruti Samiti’ appealed to the public to boycott ‘Shikara.’ Ramesh Shinde on behalf of the organisation issued an official statement and said that the movie rubs salt on the wounds of Kashmiri Hindus.

When AV contacted Shinde he said, “Since Mr. Vidhu Vinod Chopora wanted to gain publicity initially, he kept the title of the movie as Shikara – The Untold Story of Kashmiri Pandits’. Also, he himself belongs to Kashmir, people were expecting that he will show what all had happened then. However, it turns into a big disappointment after he changed the title on the release day. People were thinking one but he dished out something else and I think that made people to boycott the film.”

Shinde labeled such depiction of a monumental tragedy as ‘a psychological atrocity’ upon the Kashmiri Hindu community. “Indian society will never forgive this in humaneness by Vidhu Vinod Chopra.

The organisation claims that the during the promotion of the film, the director advertised the film as being based on the lives of Kashmiri Hindus as the movie posters read ‘Shikara – The Untold Story of Kashmiri Pandits’. However, on the release day, the poster of the film was dramatically changed to ‘Shikara – A Timeless Love Story in the Worst of Time’.

On the other hand, Ashoke Pandit took to Twitter after the controversy took it to the top of the Twitter trends. The filmmaker accused Chopra of ‘whitewashing communal crime’ with a ‘coat of secular paint.’ The filmmaker also said that the movie was a massive attempt at ‘whitewashing Islamic terrorism’, something he claimed Kashmir were the biggest victims of.  He also asked Chopra to stop ‘glorifying terrorism’, something he claimed the latter was doing again after Mission Kashmir.

 

Vidhu Vinod Chopra anti Hindu filmmaker?

By
Vaidehi Taman
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Shikara made by producer/director Vidhu Vinod Chopra on the plight of displaced Kashmiri Hindu Pandits, is perhaps his first movie on this subject in recent past. The untold story of Kashmiri Pandits attracted controversy at its screening in Delhi. A woman belonging to the Kashmiri Pandit community broke down after watching the film and lashed out at the director for “commercialising the plight of Kashmiri Pandits.”

After the film ended, Chopra came to interact with the audience when the woman started shouting at him. The video of the woman lashing out at the director has gone viral on the social media. According to the woman, Shikara doesn’t portray the actual sufferings of the community including the genocide, mass rapes and mass murders committed by Islamic radical groups. She said that Chopra polarised the sufferings of Kashmiri Pandits. To condole the lady, Chopra said that he would work on the sequel to the film. He said, “Truth has two faces. People have different perspectives on the same issues.”

Shikara is a story about the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and draws its inspiration from several sources. Apart from that, Rahul Pandita’s brilliant book, ‘Our Moon Has Blood Clots’ is a significant resource for the film. It is a very well-researched documentation on what led to the Kashmiri Pandit exodus and the apathy and neglect of the Kashmiri Pandit families for all these years. They have also used details from actual Pandit family experiences and their plights living in Jagti refugee camp. It has taken him eleven years to tell this story and is a combination of a significantly large amount of people who have been part of the process. Although Bollywood has always been accused of maligning Hindu dharma for a long time for example in Amar Akbar Anthony the Hindu father abandons all the kids and a Muslim and Christian adopt the children. But the message was little ambiguous as only a few could understand the analogy. But things changed abruptly when D – company started ruling Bollywood directly. They started financing movies and extorting money from directors and producers.

Then came the era when Bollywood started attacking the Hindu dharma and left no stone unturned in glorifying Islam. For example the Hindu Pandit or Hindu Baniya used to be a cruel and miser while Raheem Chacha or Abdul were portrayed as saints. In most of the films, Hindu community people were portrayed as bigots and kattar(s) while Muslims of Pakistan were showed as liberals and samaritans. Hindus are very well divided into different castes, creed and races. Some are Rajput, some Guptas while some are Pandits. Remain divided and scattered until they destroy the oldest civilisation of the globe in front of you and out rule you because Hindus are over tolerant.

Now coming back to Vidhu Vinod Chopra, he is one of India’s finest directors who has directed Shikara. One can see that the one Kashmiri woman was upset with what she termed as the commercialism of Shikara and that she disowned the movie. She seemed to be particularly upset with Chopra’s decision to cast two Muslim actors as the lead Hindu Pandit characters. May be some wounds cut too deep for her. At the same time, it’s unfair and wrong to term Vidhu Vinod Chopra as Hindu phobic just because one person didn’t like the movie. The exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits which is a chronicle written by a Kashmiri Pandit author Rahul Pandita. So, it’s not like Chopra crafted the movie out of thin air. He’s mostly based the movie off of another person’s memoirs.

The audience conveniently forgot the fact that the movie might have been directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra but it’s already written by a Pandit of Kashmir.  Chopra is possibly the first director in Bollywood to have even made a movie on the plight of the evacuated Kashmiri Hindu Pandits who became refugees in their own country. And if you note, his own mother was one among the many Kashmiris who could never go home while she was alive. So, it’s injustice to call him Hinduphobic. I can understand that woman’s pain too because she went through that tragic trauma. But there was no justification for her outburst. There is no crass commercialisation in Shikara – it is a sad story beautifully depicted and just makes you sad that so many people had to become refugees overnight. All thanks to the incompetent and useless Prime Minister at the time – if India had competent rulers and government at the time, this tragedy would perhaps have never unfolded.

Our Moon Has Blood Clots, the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits that was journalist Rahul Pandita’s memoirs of his family’s flight from the Muslim-dominated valley during the onset of the violent insurgency. It is a common lament of refugees trying to reclaim a happier past that is cruelly and irredeemably lost. Squeezed out by the pain, drudgery and hardship of exile, the homemaker withers away. Her son, the author, picks up the pieces in this account of his family, one of thousands who were forced into exile. In remembrance lies redemption. So this is a timely memoir about the often ignored and “unfashionable” story of the purge of a thriving minority community backed by Islamist militants in Kashmir. All those attacking Vidhu Vinod Chopra need to really retrospect as to how genuine is their outcry?

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

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