Excelsior... Nation

‘Beauty is truth,
truth beauty’

NEW DELHI, Mar 21: At a time when adaptations of Moliere and Brecht and the fast-paced socio-economic and political plays are dominating the stage, ..more

Curfew continues in
37 towns, situation
under control

VADODARA, Mar 21: Bharuch city remained curfew-bound for the fourth day today, while six police station areas in riot-hit Vadodara city were given nine ...more

SP confident of
majority in UP Assembly

NEW DELHI, Mar 21: Undeterred by the imposition of President’s rule in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party (SP) today made a renewed call to...more

Bara Sthan Mahant
warns of hunger strike
if ‘Shilas’ not removed

AYODHYA, Mar 21: The Mahant of Bara Sthan, where the two ‘Shilas’ have been kept after last Friday’s ‘Shila Daan’, has warned of a hunger strike if the carved stones were not removed at the earliest. Mahant Devendra Prasadacharya said a meeting of Ayodhya’s...more

Forest Officer, Assam
Rifles jawan, teacher killed

IMPHAL, Mar 21: Three persons — a District Forest Officer, an Assam Rifles jawan and a school teacher— were killed and five others, including four.......more

‘Apni Jeet Ho — Unkee Haar Ho’: Aamir Khan’s finals this weekend

NEW DELHI, Mar 21: Will Bhuvan’s eleven win over the French ‘Amelie’, the Argentinian ‘Son of the bride’, the Norwegian elling, or the Bosnian ‘No ....more

Japan, India cooperation against sea piracy: Jaswant

NEW DELHI, Mar 21: India and Japan have agreed to have cooperation against terrorism, especially sea piracy, and talks have been held with the ....more

George boycott
continues in LS

NEW DELHI, Mar 21: The opposition in the Lok Sabha today continued its boycott of Defence Minister George Fernandes, vehemently questioning the right of the minister to stay in the present post in the wake of the coffin scam. As Fernandes ....more

‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty’

NEW DELHI, Mar 21: At a time when adaptations of Moliere and Brecht and the fast-paced socio-economic and political plays are dominating the stage, city theatergoers were recently treated to a two-day festival of ‘Puratani’ (old) Bangla plays, which date back to the late 1800s.

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Grihaprabesh’ and noted Bengali dramatist, actor and director Girish Chandra Ghosh’s ‘Bilwamangal Thakur’ were enacted by the Kolkata-based ‘Kalapi Theatre Group’ last weekend at this festival organised by the Delhi-based ‘Impresario India’, which has given a fillip to the cultural scene in the capital.

‘Grihaprabesh’ dealt with a man’s desire to build castles in the air that brings in the inevitable conflict between reality and imagination.

The Central Character Jatin is married to Moni, an exceptionally naive girl.

To win Moni’s love, Jatin begins to build a dream house. But the impractical man he is, he is driven into debt. Almost a wreck, he falls prey to tuberculosis and craves for Moni, but to no avail.

Tagore through the central character wanted to potray that man cannot obtain all his desires and thus makes good his disappointment in his imagination.

And this is where, ‘Kalapi’ has failed to live up to the audience’s expectations. The acting capabilities of Soumya De Sarkar, who potrayed Jatin left much to be desired. In fact, he was the weakest link among all the characters.

The play, could have been shortened and made more racier if some songs — though beautifully rendered — had been edited. At times, it felt they were being used as fillers in the absence of dialogues.

Sarkar also failed to emotionally charge the audience in spite of having the opportunity to attain an almost tragic figure.

The scene stealer was undoubtedly the character of Jatin’s widowed aunt, played to perfection by Jharna Choudhury. The strength of a widow during the late 1800s in managing the affairs of the home and the world was something that modern feminist movements would love to emulate. The second play ‘Bilwamangal Thakur’, first produced in 1886 at the ‘Star Theatre’ in Kolkata, dealt with the journey of the human soul from darkness to light, from the sensuous love to the love of ‘Absolute truth’.

The play, dealing with Bilwamangal, whose sensuous pursuit for Chintamoni, a beautiful public woman, is the be all and end all of his life, began on a racy note, but then the songs again slowed the play’s progress.

One does understand the opera-like movement of the play, but modern audiences, who are given to paucity of time, would have preferred a good half-an-hour cut in the play’s running.

So intense was Bilwamangal’s dotage that even neglecting to observe his deceased father’s last rites, he rushed to meet his paramour through storm and thunderous rain.

Chintamoni asks him to bestow his love to god. He sets out to find out the object of his ‘true love’ and after terrible sufferings and affliction, realises the presence of the ‘absolute being’ in his inner mind.

The play was well enacted, especially the role of the beggar, played by Biswanath Bandhopadhyay, whose character is similar to that of the fool or the jester in the Shakesperean plays.

The two plays were devoid of much sets and colour, just as the Shakesperean plays, and their movement depended on the language, which also was a little difficult to the modern audiences’ ears who are more used to the colloquial tongue in the modern plays enacted today.

The play dealing with Bilwamangal’s effort to find true love despite all odds is best summed up by a poem of Tagore: ‘The night is upon me. My desires that wandered all day have come back to my heart like the murmur of the sea in the still evening air. One lonely lamp is burning in my house in the dark. The silence is in my blood. I shut my eyes and see in my heart the beauty that is beyond all forms.’ (UNI)

Curfew continues in 37 towns, situation under control

VADODARA, Mar 21: Bharuch city remained curfew-bound for the fourth day today, while six police station areas in riot-hit Vadodara city were given nine hours relaxation from 0900 hrs to 1800 hrs following a marked improvement in the situation.

Talking to UNI, Special Inspector General of Police (Vadodara Range) Deepak Swaroop said no untoward incident had been reported from any part of Vadodara, Bharuch, Panchmahal, Dahod and Narmada districts in Central Gujarat during the past 24 hours.

Reports said as many as 37 cities and towns in these central Gujarat districts were still under curfew since communal violence broke out in the state following the Godhra train carnage on February 27.

The special IG said even as the incidents of violence and arson had subsided, night curfew continued to be imposed in these sensitive towns and cities as a precautionary measure. Mr Swaroop also ruled out the possibility of complete lifting of curfew in most sensitive areas in the region in view of the coming festivals of Muharram and Holi.

Vadodara City Police Commissioner D D Tuteja said a 9-hour relaxation in curfew was granted today to six police station areas of Panigate, Wadi, City, Raopura, Karelibaug and Nawapura even as tension prevailed in most parts of the city. Though educational institutions continue to remain closed, Government offices, banks, courts, district treasury, Vadodara Municipal Corporation and the Hathikhana main grain market located in these curfew-bound areas were open today after a week-long break. Meanwhile, city police had obtained a day’s remand of Vipul Ramakant Kapadia alias Ripul, a Shiv Sena activist, and two others, who were arrested near Varsha Society here yesterday under the arms act.

The Police Commissioner said the Crime Branch police, which arrested the three while moving in suspicious manner without curfew passes, had recovered a Spanish-made .22 caliber automatic pistol with two live cartridges from their possession.

Mr Tuteja said the Shiv Sena activist, who was also booked earlier on March two for violating curfew order, is allegedly involved in the sensational Kumar Pillay murder case of 1999.

According to Bharuch Police, besides the State Reserve Police, one company of Border Security Porce (BSP) had been deployed in the curfew-bound "A" and "B" Division Police Station areas in the city, where three people were killed, including two in police firing, and several others injured in the renewed violence since March 15. Jambusar and Amod towns in the district are also under night curfew, the sources said.

A report from Godhra, the District Headquarters of Panchmahal, said while night curfew was in force in Godhra, Kalol, Halol, Lunvada and Santarampur, no major untoward incident had been reported from any part of the district after March 4.

According to Vadodara rural police sources, curfew was relaxed from 0600 hrs to 2200 hrs in Kawant and from 0900 hrs to 1800 hrs in Dabhoi towns today while night curfew continued in Tejagadh, Panvad, Savli, Padra, Sankheda, Bodeli, Jetpur and Chhota Udepur towns.

Reports said night curfew also continues in Rajpipla, Kevadia, Devadia and Tilakwada in Narmada district, and Jalod, Dahod City, Limidi, Sanjeli, Fatepur, Suksar, Garvada, Devgadbaria, Limkheda, Dudhia, Bandibar, Piplod, Randipur and Singbed in the tribal dominated Dahod district. (UNI)

SP confident of majority in UP Assembly

NEW DELHI, Mar 21: Undeterred by the imposition of President’s rule in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party (SP) today made a renewed call to Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri to invite the party to form the Government in the state as per the "democratic norms", saying that that it had the requisite support to prove majority in the Assembly.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function to mark the 42nd Foundation Day of the United News of India her, senior SP leader Amar Singh said, "the Governor should invite the Samajwadi Party, being the single largest party, to form the Government... We will prove our majority."

To a pointed question how the SP would muster the requisite number to prove its majority, the senior leader said it was in touch with "secular groups" and independents.

However, he refused to divulge if the party was seeking the support of the Rashtriya Kranti Dal (RKD) of former State Chief Minister Kalyan Singh and the Apna Dal. "This is a matter of our policy and we will not disclose it at this stage."

Asked if the Congress would support it, he said, the SP was hopeful and also expected a large chunk of independents and others to back its claim.

However, he ruled out any horse- trading to achieve the magic figure and said, "neither do we believe in horse- trading, nor will engineer a split in the Congress or any other party."

In case the party failed to win the confidence vote in the 404-member house, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav will resign. However, the party should not be prevented from being invited to form the Government, he added.

Comparing the present situation in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly with that of Bihar a couple of years ago, Mr Singh said, "if Mr Nitish Kumar can be invited to form a Government in Bihar, why can’t the same be done with Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Even Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee was invited by the President to form the Government at the Centre when the BJP emerged as the single largest party in 1996 general elections. "Though it was a different story that he (Mr Vajpayee) failed to muster the support and had to resign... In the worst case, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, if faced with such a situation, will also do the same thing." Mr Singh accused the BJP and its leader Rajnath Singh of indulging in ‘unfair practices’ to remain in power. "We are not like Mr Rajnath Singh who splits the BSP and the Congress to remain in power."

All the political parties in the state must respect the fact that the SP had received the mandate of the people to rule, winning the maximum number of seats. The voters rejected all the other groups, he said.

"BJP has scored a third division in the just concluded Assembly elections. How could a student who secures a third division, claim to take the top spot. The BJP should realise this and accordingly forget all its dreams of coming to power in the state," he added.

Coming down heavily on the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Mr Singh said the BSP and its leaders Ms Mayawati and Mr Kanshi Ram are ‘betraying’ the voters by hob-nobbing with communal forces like the BJP to secure power.

"The manner in which Ms Mayawati has drawn to the BJP fold exposes her non-secular approach and the hunger for power," he said declaring that the Samajwadi Party can not have any truck with such a party.

"We cannot form a Government with the support of such a party... Our association with BSP is ruled out," he stressed.

Asked whether the SP was prepared to face another election in the event of no party or formation forming the Government, Mr Singh replied, "who is afraid of elections? but we must keep in mind that how much financial burden it would add to the state exchequer which is already in shambles due to the ‘wrong’ policies of the BJP."

When his attention was drawn to Mr Kanshi Ram’s statement asking the BSP cadre to be ready for another election, he said, "that could be his views. But why should we make such a call when we are already in a position to provide a stable Government in the state." (UNI)

Bara Sthan Mahant warns of hunger strike if ‘Shilas’ not removed

Mahant Devendra Prasadacharya said a meeting of Ayodhya’s saints have been called by him tomorrow at 1700 hrs to decide the future course of action if the Shilas were not removed. In reply to a question he said that if the saints decided on "throwing the Shilas out of Bara Sthan, he would not hesitate to comply with such a request.

A dispute has been brewing among the sants and Sadhus here on the keeping the Shilas at Bara Sthan, after being donated to Mr Shatrughan Singh, in-charge of the Ayodhya cell in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on March 15.

The two Shilas had been kept at Bara Sthan or Dashrath Mahal here after Mr Singh accepted these from Paramhans Ramchandra Das during the much-hyped Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)-sponsored ‘Shila Daan’ programme on Friday.

A certain section of the sants and Sadhus are opposed to keeping the carved stones at Bara Sthan and had handed over a memorandum to the District Magistrate to remove these immediately.

Devendra Prasadacharya, also Chairman of the Manohar Wakf Trust, had earlier threatened that the ‘Shilas’ would be removed through a ‘Jan Andolan’ (people’s movement) if it was not taken away from the Bara Sthan premises within two days.

"As I was out of Ayodhya on March 15, the Shilas were kept here without my permission after forcing the Pujari of Bara Sthan," he said. The Mahant of Bara Sthan is the ‘Acharya’ of all the saints of the "Bindu" sect and commands a large following.

The Mahant, however, said that the District Magistrate had assured him that the shilas would be removed to another place within the next three days.

Mahant Gyandas of the Hanumangarhi has also took strong exception to keeping of the Shilas at Bara Sthan and announced that if the administration did not remove them, the sants would be forced to "take the law into their hands."

Mr A K Gupta, receiver of the acquired land and Divisional Commissioner of Faizabad, told UNI here that a letter has been sent to the PMO for approval to keep the carved stones elsewhere.

"District Magistrate V P Mishra had written a letter to Mr Shatrughan Singh about the annoyance of the sants on the issue and had requested him to approve a new place to keep the carved stones", Mr Gupta added.

Meanwhile, Paramhans Ramchandra Das maintains that he was no more concerned with the Shilas as it was now the "headache" of the administration. Even as fissures between various saints and seers have come out in the open, the Uttar Pradesh administration has suggested that the stones be kept in a Government premises.

According to Principal Secretary (Home) Naresh Dayal, the state administration has "pointed out" to the centre that the two Shilas be kept in a Government complex to avoid any further controversy.

After the Shilas were donated to Mr Singh, these have become property of the Central Government, according to the state administration.

However, the state asministration is yet to receive any response from the Centre in this regard. (UNI)

Forest Officer, Assam Rifles jawan, teacher killed

IMPHAL, Mar 21: Three persons — a District Forest Officer, an Assam Rifles jawan and a school teacher— were killed and five others, including four Assam Rifles personnel, injured in separate violent incidents in Manipur today.

Official sources said a jawan of Assam Rifles was killed on the spot and three other were seriously injured when a remote-controlled bomb exploded at Koirengei area near here on the Imphal-Dimapur road.

Sources said the incident took place when Assam Rifles personnel were returning to their battalion. As soon as they reached Koirengei, about 5 kms from here, the bomb which was hanging at a nearby roadside post exploded by suspected militants using a remote-controlled device.

Seconds after the explosion, the Assam Rifles personnel cordonned off the area and launched a massive search operation sources said adding that a suspect has been picked up from the place.

The two cycle-borne assailants shot dead District Forest Officer (Social Forestry) Kakai Haokip from point blank range when he emerged from his room at 6.40 am, the sources said.

The forest official suffered two bullet wounds on his head and died instantaneously, the sources said.

In another incident, an unidentified gunmen shot dead a school teacher, Samsur Jaman who was invigilating at a High School Examination Centre.

Sources said another invigilators E Komol Singh and one Zahir Uddin, who were helping candidates in the examination at the same centre, were also allegedly shot at. While condition of Komol Singh was stated to be serious, Zahir Uddin was out of danger, sources said. (PTI)

‘Apni Jeet Ho — Unkee Haar Ho’: Aamir Khan’s finals this weekend

NEW DELHI, Mar 21: Will Bhuvan’s eleven win over the French ‘Amelie’, the Argentinian ‘Son of the bride’, the Norwegian elling, or the Bosnian ‘No man’s land’ and clinch the glittering Oscar statuette ?

Or will Aamir Khan’s ‘Lagaan’ like the earlier two Oscar nominees from India- ‘Mother India’ and Salaam Bombay, be relegated to forgotten pages of bollywood history ?

Even as the nation undergoes a nail-biting wait to hear the results on the night of March 24, a nagging question keeps tugging: Why is it that India - which produces the largest number of films in the world including some masterpieces - has failed to make a significant mark at the awards night of the Academy for motion picture and sciences?

To slightly adapt the popular song, ‘The answer, my friend, is blowing in the winds of history’. For though India did come close to wooing uncle Oscar twice in the past, the statuette eluded it. And though the only notable Oscar that India has received went to cine craftsman Satyajit Ray for lifetime achievement, bollywood’s costume designer Bhanu Athaiya did get an Oscar for the 1982 film ‘Gandhi’, even if it was directed by British filmmaker Richard Attenborough. (incidentally, Bhanu has also designed the costumes for ‘Lagaan’.)

Actor-producer Aamir Khan’s ‘Lagaan’ is the third Indian film to have made it to the Oscar nominations, the earlier two being Mehboob Khan’s ‘Mother India’ in 1957 and Mira Nair’s ‘Salaam Bombay’ in 1988. Interestingly, all the three films are in Hindi, putting down all sceptics who say bollywood only produces Masala.

India has figured in the Oscars at other times too. In 1999, ‘Elizabeth’ became the first-ever film directed by an Indian -renowned actor-filmmaker Shekhar Kapur - to win an Oscar. Jenny Shircore received the Oscar for make-up. ‘Elizabeth’, which was made for a foreign producer, had been nominated for seven Oscars. But a film made by N Night Shyamalan who is of Indian origin, ‘The sixth sense’, failed to impress uncle Oscar despite becoming the first-ever feature film made by an Indian to top the boxoffice charts in the United States. The film, starring Bruce Willis thrilled teens and adults smashed boxoffice records and raked up 175 million dollars in ticket sales after its release in mid-1999. The film was nominated for no less than six academy awards.

Thus ray remains the only instance of an Indian getting the Oscar, unless Aamir Khan breaks the jinx. Unanimously selected by a panel of the Film Federation of India (FFI) as the Indian entry to the Oscars, ‘Lagaan’ had faced contenders like Jagmohan Mundhra’s ‘Bawander’, Meera Nair’s ‘Monsoon Wedding’, Shahrukh Khan’s ‘Asoka’, and ABCL’s ‘Aks’. FFI always tries to send the best film of the year, but fails to make the grade. One recent entry has been Kamal Haasan’s ‘Hey Ram’ (though Canada-based Deepa Mehta’s ‘1947 - Earth’ was also in the running).

It is difficult to fathom what appeals to the jury which shortlists the films for the nominations. ‘Salaam Bombay’, nominated in the 61st awards, was a raw, tragic tale of losers from the seedy underbelly of Mumbai told with compassion and brutal frankness, according to film critics. But the jury’s verdict went to ‘Pelle the conqueror’ from Denmark. The 1956 film ‘Mother India’, India’s first ever nomination in 1957 was a heroic saga of the spirit, resolve and dignity of a rural Indian woman with Nargis giving life to the role of Radha, a mother and a fighter who is even prepared to shoot down her own son when he commits a fatal crime. But the jury was not convinced, and the Oscar went to ‘The nights of Cabiria’ from Italy.

Like ‘Mother India’, ‘Lagaan’ is set in rural India and the hardship of the farmer at the mercy of the elements and the ‘Zamindar’ or land-owner, and problems of poverty and the brutal caste system. But ‘Lagaan’ is a much more an entertainer than ‘Mother India’ was. It has comedy, pathos, good music, and a tight gripping story. Released in the middle of last year, ‘Lagaan’ had been selected in the Indian panorama of the International Film Festival of India. It has since swept the awards at almost every major popular award ceremony - screen, Sansui, Filmfare, and Zee among others - and received the audience award at Berlin Film Festival. It has also hit it off with the viewers for its lyrics by Javed Akhtar and music by A R Rehman.

(One of the films nominated along with ‘Lagaan’ for the 74th academy awards, ‘No man’s land’, has already won the 59th golden globe award for best foreign language film).

The film had a huge cast and introduced a new heroine - model turned actress Gracy Singh apart from Rachel Shelley and Paul Blackthorne of the United Kingdom. Others apart from Aamir and Gracy included Suhasini Mullay, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, A K Hangal, Raghuveer Yadav, Rajendra Yadav, Rajesh Vivek, Sri Vallabh Vyas, Javed Khan, Raj Zutshi, and Akhilendra Mishra.

It is set in 1893, when the East India company extracted taxes from local kings who in turn extracted it from the villagers. The villagers of Champaner facing drought protest when asked to pay double tax. Young Bhuvan - who had irked captain Andrew Russell by preventing killing of animals and then ridiculing the game of cricket - accepts a challenge whereby the taxes will be cancelled if the villagers defeat the British at cricket. Though angry, the villagers ultimately support Bhuvan, aided partly by Russell s sister Elizabeth who loves him, though she later learns that Bhuvan and Gauri love each other. Bhuvan’s Eleven - which includes an ascetic, a handicapped, and a village doctor - defeat the British in a thrilling match, despite the latter playing foul in many ways. (UNI)

Japan, India cooperation against sea piracy: Jaswant

NEW DELHI, Mar 21: India and Japan have agreed to have cooperation against terrorism, especially sea piracy, and talks have been held with the Japanese coastguard in this regard, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh informed the Rajya Sabha today.

"Japan shares our views on terrorism and has said it will cooperate with us, especially in the area of sea piracy," he said replying to supplementaries by Mr Narendra Mohan (BJP).

To a question by Mr Rumandla Ramachandraiah (TDP) on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s visit to Japan and whether sanctions imposed by that country against India after the Pokhran tests had been lifted, the minister said sanctions were unilaterally lifted after Mr Vajpayee’s visit.

He said the two countries discussed strengthening of bilateral and economic relations.

To a question by Ms Sarla Maheshwari (CPI-M) whether CTBT figured in the talks, Mr Jaswant Singh said the Government’s stand on this was well known.

"As far as missiles defence is concerned, countries will take their own stand as these are security-related issues," he said.

"We will have a meeting soon to discuss this issue," he added without elaborating. To a query by Mr Kapil Sibal (Cong) on the prospects of Japanese investment in India given the large, cheap labour available here, the External Affairs Minister said discussions on enhancing and promoting commercial investment outside ODA were held both before and during Mr Vajpayee’s visit.

He said both countries were focussing on mutual exchange in information technology. The Minister for Information and Technology had also visited Japan in this connection, he added.

On whether India’s claim for permanent membership to the UN Security Council was discussed during the Japan visit, Mr Jaswant Singh said the issue was debated during many rounds of talks prior to the Prime Minister’s visit.

He said the Japanese leadership agreed that both countries should work together on security issues because the welfare of both were identical in many ways. (UNI)