They say Sports should not
be mixed with politics ! ~ and certainly not Cinema, after all, it is the entertainment
media that has no borders and unites people (rakes moolah for some !!!)
Eyewitnesses
living across the Line of Control (LoC) have provided The Indian Express with
graphic accounts of last week’s Indian Army special forces strikes on
jihadists’ staging posts, describing how bodies of those killed in clashes
before dawn on September 29 were loaded onto trucks for secret burials. The
eyewitnesses also described brief but intense fire engagements that destroyed
makeshift buildings that housed jihadists before they left for the last stage
of their journeys across the LoC. India
Today reports that following approval from the PM, the DGMO activated the
Special Forces units deployed under the Northern Command. The two units chosen
for the task were the Udhampur-based 9 Para (SF) and the 4 Para (SF). The
commanders were told to provide their best 'assault troops' for the covert
strikes on terrorist launch pads which were being monitored closely by the
local intelligence units in the Uri, Poonch and Bhimbher sector on the Line of
Control. The assault troops of 24 SF
operatives were pushed into PoK under the cover of darkness from four locations
in Kel, Tutmari Gali, Nangi Tekri and Baalnoi post in Mendhar sector. I believe every
word and feel proud in reading this again and again .. not all, it does appear.
Amid an unwanted and
undesirable debate to show evidence of surgical strikes carried out by the Army
across the LoC, three former Army chiefs have slammed the political parties who
have demanded the release of video footage.
It is "utter nonsense" that people are asking the Army to
prove the operation+, said former Army chief General VP Malik and wondered what
is wrong with the political class+. Hitting out at those questioning the
credibility of the strikes+ , he said "The video should not be released
just because some stupid people have sought so."
In one part of the Nation,
however, the ban on Pakistani artistes
in India has become one of the major issues being debated after the Uri
attacks, that left 18 of our military personnel dead, and the consequent
surgical strike across the Line of Control by the Indian Army. That ban seems to have divided the bollywood.
After Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena issued its dictum to all
Pakistani actors to leave Indian soil within 48 hours (in the aftermath of
Uri), the Indian Motion Pictures Producers' Association (IMPPA) too passed a
resolution banning all Pakistani artistes and technicians from working here
until bilateral tensions ease. Bollywood actors, filmmakers et al have now
found themselves at the receiving end of a microphone, being asked to declare their
stance on the issue.
Salman Khan voiced concern
"they are artists. We have killed the terrorists. Artists are not
terrorists. These are two different subjects. They come to our country after
acquiring visa, and it’s our government who allows them with the work permit in
our country.” In his now much-circulated interview with Barkha Dutt, filmmaker
Karan Johar also addressed the issue. With his upcoming film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
featuring a cameo by Fawad Khan, Johar told Dutt, "I understand the anger
and the anguish that surround us and I empathise, my heart bleeds for the lost
lives. There is nothing that can justify this terrible feeling of terror. Then
you are faced in a situation such as this (asking for ban on Pakistani
artistes). If this was truly a solution, then one would take it. But this is
not a solution. I don’t believe it is. The larger forces have to come together
and sort the situation and this cannot be banning talent or art". Another intellectual tweeted - "Kill terrorists not talks". Saif Ali Khan's Phantom was banned in
Pakistan. However, the actor said he believed Bollywood should keep the door
open for artistes.
Sarbjit star Randeep Hooda
was of the opinion that if our strategy is to isolate Pakistan in the aftermath
of Uri, then allowing a cultural exchange to take place does not make sense. Nana
Patekar however told : "Pakistani actors and others come later, first
comes my country. Actors are like bed bugs in front of the country, we don’t
have any worth. No hero can be better than the soldiers. We actors are just
common people, the real heroes are our soldiers.
Cinema is not the soul of
the Nation. Worth reproducing something
read in FB wall today citing that of a soldier…. This conflict
between India and Pakistan is not the soldier’s personal war. He is dying and
killing for you and me. Imagine a situation in which the soldier felt, and
behaved, like Salman Khan, Karan Johar and Mahesh Bhatt? Imagine if a soldier
walked up to his superior and said, “Sir, while I am dying on the Line of
Control, these people are going about as if everything is absolutely fine
between the two countries.”
Why should
he alone sacrifice for India, when others were making merry? Patriotism and
sacrifice is not the sole responsibility of the soldier. The United States
boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980, and the Russians did likewise when they
boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. This is what happens when national
interest is held paramount. And this is what must happen now. Remember that Pak players were banned in IPL
and still not allowed..
18 families have
been shattered like glass... But the pain of Fawad Khan’s departure is too much
to bear, it seems for some . ..." – read that post.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar.
5th Oct 2016.
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