A question of loyalty versus compassion.

During Trump's second inauguration as US President, a bishop made a direct appeal to the President to have mercy on the LGBTQ+ community and undocumented migrant workers. Trump, in his campaign speeches, promised to go hard on illegal immigration once he took office. Previously, the Biden administration had a lax stance on immigration. Trump also declared that there are only two genders in the USA: male and female, unlike the spectrum of over 68 gender expressions advocated by liberal thinkers. 

The decree would automatically make millions of immigrants to the US illegal, and the woke generation is fearful that there would be a witch hunt against the LGBTQ+ community.

This issue regarding immigrants coming to America is not new, as far as the world's biggest economy is concerned. It has been ongoing since the Cold War. America has itself to blame for its predicament. America, being the self-proclaimed leader of the free world, took it upon itself to curb the spread of communism, especially in its backyard. Central and South American countries have been in turmoil for a long time. To ensure that left-leaning leaders do not take over, the US placed despotic, US-friendly puppet governments. These leaders were opposed by their own people, and over time, a resistance guerrilla army emerged. The people were caught in the crossfire between the military forces of the government and the rebel militia. As economic activities came to a grinding halt, the citizens, especially the rural population, began to flee.

Suddenly, the US had a problem at its borders in the 70s and 80s. Thousands of refugees from El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala started flocking to its borders and sneaking into the US. News of illegal immigrants from El Salvador succumbing to the elements as they traversed deserts hit the headlines. They were escaping US-supported death squads in their country. Many churches in the US, led by a Presbyterian minister, Rev John Fife of Tucson, Arizona, took it upon themselves to aid and harbour these illegal aliens as they made their way into America.

The way they looked at it was like this. During WW2 Hitler's Germany, millions of Jews are brutally killed because of the apathy of many Germans, including their religious leaders. Christianity, being the saviour of the underdogs, as evidenced by events during Jesus' lifetime, had a moral right to defend the oppressed and the persecuted. The dilemma was whether to flaunt the law to attain a higher purpose or to conform as good citizens. It was not just a question of nationalism versus belief but of being human.

In the 1980s, these stories were of national interest. All parties, political leaders, the general public, and the legal system took an interest. Rev. John Fife and members of the Sanctuary Movement, which by then included over 2,000 churches and had spread to Canada, were charged with abetting the entry of illegal immigrants into the country. A public debate ensued. On one side, there was the faction supporting the Government's desire to maintain law and order, as they had been doing for ages. Then there was the other side, who blamed the US, which had started the whole fiasco in the first place. There was a compulsion to provide a safe haven for the victims.

Probably bowing to the pressures of public sentiment at the time, the accused were let off with a slap on the wrist. They were not imprisoned but received suspended sentences and probation. It was considered light for a crime against the State.

(P.S. In the rush to build and control a waterway that bypassed Cape Horn, America supported a Panamanian resistance group fighting for independence from Colombia. Not to mention the Banana Wars in South America after the US acquired the country following the 1898 US-Spanish War. America instigated various resistance groups to protect its business interests. With such a long history of meddling, it is no surprise that trouble comes back to bite its southern end. To complicate things, in the name of preserving American business interests, Greenland may be 'invaded' via gunboat diplomacy!)

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Just a file number?

Liar's Dice (Hindi; 2013)
Netflix

A good 10 years ago, as the mass rail transit tracts were being constructed, amidst all the chaos of redirection of traffic, a restless driver overtook me as I was carefully manoeuvring my vehicle through the diversions. He barged into a blockade and collided head-on with a general worker who happened to just minding his own business, clearing some debris. I saw him being flung into mid-air, landing on his back after doing a full-body somersault. From my rear mirror, I could see the victim lie motionless as the driver alight his car to attend to the victim.

That incident left an uneasy feeling within me the next few days that followed. I often wondered what thoughts went through his mind just before he was hit. Was he thinking of his young daughter, whom he had not seen or wondered how she would react to the present that he had bought? Maybe he was just going back home for Eid? Or was he thinking of pleasant memories of his childhood?  I also wondered what things would be found in his body when he brought to the hospital; maybe his wife's portrait, his child's father, his dream house. 

Imagine, after all the debt, sacrifices, sweat and tears, he is just to return home in a body bag, with shattered dreams, broken bones and fractured bonds. Is it all worth it? Did his sacrifices alter the path of the family? Did all the penances push his family up the ladder of affluence? Or is he just another file number in the statistics of human casualties in the chase to make Malaysia a developed nation?

In a way, this film may give an account of the aggrieved family members of the above example. Kamala has not heard from her husband for the last five months. Her husband had gone off to work in town previously. Kamala lives in the interiors of India, bordering China, with her three-year-old daughter.

The daily phone calls just stopped abruptly, and her calls went into voicemail. Despite reassurances from friends and neighbours, she had a gut feeling that something was not right. One day Kamala took the bold move to go out to town to search for her husband herself. With a little money, her daughter and a kid (a young goat), she embarked on a long journey searching for her husband at the last given address. 

The trip appears to be not as straight forward as she thought. Encountering shady characters at every corner and conman at every turn, she wonders if Nawazuddin, a dice-throwing gambler, is just another fraud with tricks up his sleeves? 

A slow-moving intense low budget drama that brings out human emotions and transports the viewers into a breathtaking spectacle of the outdoors and the scrutiny of the back lanes, as well as the not so savoury glimpse of India that most visitors would give a miss.

(P.S. The running around looking for the missing husband reminds me of a Japanese cartoon that my sisters and I use to enjoy in our childhood - 3000 Leagues in search of Mother, where an Italian boy goes on a long journey to find his mother in Argentina.)

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Symbolism galore!

Us (2019)
Written and Directed: Jordan Peele


We think that we deserve the life we are leading, that everybody else there is to serve us, that the Universe owes us a living. We live under a false assumption that we merit the comforts and luxuries that are showered upon us. We demand that the little people be subservient to us. "You know who I am?" we tell them.

It only takes a single catastrophe to turn the tables. When the balance is tipped, when equilibrium is tilted because of man-made or natural catastrophe, pandemonium would rule. There would be no niceties. The hierarchical order of the societies would crumble. The Master-Servant role would be reversed. For survival, one has fight tooth and nail.

In my opinion, the above message is subtly conveyed in Jordan Peele's latest blockbuster 'Us'. At the word go, it is staring right at our face. The symbolism in this movie can only be rivalled by Dan Brown's 'Da Vinci Code'. 'Us' may imply that the story is the US, the country! The word 'us' of late has been used as a confrontational tool - us, the citizens of the greatest country of the world versus the rest of the sub-human countries of the world; either you are with us or against us etcetera. The people who the USA had wronged over the years, like their interference on the affairs of the Central and the South American countries, are arriving in convoys and banging at their doorsteps, screaming to come in. And the established US citizens are not willing to part with their share of the American pie.

'Us' the movie also tries to incorporate many established urban legends. There is a mention of a secret Government project to clone people to aid in their nefarious activities. Somehow the project failed miserably and the doppelgangers were screaming to reclaim their lives as the other. The only successful part of the project is the tunnels that all under the USA.

That brings us to the frequent mention of 1986 campaign 'Hands across America', the time when the lead character goes missing in a funfair and swaps places with her cloned double. This initiative was run along the lines of 'USA for Africa' - to collect money from well-meaning and well-to-do Americans to help the needy. Even though it is humanly impossible to join hands across America coast to coast, bearing in mind the terrain of the continent, the organisers made everyone believe that it was possible. In the film, unlike the people above, who could not complete the human chain, the 'Tethered People' (the products of the clone) had a complete tunnel beneath. It goes to show our insincerity in helping people. We create an illusion of prosperity when in actuality we are not. We think we are happy but we have to pacify ourselves in alcohol, rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous, immersed in the culture of over-consumption and addicted to our hand-held devices to fool ourselves into believing that we are indeed happy. 

Fake too is the 'Hands Across America' project. It failed to reach its target but only raised the stardom of the personalities involved. The 'haves' only seems to show that they empathised the 'have nots' and have them in their heart and mind. In reality, it is just lip service. They want them to stay at the impoverished levels. They do not want them to have equal footing with the rest. 

The oppressed or the underprivileged will rise. When that happens, in short, nothing can stop. There is a frequent reference to a biblical passage, Jeremiah 11.11, in the film. It forecasts a bleak future for the surface dwellers, for they shall not able to escape despite their pleas to God. It was referenced to God wrath to idol worshippers in Babylon.

In short, it was an interesting movie. Forget the horror genre attached to it. It would be more fun knowing that there are more than meets the eye. Having a background of the symbolism appearing in the flick makes it doubly captivating.

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An evening of friendly fires at Wagah-Attari border!

The Indian side of the border.
A spanking new complex in the pipeline.

It is a daily affair, of public display of brotherly rivalry. The old wound of a state that was curved at will at a stroke of a pen.

As the sun sets, both nations remind themselves they are of one DNA but two divided by politics and religion.

It has become a ritual to irritate and provoke either side with their high flying kicking drills, the heaving of chests at each other and theatrical display of mocked emotions.

Even though similar ceremonies are carried at two other border towns, the one at the trunk road between two sister cities, Amritsar and Lahore take the cake. They share a strong bond. Maharajah Ranjit Singh who united the states in Land of Five Rivers (Punjab) and held the honour of being the only force in the history of mankind to tame the hill tribes of Afghanistan, made Lahore his capital and honoured his guardian religion by building a golden outlook to the Hari Mandhir to see it as the Golden Temple today.

Maharajah Ranjit Singh

The heat builds up under the evening sun on both sides of the fence. The heat on the Indian side, however, is more pronounced as youngsters and even visitors to Bharat Desh frolic in the revelry of forced nationalism and perceived animosity of kins. The blaring sounds of Bollywood music scream for the call of patriotism. On the Pakistani side, the tone is sombre as the nation built on the foundations of moderations of religion struggle to prove their purpose of existence. The Pakistanis commence the ceremony with doa. The scene is set for something akin to a shouting match; with multihued psychedelic, colour donning members of the Indian side of spectators who had thronged from near and far, amongst which many are foreigners anyway versus the green-white monotonous shade on the contralateral side.

Having an enemy serves a purpose.

Indians provoke their bhais with two figures that they do not like to be at the forefront of things. Two majestic looking female Indian Border Security Force (BSF) officers with full regalia march to the other end followed by another two with patrolling dogs. The Pakistani Rangers reply with male marchers. 

The fiesta-like atmosphere goes on with prodding on either side with cries of freedom - Bharat Mata Jai, Hindustan Zindabad and Vande Mataram until it ends with the ceremonial opening of border gates, lowering of flags and re-closure of gates. Understandably the yelling on the Pakistani side is muffled.

Moments before the lowering of flags.

For all you know, the two sides of the team (BSF and Pakistani Rangers) probably discuss their next day’s itinerary over masala chai as both their moves are well coordinated to the tilt.


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