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Is ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ India’s Shame?
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by pakalert | February 9, 2009 at 01:35 pm
1205 views | 1 Recommendation | 8 comments
This is a great movie and deserves all the attention it is getting. You see, the Indian government is spending millions of U.S. dollars – remember the ‘Incredible India’ campaign on CNN? – to hide exactly what this film reveals. The British director and the Indian novelist are amazing. But so are the unvarnished truths about India that come to the fore for the first time through this film.
By Sultan M. Hali
Monday, 9 February 2009.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—British movie “Slumdog Millionaire” emerged as the big winner at the 66th Golden Globes ceremony, scooping four awards to underline its credentials ahead of next month’s Oscars.
Director Danny Boyle’s blockbuster, based on the novel Q and A by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup, bagged the awards for best drama, musical score, young actor and screenplay.
There is a great jubilation in India since the movie is set in Mumbai.
The story revolves around Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show’s questions. Each chapter of Jamal’s increasingly layered story reveals where he learned the answers to the show’s seemingly impossible quizzes.
Indian elation at the Golden Globe Awards and success at the Academy awards are misplaced.
Danny Boyle’s Indian co-director, Loveleen Tandan, may be considered bold, but the duo has exposed the real ugliness of India. This is a sample of what this film reveals: The extremist Hindu mobs lynching ghetto Muslims, the underworld kidnapping children orphaned as a result of their organized pogroms, castrating the Muslim boys, forcibly teaching them Hindu Bhajans and turning them into beggars while selling Muslim girls to brothels. All of these instances in Slumdog Millionaire depict the sordid and gory side of India, which its regular Bollywood producers hide under the sheen and glamour of “shining India”.
Muslims in India, whom the movie highlights through the central character, are downtrodden and suffer the most among its minorities. Their squalid state was exposed through a national survey.
The seven-member Sachar committee Report, headed by former Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajindar Sachar, commissioned by Indian Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh in March 2005, was tabled before the Indian Lok Sabha on 30 November 2006. The Sachar report reveals the appalling state of Muslims in India in the socio-economic and educational fields and concluding that their status is worse-off than the Dalits and the Adivasis (tribals). In urban areas, the report shows that Muslims mostly live in slums characterised by poor municipal infrastructure.
The salient features of the Sachar Committee report are:
· Like Slumdog’s protagonist, 94.9 per cent of Muslims are in Below Poverty Line (BPL); families in rural areas do not receive free food grains.
· While only 3.2 per cent of Muslims get subsidized loans, just 1.9 per cent of the community benefit from the Antyodaya Anna Yojana Scheme, a programme meant to prevent starvation among the poorest of poor by providing food grains at a subsidized rate.
· 60.2 per cent of Muslims do not have any land in rural areas.
· Just 2.1 per cent of Muslim farmers have tractors. With 15,25,000 tractors, India ranks No.4 after US, Japan and Italy
· A mere 1 per cent own hand pumps.
· On the educational front, the picture is equally dismal: 54.6 per cent Muslims in villages and 60 per cent in urban areas have never attended schools.
· Only 0.8 per cent of Muslims in rural areas are graduates.
· Although in urban areas, nearly 40 per cent of the Muslims now receive modern education, only 3.1 per cent of the community in urban areas is graduates. Just 1.2 per cent is post-graduates.
· Muslim population growth has slowed down as fertility has declined substantially; the growth rate for Muslims is bound to fall further and eventually reach a zero growth stage well before the end of the century.
· Muslims are altogether excluded from “sensitive” posts such as jobs in the intelligence agencies, especially the external-espionage Research & Analysis Wing, the National Security Guard and other elite protection forces. Their presence in the top national police and paramilitary agencies is nominal.
· However, there is one place where Muslims are over-represented: prisons. Muslims claim a grossly disproportionate share of prisoners, including convicts and those undergoing trials.
The study, revealed that being dressed as a Muslim was enough to create suspicion. Muslim men donning a beard and a ‘topi‘ [skull cap] are often picked up by police for interrogation from public places like parks, railway stations and markets. Muslim women wearing a face veil or full-body burqa complained of facing hostility at markets, hospitals, and schools and found it hard to get a job.
The Mumbai attacks exposed the hideous face of India. Its Hindu populace attacked Pakistani actors and sportsmen visiting India. If that were not enough, Muslim Indian movie stars and matinee idols are being targeted by the hate campaign. If ever there was a bigoted society, it is in India. On one hand, it boasts of secularism and being one of the biggest democracies in the world, on the other it is most intolerant of Muslims, Christians and other minorities. Top actors like Shabana Azmi have complained that despite entertaining Indian masses through their hard work in Indian cinema, they are not permitted to even purchase a house or property in Mumbai because of their religion.
“Slumdog Millionaire” exposes only the tip of the iceberg. India’s veneer of religious integration is but a farce as the storming of Sikh’s holiest shrine: Amritsar’s Golden Temple, massacre of Sikhs following Indira Gandhi’s assassination, razing of Babri Masjid, the organized ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Gujarat are all examples of Indian chauvinism.
The prejudice of Hindus is evident from its extremist Hindutva groups Sangh Parivar comprising Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Akhila Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, Bajrang Dal and the newly revived Abhinav Bharat. Their contention is one and the same that Hindustan is for the Hindus. The Muslims and Christians of India were originally Hindus and were forcefully converted to Islam or Christianity.
This one film, Slumdog Millionnaire, is a microscopinc dissection of Indian through the eyes of foreigners, the British, and an enlightended Indian, the writer, who together undo the work of maybe tens of expensive image creation and promotion consultants hired by New Delhi over the past few years.
This article is published under special permission. It is a slightly edited version of the original by Mr. Hali, a renowned defense commentator and an expert on Indian affairs. The original piece appeared in the Pakistan Observer on Jan. 23. Mr. Hali can be reached at Sm_hali@yahoo.com
Additional Resources:
Open Letter: A Sikh Leader Begs Clinton To Intervene In India
US, NATO, ISAF Must Punish All Hindu Terrorists Who Killed Christians
Video: The Terror Of Hindustan!
Video: A glimpse of (true) terrorism…
India Flashback 2002: The Gujarat Massacre Photos and Story
Whose Who Of The Hindutva Army
India Silent on Attacks on Christians
India: Killings and Terror Continue Ahead Of Christmas
Mumbai Terror: The Monster in the Mirror
Unholy Alliance: Hindutva and Zionism - Must Read
Mumbai Terror: Evidence being deliberately ignored!
Hindu Al-Qaeda: Asia’s New ‘Terror Central’
Indian Christians Facing Wave Of Persecution!
India: Genocide and Rape Against Christians Continue
Hindu Fascist violence against Christians
Indian Terror: Saffron Sarkar Raj
Made And Produced In India
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Pakistan To Demand Handing Over Of Col. Purohit From India
Top 3 Indian Terrorists Wanted In Pakistan: Advani, Purohit, Tahckery
Unholy Alliance: Hindutva and Zionism - Must Read
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (8)
at 16:08 on February 11th, 2009
Finally...someone reveals the real and hideous face of indian "democracy".
at 05:21 on February 17th, 2009
The purpose of the partition of India in 1947, was to create a seperate state for Muslims, which is named after the initials of the territories involved; ie.
P-ushtan, A-fghan, K-urdish, I-ndia. hence; ' Pakistan '.
So, - why are there so many Muslims still in India ??
I am not racist, because Islam is not a race,
but Muslims should stay in Muslim countries, since Islam is incompatible with democracy, and Muslims will be the first ones to tell you this.
There is never peace where there is more than 2% muslim population
at 08:13 on February 21st, 2009
ghulam gardi, take your head out of your ass and see india as it is...filthy and a disease on this planet.
at 07:06 on February 24th, 2009
When I talk about the movie SlumDog I want say movies in today’s world are medium through which the world gets connected. When someone asks me about London I say it’s a beautiful place cause that’s how I have been shown when some1 asks me about Karachi I will say it’s a poor small underdeveloped city but that’s not the fact it’s a high tech city as advance as any city in the world but my opinion was based on what Hollywood portrayed to me. So hence if today an French man is asked or a man in Russia is asked how Bombay (India) is he would say “It’s a country full of slums”. Why is that Hollywood and foreigners only see poverty in India and why does only poverty sell in western countries. Think about it ask yourself how Iraq is or maybe Nepal or Bhutan is because what you think may just not be right.
It’s a shame, that India today is projected to the world as a country were only beggars and criminals live and breed, where children jump into a pile of shit just to take an autograph of a Film Star. Yes India is far from becoming the best & India has to grow a lot but for that we Indians need to Join hands and try making this dream possible. YES “We have criminals, we have beggars, we have gangsters and we have slums” But one question to All “How many people living in the slums are criminals?”
Not even 1%. Out of 100 crore. Think about it we cannot have 1 crore Criminals. Trust me I wouldn’t be writing this letter if 1 Crore criminals were there in India I would have been probably dead by now. I’m 21 and I have never seen a crime take place in front of my eyes. The fact is half of people reading this have not. We look at the slums we talk how poor these people are how weak they are but look closely they all are good people they all earn their living they serve you. They are your Dhobis (laundry Men) and Drivers and Factory workers and Maids. People who work for us and through which we get the money to eat.
Indian’s today have become so desperate and weak that rather than improving their own country they only talk and praise about how well the other countries are. We should understand that those countries were not born the way they are and they have no magic through which they stay perfect. Yes it will take time for our infrastructure to become good but yes we are trying.
Indian People in lime light produced by the Oscar’s did not realize that what Mr. Boyle has shown is complete fiction. Yes we have slums in our country we have prostitution but mind you which country doesn't. Yes we have About 15 lack people in the slums in Mumbai yet Bombay has the lowest crime rate in Asia. It is one of the safest places to be in India for girls or for Families. Yet it is now know to the world as the India’s capital of crime. Yes bad aspects are there in our country but yet all countries have them. People of India think before you start clapping!! How many times in your life Have you seen your shoes missing at the Taj Mahal I have been there many times it never happened to me or anyone I know off. How many times have you left your car on the road and thieves dismantled it when you were not around. The last riot in Mumbai was 1991 where a death toll of 16 was reported. Oh wait what you call riots in today’s world are just misunderstanding hyped up by politicians. Yes property gets destroyed, busses get burned people get bruised but how many Die? None.
See it’s a Slap To Our Nation, Westerners Have Always know our weakness.
For Eg; In the past you would see how strategically British officers took control over our Kingdom and country just by dividing us.
They use to Indentify an Important person and then serve him with the title of “SIR”. That Person after receiving the Honor would praise the British and listen to them and their suggestions. Actually these suggestions caused economic disorder and compiled the individual to take British Help. It’s like giving candy to the child and then asking him to do something wrong. If they give us a gold medal kept in a pile of shit we Indians will accept it. That what we are today. More concerned about the gold medal rather the way they gave it to us.
The fact of children being mislead and taurchered and forcefully and made to beg is true. We together can only solve this problem I Agree this is a true fact not fiction yet a point to be noted the maximum no. of beggars are in a city known to us as New York, so its nothing new what I suggest & request to all reading this that the next time you see a beggar in front of you never give them money. Never lend a hand to the beggar. See if everyone just stops giving money to the beggars this whole racket would stop. People in the desire to live would work beggars would have to earn their living and utilize their skills in a better environment.
Become true Indians understand that what we show to the world is what we are. Our government spends millions of dollars in the campaign India Shining and then we ourselves tell the world India is full of thieves and prostitutes. No wake up look at the truth smell it and feel the spirit of nationalism. Be a True Indian.
at 11:36 on March 1st, 2009
india has a long way to go before becoming a developed nation. with 1 billion people it should have had an advantage, but unless the "untouchables" of india are given human rights, india is going to remain a slum-dog.
http://carlosxuma.myblogsite.com
at 21:14 on March 8th, 2009
The author needs to get head out of ass. I have seen a large number of slums in Islamabad and Rawalpindi Pakistan. Also Forceful conversions of Christians and Hindus in Pakistan is common. By the way Slums do also exist in Iran and other middle eastern countries. Muslims don't belong in a Democracy they good in Islamic countries and should move there.
at 04:42 on April 9th, 2009
Funny that the same people who critique the western directors for showing realities such as those in Slumdog are the same people who argue that the British solution to separating India and Pakistan is valid and good. India is a diverse country whether you like it or not and the diversity goes far beyond Hindus, Muslims and Christians. If you plan to create religious- and ethnically-pure states, you'll have to divide India up into so many pieces that there wouldn't be a country left. Blaming the 100 million Muslims in India for the violence initiated by a few is simple-minded and wrong. And not recognizing the violence promoted "the few" in other groups is similarly wrong. Why can't we advocate for all the innocent victims - the grand majority of Indians - regardless of religion, caste or class - that have done nothing to hurt another soul?
at 01:44 on June 18th, 2009
If one sees the film " Slumdog Millionaireaire" and concludes that the film gives a true picture of India is out of his mind. There are slums and criminals but what is their percentage? Should we not look into the innumerable positive aspects of the country and its people and take a call rather than resorting to ridicule, based on a fiction ? India is one of the four emerging economies and is one of the economic super powers in Asia. It can boast of huge forex reserves and a robust economy. Pakistan is no where in comparison with India. It goes with begging bowl for aid all the time and all of its rulers have been despotic and go down in history as the worst and corrupt leaders in the world.