Biased reporting?

Sabarmati Report
Director: Dheeraj Sarna

https://uae.voxcinemas.com/movies/

the-sabarmati-report-hindi

Numerous events occur constantly in India. With such a vast population, all possessing clear minds and no hesitation in expressing their views, skirmishes are inevitable. The issue is that resolutions or conclusions to these conflicts are rarely found. Legal processes for achieving closure and incarcerating the perpetrators are agonisingly slow. When justice is attained, the public loses interest and shifts focus to more pressing matters. The tragic fire that claimed the lives of 59 individuals in two coaches of the Sabarmati Express, which was travelling from Ayodhya to Ahmedabad on 27 February 2002, serves as an example. The train, carrying numerous volunteers and devotees, was returning from Ayodhya. During a scheduled stop at Godhra, Gujarat, chaos erupted, and before long, the passengers found themselves trapped in a burning train.

Shortly after the incident, the State of Gujarat set up a heavily criticised one-man Commission led by retired judge K.G. Shah to investigate the matter and establish whether it was accidental or criminal. Substantial criticism arose regarding the choice of investigator, Shah, who was known to have close ties with then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi. A second investigator, Nanavati, another retired judge, was later added to the Commission.

 

In 2003, the Concerned Citizens Tribunal concluded that the incident was an accident, ruling out foul play. In 2008, the Nanavati-Shah Commission released its preliminary report, which unequivocally asserted that the Godhra incident was orchestrated by local Muslims, identifying an Islamic strongman as its mastermind. The report faced significant condemnation, primarily because of its timing, which coincided with the upcoming State Elections. Shah passed away months before the report's release, and another retired judge, Mehta, took over his role. 

Six years later, in 2014, the Nanavati-Mehta Commission issued their findings. It classified the Godhra Station incident as a planned conspiracy. Local Muslim leaders, knowing that the train would be carrying Hindu devotees from Ayodhya, methodically staged a frenzied mob, locked in passengers of a single train coach, poured petrol and lit them, and killed all its passengers, including women and children.

Throughout, the police and courts operated independently of any reports. They determined that a conspiracy had indeed occurred and sentenced 31 individuals to life imprisonment. Nevertheless, the alleged mastermind was acquitted.

The film aims to retell the story from the perspective of a young cameraman, Samar Kumar, who works for a reputable television station. His first assignment centres on the Godhra incident, leading him to disillusionment with the entire system. What he captures on camera sharply contrasts with what is reported to the world. The executives at a higher level control the narrative. 

Samar departs from the media—whether by choice or necessity—and spirals into self-destruction through alcohol. His life receives a renewed chance when another young journalist uncovers his footage and reopens the case.

The film seeks to illustrate the divide in Indian media between English-language channels and vernacular options, specifically Hindi in this case. The English-language channels are depicted as submissive to their Congress leaders, who may have their own agendas. 

For a long time, foreign channels have faced accusations of biased reporting on news related to India. Additionally, many local Indian channels are extensions of these parent companies from elsewhere. It is also claimed that several Indian channels are owned by Christian missionary groups based abroad. With numerous allegations of forced conversions by these groups, people are left to ponder where their loyalties lie - with Bharat Mata or with their paymasters in the Southern Baptist Church, the Communist Party, or an unidentified figure?

https://www.caclubindia.com/forum/who-owns-the-media-in-india-122303.asp

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Needs image enhancement

Infidel (2020)
Written, Directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh. 

They say this film reinforces the stereotype of people who profess the Islamic faith. It paints all people from Iran and the Middle East with the same brush that they are all terrorists. It compartmentalises all of them as closet sympathisers of sleeping cells. It assumes that they are all wolves in sheep's clothing. It is accused of propagating Islamophobia and accentuates the divide that the world plunging further into.  

Even though their new hosts have offered a hand of friendship and accepted them to share their prosperity, the newcomers still hold their allegiance to the former countries, the countries that they destroyed and the nation that become too toxic for them to inhabit. The problem is that the newcomers all have a common bond that unites them to ruin their newfound land, religion's brotherhood. 

The problem is that there is an image problem. A peaceful religion must be seen to be as one. More public relation works are wanting in making this a reality.

This problem of allegiance has been recurring all through the 20th century. There is discordance on whether to bow to the umbrella of nationhood or kneel to the universal camaraderie of religion. It happened during the khilafat movement and is happening now. There is a propensity to play victimhood and collude with the aggressor against the majority, citing the majority's conspiracy. 

This film tells the story (based on a true story, it seems) of a Christian preacher-blogger with a CIA wife who is a guest of Egypt. He is to attend faith dialogues to bridge the divide between Christians and Muslims in that conservative country. In a TV interview, he goes overboard with his discussion. His speech was construed as proselytising the Muslims and kidnapped by Hizbullah terrorists backed by the Iranian Government. The main reason for his abduction was that back home in the USA, the preacher is accused by his American-Iranian business-partner to have squealed to the CIA about subversive anti-national pursuits.

An average movie that can be given a miss. 3/5.

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He who has the gold, makes the rules!

Feathered Cocaine: The Story of Money, Terrorism and Falconry (2010)

Is not interesting that fifteen years after the apprehension and killing of Osama bin Laden, this documentary is making its round. Perhaps, it is the flavour of the month as the US Elections are just around the corner. Probably because Joe Biden is associated with the old administration, it is a subtle reminder of the evil deeds of the past Government.

Watching this Tribeca Film Festival screened a documentary about falconry, it gave a kind of a deja vu feeling. It reminded me of the many so-called altruistic non-governmental organisation working on humanitarian cause getting a free pass into third world countries and starting to dictate how the host country should be run. Think Red Cross and the Bolshevik Revolution, think IMF and the 1997 economic crisis, think missionaries and the Nicaragua Contra rebels.

Here, in 2010 documentary, Alan Howell Parrot tells the story of his life. Becoming obsessed with falcons, at the age of 18 years, he bought himself a one-way ticket to Teheran. He left his serene life in the lush of Maine, New England to train professionally in falconry in the naked deserts of Iran. Here, he got a revelation of sorts. He realised the high status that falcons commanded in this region. A visit to the Golden Sikh Temple and the last Sikh Guru's, Guru Govind Singh's fascination with falcon made him assume a Sikh identity in appearance and way of living. Historically falcons played essential roles in international diplomacies. Even in Europe, falcons were gifted between kingdom to sweeten business transactions and shipping passage.

He returned to Cornell to study and returned halfway through his studies to the Middle East to legally catch, breed and sell wild Icelandic Falcons (Jer Falcons) to the filthy wealthy Arabs at up to $1 million per bird. Parrot (ironic) found himself mixing with the who's who of the upper echelon of the ruling class of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran as well as the infamous fugitive, Osama Bin Laden. The falcons were such priceless commodities, even more, valuable than cocaine. There was a massive demand in the black-market, but surprisingly most Governments are relaxed about curbing this illegal trade. In fact, many countries turn a blind eye to it as it is done in high places. 

Alan Parrot @ Hari Har Singh Khalsa

Many makeshift camps are built in the middle of nowhere in the desert terrains of Afghanistan and Pakistan called Falcon Hunting Camps. Here, Islamic radicals like Al-Qaida meet Arab royalties, and many deals are made. Obscene amounts of cash are given by the opulent royalties to the terrorist group as zakat as an atonement. Osama is known to have presented exquisite purebred falcons as gifts to the members of the Arab royalties. The 9-11 attack was allegedly agreed upon in one of these camps.

At the heights of the hunt for Osama bin Laden, he was a guest of the Iran government. Parrot and US intelligence were aware of his whereabouts. Despite repeated contact with the US authorities, the message somehow got lost in a bureaucratic maze. Or did it?

Parrot and his agents believe that there is a general malaise to stop this type of clandestine dealings. The black market of falcons has led to corruption against military leaders, political murder, and international terrorism. What is stopping them is money.  There is an apparent shady connection between this falcon trade and royal dynasties, the CIA and KGB, the oil industry, American government, and Al-Qaeda. Even the enforcement officials have to line their pockets during the short tenure of their earning life. 

" Ultimately, the message that Feathered Cocaine wants to deliver to its audience is not strictly about falcon smuggling or the uncovering of evil plots conceived for ideological reasons. It is by far more pessimistic than that. Feathered Cocaine is one of many untimely records of corruption and greed. Untimely, but at the same time well-rooted in our turbulent globalized age. Power is one and the same anywhere, and terrorism is not but an excuse and a disguise to put the public opinion under pressure. All mechanisms are in favor of the profit of few. Escalation of terror is not going to stop, because involved interests are increasing their magnitude every day. Evidence of this trend is what happened in recent times, with tragedies whose connotations are still unknown to common people; facts like 9/11 are bound to happen again and again, because nobody among those holding power — not only the governments, but the lobbies and the organizations connecting them all — is at this point different in pursuing his main interests. And of course, this interest can be summed up with one name only: Money."

https://icelandchronicles.com/2011/01/feathered-cocaine-review/

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See a red door, paint it black!

Hotel Mumbai (English/Hindi; 2018)
Indian-Australian co-production.

You say Islam is a peaceful religion, and these terrorist activities do not represent the true essence of the faith. But, why is it that the cry of an enraged suicidal jihadi bomber and the prayer of desperation and helplessness of his intended victim who is at the cusp of death is one and the same? And it is too numerous to a dhimmi's comfort. There is a huge problem, and the believers have to do a lot to resurrect the right image of the religion. Pussyfooting around it is wrong for PR.

This is what goes through a kafir's mind when he sees a scene from the movie where a terrorist is about to execute his hostage point-blank on her head. He is confused as she recites the Islamic prayer usually gets a mention at the time of death.

'Hotel Mumbai' is an Indo-Australian production which tries to re-enact of one India's worst nightmare when coordinated shootings happened around Mumbai. It was the 26th of November 2008 when ten young Pakistani men landed assumingly alighted a dinghy at a secluded fishermen's wharf. With them, they had automatic rifles and explosives. In a coordinated fashion, as if they had planned this all their lives and with constant communication with their Pakistani contact, these Lashkar-e-Taiba members proceeded on their shoot at six over avenues, Hotel Taj, being one.

Ajmal Kasab, the only captured

perpetrator of the attack.

The city was unprepared to such coordinated attacks, and their police force was ill-prepared for this. They had to wait for the Special Forces from New Delhi for assistance. So, the guests and staff of the hotel had to fend for themselves, dodging the bullets of four gunmen on a shooting spree. Only ten hours after the first shot, did the rapid-action personnel slide down the roof from a helicopter to put an end to the mayhem.

The screenwriters fictionalised three or four characters based on real people who were caught in the hotel. It revolved around a waiter, Arjun Singh (Dev Patel), the chief chef, Hemant Oberoi, a haughty Russian businessman guest and a husband-wife couple with a newborn baby and nanny. It is an extraordinary gritty tale of how ordinary people rose to the occasion to become heroes. It was done in a down to earth manner minus the melodrama of Bollywood and the display of heroic rescue often associated with international pictures. Even though the viewers knew how the siege would end, the element of suspense was held until the very end.

More than ten years after the disaster, many old wounds remain unattended. The ease in which these Pakistani men slipped into the Mumbai fishing wharf is a puzzle. The local fishermen, who by nature are protective of their turf, did confront them of their intentions but were told to 'mind their own business'. A police report made about them by the fishermen remained unresolved.

The attackers were in contact via their mobile lines with their puppet masters in Pakistan all through the siege. The young gunmen were given a minute to minute instructions and even given moral support to stay true to their divine missions. Despite their evil, destructive planning and execution, their ringleader in Pakistan remains at large. Pakistan who admitted playing a role in the attack seems apathetic towards amending their caustic relationship with their neighbour and continue exporting or sponsoring terror activities.

The Indian Police and the previous Indian government administration had a lot of questions to answer for their lack of urgency, inefficiencies and mismanagement. In an interview, Ratan Tata, the Chairman, mentioned that the police had received advance warning of the attacks and that some countermeasures had been taken. Obviously, it did not bear fruition.

1908 Taj Hotel
symbol of strength and resilience of the Indian people

At least 170 people perished in the attack. At least 50% of the victims were the employees of Taj Hotel. It is said one of the reasons why so many employees died is due to their work culture. One of their work ethe is 'guest is God'. Tata employees are said to have a profound attachment to their work, much like how its Chairman, Ratan Tata, treats all levels of his employees - like family. He is easily the richest man in India but does not appear in the who-is-who list of India's most affluent. He gives a huge chunk back to society.

It is ironic that even though Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving perpetrator, had one mind of giving up his life in punishing the infidels who squandered the wealth of his people, he went against all the odds to escape execution. He failed his appeals and clemency from President. His last helpless words were "I swear by Allah, won't do such a thing again". In a single sentence admitting his guilt and regretting his actions.

The often unspoken reason for their mindless activity is poverty. Religion is just a tool to hoodwink the helpless with the promise of monetary assistance to their families and a blissful afterlife in heaven. In this particular episode, there is a hint that even the promised money did not reach the family. The ecstatic afterlife? What a deception?

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Like a surgeon! Rapid and precise.

Uri: The Surgical Strike (Hindi; 2019)


It happened a couple of times before. Rogue parties have often made mischiefs previously. Like the Malay proverb goes, 'Baling batu, sembunyi tangan' - the perpetrator would start trouble by throwing stones, but with a sleight of hand, he would fold his hands behind and join the crowd acting innocent. 

It is an exercise of futility cracking our heads, doing the conventional way, trying to be fair, exhausting all avenues in attempting to mete justice. Many a time, we have to depend on gut feeling and God-given intellect to deduce and do the right thing. Like the hand of a traditional surgeon, he uses his senses, makes a diagnosis, makes a precise surgical incision and removes the offending ailment and returns the patient back to health. Time is of the essence. Dilly dallying with formalities and pusillanimous inertia will just tip the feeble to the point of no return.

In recent history, at least twice the Israeli integrity was put to a challenge. In 1972 Munich Olympics, when a Palestinian terrorist group held Israeli athletes hostage, the German police killed five of the eight kidnappers. Hostages perished in the massacre. The prisoners were later exchanged when a Lufthansa flight was hijacked by the same group a month later. The Israelis did not wait for natural justice to take place. Neither did it remain idle for the international community to deliberate and drag its feet to condemn and advise. The following year, the Israeli Army retaliated by bombing Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. The Mossad hunted down to last remaining kidnapper and killed them in broad daylight in the 'Operation Wrath of God'. The last of the kidnappers died in a planted car bomb in 1988.

Another enviable rescue mission carried by the Israeli intelligence was 'Operation Entebbe'. An Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris was rerouted to Entebbe, Uganda. The 100-over Israeli passengers were held, hostage. Israel managed to sneak in their commandos under the cloak of the night. How they outmanoeuvred the Ugandan radars (Idi Amin supported the terrorists) still remains an enigma till date. There are many unverified reports of how they deployed the expertise of Uri Geller and his psychic powers. In 90 minutes, the Israeli commandos killed all hijackers and rescued all but 3 of the 106 hostages.

Uri Geller - the spoon-bending psychic spy.

This 2019 film follows the same direction as many of the new movies that are coming out of Bollywood. It combines excellent cinematography with new young actors and a new narrative as told by the young minds of New India. 

The India-Pakistan enmity has been going on like forever. Pakistani dirty interference has been implicated in many upheavals and terrorist activities in India. This film is about one of them. When a military barrack in Uri, Jammu-Kashmir was attacked, and nineteen of Indians soldiers were killed, India had to rise to the occasion. This story is about how the Indian Army, with the help of the latest surveillance equipment, modern warfare machines, espionage and a little help from Pakistani turncoats, managed to hunt down the perpetrators of the Uri Massacre and flatten their launchpads in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK).

A high octane movie of high standards. The fighting scenes are believable. The actors are young and built well for their roles. The deployment of fighter planes and military strategies appear convincing enough. 4.5/5.

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Weapons gone astray!

Sensitive topic - Readers' discretion advised

A Mosque in Munich (2010)

Author: Ian Johnson

When 9-11 attacks came about, investigations traced the perpetrators of sleeper cells spending a time of their lifetimes in Germany. These terrorist group did not spring up just before attacks on the American soil. They, in fact, have a very long past, going as far back as the Bolshevik revolution.

When Communist Soviet took over the predominantly Muslim lands in the Caucasus, collectively known as Western Turkestan, the area was filled with adrenaline-filled Muslim fighters who wanted to liberate their lands from their godless rulers. They were collectively known as the Prometheans, the mythical Greek hero who defied Zeus to save humanity.

This golden opportunity was grasped by Wehrmacht, the unified WW2 German Army to aid in their attack of Russia. As is common knowledge, many Muslim scholars, including the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, soar at the thought of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after WW1, decided to pour their support on the side of the AxisPower. 

Betting on the wrong horse, they lost more than just their homeland. Many of the Muslim freedom fighters ended up as refugees in Germany. By 1950s, West Germany, especially places like Munich, had undergone an economic transformation. The miracle of German tenacity and engineering marvel saw industrial giants like Siemen and financial titans like Allianz proving their strength. Many Turkish immigrants soon start coming into West Germany.
After WW2, communism became the bogeyman, and there was an urgent need to keep activities behind the Iron Curtain under check. Many of these ex-Soviet Muslims became the eyes and the ears of the CIA and West Germany. They were rolled in the CIA-sponsored propaganda Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe as well as many of its espionage work. Along the way, the CIA decided to use Islam as their weapon to go after the non-believer Communists. They are said to create ruckus in Mekkah during a Haj season to highlight injustices against Muslims in the Soviet Union. At the 1955 Bandung Conference,  their members also created an embarrassing moment for the Soviets.

Schematic representation of the Mosque

The idea of having a mosque was drummed in by the Muslim community of Germany to garner more support to this end. Somehow, there soon came to be a tussle for leadership as members of the Muslim Brotherhood gained a stronghold in the Munich Mosque donation collection and construction. 

The Muslim Brotherhood movement, known for its doublespeak, saying one thing to one party and denying it to another, managed to hoodwink the Americans into believing that they could speak for the general world Muslim population. In reality, they advocated a rather conservative and domineering form of Islam; a kind which tends to control all aspects of day-to-day living and has no reservations against terrorism or killing of its enemies. 

Munich Mosque

The Munich Mosque was finally opened in 1973.

The Muslim Brotherhood, with the cooperation of the US intelligence agencies, managed to outmanoeuvre the ex-Nazi soldiers to control the mosque. As time went, The Muslim Brotherhood gained more traction in the world politics. The conservative, arch-Catholic city in Bavaria soon became a centre of radical Islam.

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