It is perhaps only in a democracy such as India that such a sight is possible: gun-toting militants making ‘peace’ with the government and joining the mainstream, their sins washed away in an instant. It is rampant in India’s northeast and other parts of the country.
The debate is unending. “Democracy here exists
only in name. Ambedkar’s vision of a federal India was ruined by the Congress,” says Prabal Neog, leader of the 28th battalion of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). “Our democracy may not be perfect,” counters HN Das, general secretary of the Assam Congress, “but let’s not forget Assam went back by 20 years because of ULFA.”
But no matter what, there is again that familiar sight on television, of more speeches and promises, followed by that serpentine queue at a polling booth. Nameless faces, still grieving over failed revolutions, will vote… It’s India’s undying mandate for peace.
The debate is unending. “Democracy here exists
only in name. Ambedkar’s vision of a federal India was ruined by the Congress,” says Prabal Neog, leader of the 28th battalion of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). “Our democracy may not be perfect,” counters HN Das, general secretary of the Assam Congress, “but let’s not forget Assam went back by 20 years because of ULFA.”But no matter what, there is again that familiar sight on television, of more speeches and promises, followed by that serpentine queue at a polling booth. Nameless faces, still grieving over failed revolutions, will vote… It’s India’s undying mandate for peace.
Labh Mukti Bhavan’ in Varanasi. People from across the country come here to die. In the end they celebrate death. No doubt during those last moments, there will be anguish. But, more than that people believe that death is liberation. Liberation from this world. In the last five decades, more than 20,000 people have attained ‘moksha’ in Mukti Bhavan. Shuklaji, the manager of this place, says “Here we celebrate death like birth.”
fined when it failed to meet the regulatory norms set up by the European Commission (EC). In 2008, the antitrust regulators fined a whopping $1.3 billion for not being able to comply with the antitrust laws since 2004 and thus bringing the total amount of fines on Microsoft to a gigantic $2.5 billion. In 2009, EC imposed a fine of $1.45 billion (£1.06 billion) on American giant, Intel Corporation on the ground that illegal anticompetitive practices of Intel would harm the continuation of a healthy competitive market. The EC, in fact, has gone unique in this century with its antitrust activities. It fined Archer Daniels Midland, along with 13 other leading pharmaceutical companies, which the EC suspected were seeking to control the European vitamin market. The most horrifying one was when EC blocked the $43 billion merger deal between General Electric and Honeywell on the ground that American firms are targeting and buying European firms to retain their growth. Surprisingly, the deal was allowed by the US regulators.
But I don’t think we’re pushing the envelope to compete with the best of global cinema. Where are the really brilliant world-class filmmakers after Satyajit Ray and Adoor Gopalakrishnan competing at Cannes or Toronto Film Festival? I know Bollywood producers make a noise about going to Cannes and other international forums… The films I saw at Cannes were bloody realistic. Here in India we make films which convey a softer realism. I think Nandita Das’s film “Firaaq” could’ve gone to Cannes, or earlier, even Sheetal Talwar’s “Dharm”. Manikada (Ray) always used to ask, "What is the West’s compulsion to understand us?" They don’t have any compulsion. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Devdas” was shown at the opening night of Cannes. That was a huge honour for us. But if we want to compete with the West at Cannes and other international platforms, we need to become a global player and make the kind of films the world is resonating to.