Excelsior... Nation

SIMI members under watch
Over 2,000 madrassas in border areas

From B L Kak

NEW DELHI, Nov 23: More than 2,000 madrassas operate in the border areas of India, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr ID Swami, has revealed. ....more

‘A passage to Ottawa’
selected for Berlin film
festival

MUMBAI, Nov 23: ‘A passage to Ottawa’, an eight-year-old boy’s crusade of finding a comic-book hero in real life,. ...more

India asks EU to ease
visa restrictions

NEW DELHI, Nov 23: India today asked european union countries to ease visa restrictions ..more

Tehelka probe panel
gets 2nd extension for
four months

NEW DELHI, Nov 23: Venkataswami Commission, probing allegations made by Tehelka news. ..more

Don’t mix religion with
politics, Aryadan to IUML

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Nov 23: A dispute in a privately-run school at Nilambur in Mallapuram district of Kerala, is fast developing into a major ......more

More interaction needed between bollywood, hollywood: Amritraj

MUMBAI, Nov 23: Noted film producer Ashok Amritraj feels it is the right time for Indian stars to break into the international scenario but added that .....more

Govt has failed to come
up with amendments on
POTO: Opposition

NEW DELHI, Nov 23: Voicing strong reservations against the anti-terrorism ordinance at a meeting of Home Ministry’s consultative committee, .....more

No proposal to electrify Delhi-Ahmedabad rail line

NEW DELHI, Nov 23: There is no proposal at present to electrify the Delhi-Ahmedabad rail line section "due to relative...more

SIMI members under watch
Over 2,000 madrassas in border areas

From B L Kak

NEW DELHI, Nov 23: More than 2,000 madrassas operate in the border areas of India, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr ID Swami, has revealed.

Mr Swami’s assurance to the Lok Sabha: Action is taken wherever necessary. His assurance came during his reply to a question from Mr Jaswant Singh Bishnoi and six others.

When asked if the Intelligence Bureau (IB) had furnished details on the functioning of madrassas in India, Mr Swami stated that reports were received from various security agencies from time to time on the functioning of madrassas in the country. These reports also covered border districts.

That the Centre did not intend to lift the ban on Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) became amply clear in the Rajya Sabha during question hour, when Mr ID Swami stated that the SIMI was declared unlawful after the reports, received by the Government, had revealed that the organisation indulged in activities prejudicial to the security of the country.

These reports, he added, had also revealed that such activities had the potential of disturbing peace and communal harmony and disrupting the secular fabric of the society. He clarified that in terms of sub-section (1) of section 5 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, the Government had constituted Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal for the purpose of adjudicating whether or not there was sufficient cause for declaring SIMI as unlawful association.

Mr Swami informed the House that while the matter is before the Tribunal for a decision, no links of members of SIMI with the terrorist groups of Afghanistan have been established so far. Mr Swami, however, said that some of the SIMI leaders had, during their speeches in Ikhwan conferences, eulogised and glorified Islamic terrorists and fiundamentalists like Osama bin Laden.

Is it a fact that members of the SIMI are running their activities after constituting a new organisation in the wake of the Government ban on them? In his reply, Mr Swami informed Ms Savita Sharda that there is no such information that the members of SIMI have formed another outfit. Activities of SIMI members, he said, were under constant watch of law enforcement agencies across the country.

The Centre has no plans to lift the ban it imposed on 16 organisations between November 16, 2000 and November 13, 2001. The ban is for a period of two years, Mr ID Swami informed the House while replying to a question by Mr Gutha Sukender Reddy and Dr Jaswant Singh Yadav. Most of these organisations belong to the North-East region.

Mr Swami stated that 23 organisations had to be declared terrorist organisations under section 18 of the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO), 2001. These organisations included, among others, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Hizbul Mujahideen, Al Umar Mujahideen and Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front, Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and Deendar Anjuman.

According to Mr Swami, the imposition of ban on these and other organisations under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and declaring them as terrorist organisations under POTO would enable the law enforcement agencies to deal effectively with the groups and individuals that are indulging in activities prejudicial to the security of the country.

‘A passage to Ottawa’ selected for Berlin film festival

MUMBAI, Nov 23: ‘A passage to Ottawa’, an eight-year-old boy’s crusade of finding a comic-book hero in real life, which is being screened at the fourth International Film Festival of Mumbai has been selected for screening at the Berlin Film Festival scheduled for February 2002.

This was disclosed by the film’s producers Canada-based Indian couple Rajendra and Rashmi-Rekha Gupta. "We received a communication from berlin this evening," the beaming couple told UNI.

‘A passage to Ottawa’ is part of the eight-film package of film India worldwide, which showcases the works of filmmakers of Indian origin based in Paris, Toronto, London and New York, among other countries. Guptas’ first feature film will be premiered at the festival on Saturday at the Tata theatre in South Mumbai.

This feature debut from Director Gaurav Seth and writer Jameel Khaja puts a distinctive ‘East to west spin’ on the genre. Their touching funny film is a story of OMI, a young Indian boy who is sent overseas to live with his uncle Jalal and aunt Maggie in Ottawa, Canada, due to his mother’s illness back home. Unaware that his mother is likely to die, omi believes he is on a secret mission to this ‘exotic’ north American land where he must find a magic superhero to take back home and save his mother.

Talking to UNI, Rashmi-Rekha and Rajendra Gupta said this is their first feature film and earlier they had produced several documentaries. "One of them was Pravasi (immigrants), based on my nine-minute poetry highlighting the struggles Indian immigrants overseas have to cope up with."

Both Rashmi-Rekha and her husband are reputed professionals in their respective fields of finance and science. Two years ago they decided to set up transvision films in order to produce cultural projects for and about Indian communities living away from their home country.

"While living in a multicultural mosaic, away from our motherland, we naturally get more attached to our culture. If we want to project our struggles and reach out to our people, there is no media more appropriate than the cinema," Rashmi says.

"We turned to film making, with an aim to blend our generation with that of our children and preserve our identity in a foreign land. We plan to make movies which appeals to our emotions," adds her husband.

He said people of Indian origin have to face lots of struggle to find a foothold in an alien country. "We have to blend our cultures —preserve our origin as well be a part of the society we live at present".

Gupta says his attempt through the cinematic medium is to dissolve the racial, religious and national identities behind the present day’s political problems and unify them to a single identity —human. It has already won awards at the Austin Film Festival and in Canada.

The couple has completed several independent producer workshops and laid a solid foundation for a vibrant company in Ottawa that now makes commercials, documentaries and feature films.

Speaking about Director Gaurav Seth, Rajendra said they reviewed numerous proposals and resumes before finding the perfect director. After zeroing in on Gaurav, thanks to a lone e-mail sent to Ottawa by him, they met in Mumbai when the producers were impressed by Seth’s abilities as a director-cinematographer and editor of fictional films and documentaries.

Seth has been trained at the prestigious Moscow Film Institute as part of a special cultural exchange programme between India and the erstwhile Soviet Union during the twilight years of the cold war. Writer Jamal has done his masters thesis in screenplay from the Columbia University, the producers informed.

The Guptas informed that when the movie bug struck them, they undertook a crash course in film production at the hollywood film school and spent innumerable hours reading books on all aspects of film production, direction, cinematography and script writing.

"One does not become a professional by reading books or doing crash courses, but one gains enough understanding about what professionals around one do by communicating with them effectively", says Rajendra Gupta, formerly a research scientist at the National Research Council holding a PhD in Physics.

"Since essentially it is your own money that you invest in your first project, you don’t embark on a multi-million-dollar first production. You start with a budget that is perhaps less than half of the money you can afford to loose without changing your lifestyle. The remaining will be needed to cover the incessant cost overruns", says Rashmi-Rekha, an information technology professional.

The Guptas are planning to release the film, with a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural cast and crew, in theatres across India in January next year.

The first film in the film India worldwide package to be screened at tata theatre on the opening day was Piyush Dinkar Pandey’s ‘American desi’, an amusing account of young indians in the us confronting their "cultural identity". The film portrays an Indian-American named Krishna Gopal Reddy, who hates being called by his original name and likes to be referred to as KRIs.

He dislikes his Indian roommates in his college. His experiences in college and his love for a girl, who despite being brought up in America is very much an Indian at heart, makes him change his views about his identity.

Jaideep Punjabi, himself an NRI, who handled the production says the story is based on the experiences of the producers Gitesh and Piyush Pandey and producer-actor Deep Katdare, all Indian-Americans.

"The characters portrayed in the film have very few indians around them and their only Indian identity is their home and parents. In college, they are compelled to change their views on everything that is Indian", he said.

Rashmi-Rekha and Rajendra Gupta said they are planning to make a film on the struggle for cultural identity faced by several young generation Indians raised in a foreign land. (UNI)

Tehelka probe panel gets 2nd extension for four months

NEW DELHI, Nov 23: Venkataswami Commission, probing allegations made by Tehelka news portal on corruption in defence deals, was granted a second extension for another four months today.

The Commission, whose first extension runs out tomorrow, has been granted second extension till March 24, 2002, official sources said.

The Commission had sought another extension of its tenure with crucial witnesses like Defence Minister George Fernandes, former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitely and former BJP president Bangaru Laxman yet to be examined.

Set up nearly eight months ago to probe into the Tehelka expose on alleged corruption in defence deals within four months, the Commission headed by the retired judge of the Supreme Court began its hearings in June.

Meanwhile, Justice K Venkataswami today directed all the notices to bring out various aspects of making and publication of the allegations made by the news portal Under 2 (D) Clause of its terms of reference and posted the matter for discussion on November 28.

In response to the Commission’s directive, counsel for Surender Sulekha said since the charge against him was of mediation between Jaitely and the Tehelka team, who pretended to be arms dealers, which does not lead to completion of any defence transaction, the allegation should be withdrawn against him. (PTI)

Don’t mix religion with politics, Aryadan to IUML

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Nov 23: A dispute in a privately-run school at Nilambur in Mallapuram district of Kerala, is fast developing into a major political row between the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the second major constituent of the ruling coalition in the state.

Senior Congress leader Aryadan Mohammed, who is under attack for making a statement that IUML supremo Syeed Mohammedali Shihab Thangal was not above criticism, lashed out at the league leadership for bringing religion into politics.

"As the president of the party, he should be prepared to face criticism. Religion and politics should not be mixed," he told a press conference here.

In a strong rejoinder to the statements of IUML general secretary Korambayil Ahamed Haji and party leader K P A Majeed, Mr Mohammed said, "those who are campaigning that the president of a political party is above criticism, are speaking like Mohammed Ali Jinnah who advocated the two-nation theory. This will only promote religious fundamentalism."

In a democratic country, political leaders should be prepared to face criticism,’’ he added.

Mr Mohammed’s outburst against the league leaders further deepened the crisis that erupted following the retrenchment of certain employees from a malappuram-based school, run by NRI businessman P V Abdul Waheb. While Mr Muhammed stood firm with the employees who were fighting against the peevees residential school management, the IUML is strongly supporting Mr Waheb.

However, the Congress leadership was hesitant to take an open stand on the issue as it would spoil its relations with the IUML. On the other hand, the IUML was not wasting any time to utilise the opportunity to cut Mr Aryadan to size.

Stating that league leaders were unnecessarily making a hue and cry over his statement, Mr Mohammed said, "I never criticised Mr Thangal, but only stated that he is not above criticism."

"If senior league leader A V Abdu Rahman Haji could criticise Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Parliament, I don’t see any reason why Mr Thangal should not be criticised," he added.

Referring to the basic issue, he said the school management was forcing the employees to work 24 hours continuously for six days a week. When the employees protested and formed a trade union, 44 of them were suspended from service. "As a politician, who is active in the trade union movement for the past 45 years, I cannot approve the decision of the management. I will continue with the same stand till justice is done," he added.

Alleging that the NRI businessman was a fellow traveller of the top leaders of the previous Left Democratic Front Government and of late shifted his loyalty towards the IUML, Mr Mohammed said it was difficult to understand why the league leaders were supporting the ‘unjust action’ taken by Mr Waheb.

He alleged that it was part of a conspiracy hatched by Mr Korambayil Ahamed Haji and Mr Majid to extend political support to the NRI businessman.

According to party sources, the war of words by senior leaders and their adamant postures are turning out to be a major embarrassment for Chief Minister A K Antony, who has just completed six months in office. The IUML has already lodged a strong protest with the Congress leadership against Mr Mohammed for his remarks on spiritual leader Pannakad Muhammedali Shihab Thangal.

Though Mr Mohammed claimed that senior Congress leaders antony and K Karunakaran had not taken any stand against him on the issue, the Congress is yet to come out in the open to support the party’s strongman in Malappuram district.

It was believed that the IUML build-up was apparently a move to wrest from the Congress the last outpost in Malappuram district, which has never been in its hold, thanks to Mr Aryadan Mohammed. (UNI)

More interaction needed between bollywood, hollywood: Amritraj

MUMBAI, Nov 23: Noted film producer Ashok Amritraj feels it is the right time for Indian stars to break into the international scenario but added that they should be aware of their limitations due to their Asian origin.

Amritraj, who has been with the American industry for a long time and has served on the Academy Awards Committee for nine years, was here yesterday for the 4th International Film Festival of Mumbai 2001 where his film ‘Bandits’ was the inaugural screening.

"In American set-up, film characters are categorised as whites or blacks and it is difficult to digest an asian actor," he said.

When pointed out about the success of Asian actors like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Chow Yun Fat, he said they had an on-screen charisma which he did not find in any of the Indian actors.

He was, however, adamant about his earlier stand that Indian and hollywood industry should have more interaction, spend more time together and get acquainted.

"There is a loyal audience for the indian films abroad but there is a need to expose the american audience to the same," he said, pointing out that there was a lot of curiosity about India and ‘Bollywood’ in the west.

On Indian movies, Amritraj said, "Indian movies are normally the commercial popcorn kind while the academy is on a lookout for more meaningful and message-oriented movies from around the world.

"The academy is a body which wants to be seen as spreading good messages among the millions of film viewers and young film-makers and therefore the stress on the feel of the movie rather than the content," he explained.

When pointed out that one of last year’s Oscar winner ‘crouching tiger, hidden dragon’ did not fall in any of the above categories except pure entertainment, he said there was an exception to every rule.

Amritraj felt that the nomination for ‘crouching tiger hidden dragon’ was purely on the basis of its cinematographic excellence and mind-blowing stunt sequences, adding that the academy was among the fairest of all bodies and there was no way to influence it.

Amritraj said normally nominations were done by a process of voting. The committee members are expected to see at least two thirds of the total movies, which arrive for the awards.

"Each movie has to be seen at least half by the judges, and voting is carried out later," he explained and said the last five are based on the number of votes received for each movie.

The foreign films category is the most difficult, he admitted when asked about the chances of ‘Lagaan’ for receving an oscar nomination.

Currently working on two new projects, Amritraj has on the floors a multi-starrer ‘goodbye, hello’ with Oscar winners Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon and Holly Hunter.

"The subject is very humane and none of the stars have charged me for their roles," he confessed.

His other film on the cards is an action-comedy with Arnold Schwarzenegger ‘UMP’.

When asked whether he has any projects in mind from the Indian point of view, he said he was looking for a subject that was contemporary and emotive. (UNI)

Govt has failed to come up with amendments
on POTO: Opposition

NEW DELHI, Nov 23: Voicing strong reservations against the anti-terrorism ordinance at a meeting of Home Ministry’s consultative committee, opposition parties today said Government has failed to come up with any amendment to the proposed law but agreed to meet again on monday to discuss the issue.

Terming the 90-minute meeting as inconclusive, BJP member Madan Lal Khurana indicated that Government could consider dropping certain controversial provisions from the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) to protect freedom of the press.

Talking to reporters, CPI-M leader Somnath Chatterjee termed as an "eye-wash" the meeting convened by Home Minister L K Advani to forge a consensus on POTO and said Government suggested no amendments.

Avtar Singh Bhadana (Congress) said his party would stick to its position and oppose POTO in Parliament.

The opposition members were of the view that Government should have consulted political parties before deciding to promulgate the ordinance.

Minister of State for Home I D Swami told reporters the opposition MPs agreed that there should be a law to fight terrorism but the Government should have held wider consultations before bringing POTO.

Swami said the opposition members wanted more time to suggest specific changes in the proposed law.

Later addressing a press conference, Somnath Chatterjee said since all parties have opposed terrorism, Government should not have "bypassed" them by promulgating the ordinance.

"This attempt of the Government is not sincere," he said, adding views of Chief Ministers should have been elicited as ultimately it is a state subject.

Describing the current exercise of holding consultations as "unproductive", he said it was intended only to show that the Government believes in doing something through consultation.

"Time has come to call the bluff and expose how the Government functions," he said and added that even some partners of the NDA were opposing POTO.

Moreover, Chatterjee said there has been no escalation of terrorist violence in the country since the September 11 US attack which prompted the Government to promulgate the legislation hurriedly. (PTI)