GO TO SOURCE


NEW YORK, NEW YORK, February 10, 2002: The American Museum of Natural History here has postponed two controversial films on India because of protests from the Hindu community. The films are described on the museum web site at “source” above. The first, “We Are Not Your Monkeys” by Anand Patwardhan, is a five minute video. “The song ‘We Are Not Your Monkeys,’ composed by Daya Pawar and sung by Sambhaji Bhagat, offers the dalit (lower caste) perspective on the Ramayana epic.” The second, “In the Name of God,” also by Patwardhan, is a 90 minute documentary. The description is: “This film presents an incisive account of the movement by Hindu nationalists to rally ordinary citizens around the purported birth site of the Hindu god Rama in the north Indian city of Ayodhya. It details the campaign waged in the late 1980s and early 1990s by the militant Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Organization) to destroy the 16th-century Babri Mosque and build a temple to Rama. Presenting a range of views, the film highlights how Hindu nationalism and militancy is primarily an upper-caste and middle-class phenomenon.” Protesters claim both items reflect the Marxist philosophy of the filmmaker and not the reality of the situation.

Post Views: 228