RIFLE RANGE BOY

A jocular Tamil proverb sarcastically portrays a man who denies losing his balance and falling flat on his face on the ground. He would show the people around him a clean moustache devoid of sand. The man hoped the others would believe he was a macho man who never fell. (குப்புற விழுந்தாலும் மீசையில் மண் ஒட்டவில்லை  - the said proverb.) This proverb has been playing in my mind over the past few days during the recently paused India-Pakistan War.  It started with a band of terrorists crossing over from Pakistan, killing 26 tourists just because they were not Muslims and retreating back into Pakistan. Pakistan vehemently denied being part of the killing or even harbouring any terrorists at all in their country. This heart-wrenching moment, especially the one involving a 6-day married honeymooning couple and a father shot in front of his wife and young son, stirred India to take retaliatory actions. Both sides flaunted their military toys, and the war games were flagged off. The...

IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack (Hindi, miniseries. Ep1-6) Director: Abhinav Sinha It was the last Christmas season of the 20th century. The airports had not yet begun instructing passengers to remove belts and shoes before check-in, as the Twin Towers had not yet fallen. A simple hand wave would suffice to get one to the boarding area. That was the situation at Kathmandu airport on Christmas Eve 1999, when Indian Airlines flight IC841 departed for Delhi at around 4 p.m.  Forty minutes into the flight, as they were entering Indian airspace, a masked passenger entered the cockpit (yes, it was not a security zone then). Just as a steward entered to serve drinks, the masked passenger put a knife to the steward's throat and announced that the plane had been hijacked. Indian air traffic control was informed; however, the information did not filter down through the chain of command appropriately. Bureaucracy and apathy were to blame. After all, India had just fought a war in Kargil a few mon...

Article 370 (Hindi; 2024) Director, Screenplay:  Aditya Suhas Jambhale In some circles, the mention of abrogating Article 370 is a bad word. In their mind, it denotes a loss of independence, dignity, and rights. As complicated as this issue is, it gets more convoluted as time passes, and politicians with personal agendas get intertwined in the imbroglio. The story of Kashmir goes back to the time of Indian Independence. It is all about religion and whether it should be acceded to India or Pakistan. When Great Britain wanted to give India independence, Kashmir, being a princely state, i.e. run by royalty, was given the option of joining India or Pakistan. The ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharajah Hari Singh, wanted to stay alone. The problem is the ruler was a Hindu in a predominantly Muslim population. The local popular political parties closely associated with Jinnah's Muslim League were adamant about joining Pakistan. What happened afterwards depends on who tells the story, India...

A Case of Exploding Mangoes Author: Mohammed Hanif On 17th August 1988, President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan was killed in an aircraft crash. Perishing together with him on the Hercules C-130 military aircraft were the President’s close assistant Akhtar Abdur Rehman, American diplomat Arnold Lewis Raphel and 27 others. In the rest of the world, a country owns an army. In Pakistan, however, its Army own the country. In 1976, Prime Minister Bhutto elevated ul-Haq to a full general. One year later, he deposed Bhutto and declared martial law. Bhutto was hanged for treason. Ul-Haq’s 11-year tenure as the Supremo saw him announce Pakistan as a nuclear nation, aided Afghanistan to fight the Soviets and secured himself as a prominent Islamist leader. In a way, he was instrumental in making Pakistan a theocratic country and the rise of global Islamic terrorism. The crash was extensively investigated by many quarters, but nothing was conclusive. The possible theories range from aircraft...

Blinded by the Light (2019) Director: Gurinder Chadha Maybe it is the slave mentality at work. The slaves looked up to their masters and wanted to be like them very much. They see them as the proof of success, the pinnacle of achievement, and yearning to walk in their shoes. That is where the buck stops. The slaves chose what was 'good' and what was not acceptable. Many middle-income Malaysian Indians who were teenagers in the late 70s and early 80s had to endure this, yours truly included. The parents worked hard to provide their offspring what they missed growing up. What they thought they missed most was the ability to acquire education, pass examinations and the remunerations that came with it. They wished to achieve what they did not get, like the opportunity for education, freedom by their standards and academic achievements through their children. They did not, however, want the Master's idea of independence. Their idea of children is to be seen but not heard. The la...

I'll meet you there (2021) Story, Direction: Iram Parveen Bilal The movie's title has its origin from one of Rumi's sayings. Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there.  It sounds about right. It is easy for a third person to look at our every action and pass judgement, just as easy for us to judge others. There must be a justification for everyone's actions. He must have given a lot of thought before embarking on its execution. If the measures are just by their intentions, pure at heart and are sure to accept the consequences, who are we to pass comments? This movie created a buzz on my antenna when it was reported to be banned in Pakistan. Its Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) found the film unsuitable for public exhibition as it did not reflect true Pakistani culture, portrayed a negative image of Muslims, and was against Pakistan's social and cultural values. All the film did was depict brown people and Muslims in...

The Ghazi Attack (Hindi; 2017) Director, Screenplay: Sankalp Reddy The diesel-powered Pakistani submarine, PNS Ghazi, started life in the USA as USS Diablo, serving the US Navy between 1945 and 1964. It was decommissioned and downgraded in 1964. It was then loaned to Pakistan to beef up their defence as they were planning to start another conflict with their neighbour in 1965. In other words, it was a watered-down unmodernised submarine, having lost much of its killing prowess when Pakistan acquired it. Nevertheless, it was the first submarine in South Asia, and Pakistan was its proud owner. India received its first submarine, INS Kalvari, in 1967, a Soviet-made diesel one. The day Kalvari was acquired is called 'Submarine Day' - December 8. 1n 1965, as the Pakistani and Indian armies were concentrating on Kashmir, the Pakistani Navy decided to carry out a 'nuisance raid' on Dwarka, seeking to destroy radar installations and Indian vessels using its submarine PNS Ghazi....