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Devanur Mahadeva to return Padmashree, National award

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Devanur Mahadeva

Mysuru:Renowned Kannada Dalit writer and scholar Devanur Mahadeva has decided to return his prestigious National Sahitya Akademi award and Padmashree award in protest of the rising intolerance in the country.

After the Dadri incident and rationalists’ murder, over 40 writers, artistes and 10 filmmakers have returned their awards to record their protest over the rising incidents of intolerance in the country.

Now, senior Kannada scholar Devanoora Mahadeva has joined the protest and expressed support for fight against intolerance.

Through a press release, he said, “Those who govern must have the support of writers and artists. But few scholars have stood against the fight against intolerance, this is saddening. So, I have taken this decision”.

The renowned writer also expressed displeasure towards the central government and union law minister Sadananda Gowda.

(Agencies)

BCCI has officially invited us to play in India: Shaharyar Khan

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Shaharyar Khan

Karachi: The BCCI has officially invited Pakistan to play its ‘home’ series in India in December, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan said today.

Shaharyar told the media in Lahore that he was given a formal proposal by his Indian counterpart Shashank Manohar during a phone call yesterday.

“Shashank Manohar called me up on Friday evening and told me they have got clearance from their government to play against us. But he said they wanted to play the series in India and not in the UAE,” Shaharyar said.

“Manohar also said that the Indian board would provide the best security to our team and schedule the matches in places like Mohali and Kolkata where there is no problem at playing a Indo-Pak match,” Shaharyar added.

“Thirdly he said that the Indian board would devise a formula to ensure that we don’t suffer any loss of revenues for playing our home series in India,” he said.

The PCB chief said that he had however informed Manohar that Pakistan would like to play the series in December in UAE as per the MOU signed with the BCCI.

“Why should we play our home series in India and not in UAE which is stated in the MOU and there is the matter of security for our team and plus the nearly USD 50 million that we expect to earn from hosting the series,” he said.

“I told Manohar how can we play in India when there is so much anti-Pakistan sentiments there by some of their groups.

We have played our last two series in India and I think it is time we now got to host the series,” Shaharyar said.

The PCB chief however said he was not authorised to take a decision on Manohar’s offer and he would consult the board of governors when they meet on 17 November.

“But more importantly I have to first also seek clearance from the prime minister for any decision we take. At the moment I have told the Indian cricket chief to send us a detailed proposal in writing,” he said.

Interestingly, the chairman of PCB’s executive committee Najam Sethi today told the media that he would advise the board not to accept any offer from BCCI to play the series in India.

“In my personal opinion we should not go to India as it is our home series and the BCCI should honor the MOU they signed with us which states Pakistan will host this series,” Sethi said.

Sethi was chairman of the board when the PCB and BCCI signed a MOU last year under which the two countries will play six series against each other between 2015 and 2023 with Pakistan hosting the first series in December this year in UAE.

(Agencies)

India top in censoring Facebook content

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Facebook

New York: India once again tops the list of countries where governments make the maximum number of demands to remove content from Facebook, according to a report released by the company.

Notably, there has been a three-fold increase in such demands in the first six months of this year as compared to last year.

According to the data released by Facebook in its biannual government requests report, India made 15,155 demands, outnumbering 92 other countries in the list, Mashable reported.

In comparison, India had made 5,832 requests for content removal between June and December 2014.

The company said the posts were censored to prevent religious unrest in the country and had mostly been reported by government agencies.

“We restricted access in India to content reported primarily by law enforcement agencies and the India Computer Emergency Response Team within the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology because it was anti-religious and hate speech that could cause unrest and disharmony within India,” the report read.

Turkey came second at 4,496 requests followed by France with 295 requests.

India has topped the social network’s content removal list for the third year in running, since it began releasing the data in 2013.

(Agencies)

Modi woos diaspora at Wembley, says India’s diversity is its strength

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Modi-Wembley

London: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that diversity was India’s strength as he urged the country’s diaspora to become integral part of its growth story and dispelled concerns highlighted in media over some incidents intolerance in the country, saying that “there is a very deep and best India outside TV screen”.

Addressing a huge, enthusiastic gathering of British Indians at the expansive Wembley Stadium here, Modi announced resumption of a direct flight between London and Ahmedabad, simplification of the process concerning Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card and measures taken towards electronic travel authorisation and e-migration portal.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was present at the stadium, described it “a historic day” and said it was biggest gathering of Indian diaspora.

Modi, who spoke for over an hour, talked of his government’s plans to launch railway rupee bond in London and raised slogan “James Bond, Brooke Bond and Rupee Bond” to loud cheers from the gathering.

Modi, who has faced questions over intolerance from the media during his visit to the United Kingdom, said India was a land of diversity. “Diversity is its pride and its strength,” he said.

Towards the end of his speech, Modi recalled work of Imran Khan, a resident of Alwar in Rajasthan who has developed over 50 mobile applications related to education and dedicated them to students.

“My India is in Imran Khan of Alwar,” Modi said. He said leaders of the world ask him with some amazement how there is so much harmony in a diverse and big country like India.

Referring to the work of his government in the past 18 months, Modi said India’s stature had risen in the world and said the diaspora must also be experiencing it.

“This change is the sign of India’s success. Today when India talks, it does from a position of equality,” he said.

“India is moving on the path of development at a fast pace. I can tell you that the speed which India has taken, the direction it has taken, results will be evident soon,” Modi said.

Modi took out his watch and demonstrated that if it is seen upright it shows London time and if it is reversed it shows the time in India.

“There is no other two countries with such equation. Till the time there is sun and moon, the relations between India and England will continue to gain strength. We will cross new frontiers of development,” Modi said.

Modi thanked people for “outpouring their affections” and said India will not judge its diaspora by the colour of their passport.

“You have as much right on India as I have,” Modi said and asked them to renew their links with the country as their dreams will be fulfilled.

Referring to the challenges of terrorism and global warming faced by the world, Modi said life of Mahatma Gandhi showed solution to these problems and India can show the right path.

He also referred to Sufi tradition and said its greater spread would have helped check terrorism.

Modi said while his government wanted FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in many sectors, for him FDI conveyed First Develop India.

Referring to increase in FDI flows, he said, “The world’s confidence in India was rising. That is our biggest strength. We want to move ahead with that.”

Referering to his proposal to launch a global solar alliance later this month in Paris, he said there were 102 countries which have harness solar energy. “India can lead in this,” he said.

Modi said he wanted to make a “Clean India” and provide round the clock power to all by 2019, which is 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Modi referred to his humble origins as tea seller and recalled his push towards fighting female infanticide and financial inclusion.

Modi told the gathering that India has no reason to be poor took digs at the previous governments over corruption and their inability to remove poverty and said 18,000 villages in India were still without electricity.

“I do not why there is a habit to see that it stays,” he said.

Referring to India having 800 million people below 35 years, he said “a country which has so many youth cannot stay behind”.

Modi said India’s rankings had improved in ease of doing business and in fighting corruption.

Without going into specifics, Modi said he had heard problems raised by Sikh leaders who met him and was working towards addressing them.

People intermittently shouted “Modi, Modi” as the prime minister delivered the speech.

(Agencies)

At least 120 killed as shootings and explosions stir chaotic scenes in Paris

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Gunmen and bombers attacked busy restaurants, bars and a concert hall at six locations around Paris on Friday evening

Medics move a wounded man near the Boulevard des Filles-du-Calvaire after an attack November 13, 2013 in Paris, France. Gunfire and explosions in multiple locations erupted in the French capital with early casualty reports indicating at least 60 dead. (Photo by Thierry Chesnot/Getty Images)

Medics move a wounded man near the Boulevard des Filles-du-Calvaire after an attack November 13, 2013 in Paris, France. Gunfire and explosions in multiple locations erupted in the French capital with early casualty reports indicating at least 60 dead. (Photo by Thierry Chesnot/Getty Images)

by Al Jazeera

A state of emergency has been declared across France after attacks in Paris killed at least 128 people, in what President Francois Holland said was an “act of war” organised by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

Four gunmen killed at least 80 young people attending a rock concert at the Bataclan music hall on Friday evening, city hall officials said. Heavily armed policemen eventually launched an assault on the building.

The gunmen detonated explosive belts and dozens of shocked survivors were rescued. The attackers were killed at the site and a manhunt is under way as a number of armed men are believed to be at large.

About 40 more people were killed in five other attacks in the Paris region, officials said, including an apparent triple suicide bombing outside the national stadium, Stade de France.

Hollande and the German foreign minister were watching a friendly football match between France and Germany there when the attacks occurred.

The coordinated assault came as France, a member of the US-led coalition waging air strikes against ISIL fighters in Syria and Iraq, was on high alert for attacks.

ISIL video

The ISIL group released an undated video on Saturday threatening to attack France if bombings of its fighters in the Middle East continued.

The group’s foreign media arm, Al-Hayat Media Centre, made the threat through a man who called on French Muslims to carry out attacks.

“As long as you keep bombing you will not live in peace. You will even fear travelling to the market,” said the bearded Arabic-speaking man, flanked by others.

Paris Public Prosecutor Francois Molins said the death toll was at least 128 and that about 200 people were injured, 90 of them seriously.

His spokeswoman said eight assailants had also died, seven of whom had blown themselves up with explosive belts at various locations, while one had been shot dead by police.

As France awakened on Saturday, security was tight across the capital, where about 1,500 soldiers were deployed, leave was cancelled for police personnel and hospitals recalled staff to cope with the casualties.

Three restaurants and a shopping centre were also targeted in shooting attacks.

Reports also said that Paris has cancelled all public transportation services including the Metro on Saturday, as French newspapers decried a “War in the heart of Paris” with black mastheads.

The deadliest attack was on the Bataclan, a popular concert venue where the California rock group Eagles of Death Metal was performing.

The concert hall is just a few hundred metres from the former offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, target of a deadly attack by gunmen in January.

Some witnesses in the hall said they heard the gunmen shout Islamic chants and slogans condemning France’s role in Syria.

“It was carnage in that concert hall,” freelance journalist John Laurenson told Al Jazeera from Paris, adding that the death toll was higher than initially announced.

Julien Pearce, a journalist from Europe 1 radio, was inside the concert hall when the shooting began.

In an eye witness report posted on the station’s website, Pearce said several very young individuals, who were not wearing masks, entered the hall during the concert, armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and started “blindly shooting at the crowd”.

“There were bodies everywhere,” he said.

The gunmen shot their victims in the back, finishing some off at point-blank range before reloading their guns and firing again, Pearce said, after escaping into the street by a stage door, carrying a wounded girl on his shoulder.

In a separate incident, police said a gunman opened fire with a Kalashnikov at a Cambodian restaurant called Le Petit Cambodge late on Friday, killing at least 14 people who were sitting at the outdoor terrace in the popular Charonne area in the capital’s 10th district.

The prosecutor mentioned five locations in close proximity where shootings took place around the same time.

Residents in Paris were asked to stay indoors as attackers could still be on the loose, French media reported.

Al Jazeera’s Jacky Rowland, reporting from Paris, said: “Certainly from the very first moment the police were searching from various other bars and restaurants they were asking people to clear out bars and restaurants in the area. Clearly, police are very concerned about other potential targets.”

Police evacuated people from all bars and restaurants in the area of the 10th and 11th arrondissement, a part of Paris popular with young people and tourists.

Madeline Berry, who was dining at a restaurant in the area, told Al Jazeera: “I was just having dinner with some friends. All the sudden we noticed people moving to the back of the restaurant.

“They basically shut the shutters of the restaurant and turned the music off. People are calling their families, everyone is on the mobile phones calling their families.”

Wounded people were evacuated from the scene of a hostage situation at the Bataclan theatre in Paris [Yoan Valat/EPA]

Two explosions were heard near the Stade de France in the northern suburb of Saint-Denis, where the France-Germany friendly soccer match was being played. The blasts were audible on television during the live broadcast.

A witness said one of the detonations blew people into the air outside a McDonald’s restaurant opposite the stadium.

The match continued until the end, but panic broke out in the crowd as rumours of the attack spread, and spectators were held in the stadium and assembled spontaneously on the pitch.

Police helicopters circled the stadium as Hollande was rushed back to the interior ministry to deal with the situation.

“We have, on my decision, mobilised all forces possible to neutralise the terrorists and make all concerned areas safe. I have also asked for military reinforcements. They are currently in the Paris area, to ensure that no new attack can take place,” Hollande said in a television statement after an emergency cabinet meeting.

International condemnation 

US President Barack Obama called the attacks in Paris “outrageous” and said the US was united with France.

“Once again we’ve seen an outrageous attempt to terrorise innocent civilians,” Obama told reporters at the White House.

“We stand prepared and ready to provide whatever assistance that the government and the people of France need,” he said, and pledged to “bring these terrorists to justice and go after any terrorist networks” involved.

“Those who think that they can terrorise the people of France or the values that they stand for are wrong,” Obama said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was “shocked” by the events in Paris.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the French people. We will do whatever we can to help,” he wrote on Twitter.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was “profoundly shocked” by the attacks.

“At this time, my thoughts are with the victims of these apparently terrorist attacks, and with their families and all residents of Paris,” Merkel said in a statement.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Pennsylvania, Malcolm Nance, a security and intelligence consultant, said it was likely that either IISIL or al-Qaeda was behind the attacks.

“We shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that this is actually an occurrence almost every day throughout the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. We just had an attack in Beirut which killed almost 40 people; we had a bombing of a Russian airliner over Egypt,” he said.

“These mass-casualty attacks are hallmarks of al-Qaeda and the ISIL organisation. It appears now that the battlefront has moved from the Middle East and is now at the forefront of the Atlantic Ocean.”

Football fans at the Stade de France after the international friendly match between France and Germany [The Associated Press]

India hold advantage against injury-depleted Proteas

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India_vs_SouthAfrica

Bengaluru: An upbeat India will take on a depleted South Africa when the second Test of the ongoing Gandhi-Mandela series gets rolling at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Saturday.

The Proteas have taken a severe blow even before the contest starts as pace spearheads Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander have been ruled out due to injuries. Steyn is yet to recover from a groin strain which he suffered during the opening Test, while Philander injured his ankle in a freak accident during a football game in practice.

The duo did well in the first Test and their absence will be greeted with relief by the Indian batsmen. In their absence, the experienced Morne Morkel and promising youngster Kasigo Rabada will probably share the new ball duties. Rabada has been impressive throughout this tour and has troubled the batsmen with his speed and movement.

Altough the pitch is expected to be spin-friendly, Morkel and Rabada have enough pace and guile to ask tough questions of the batsmen on any surface.

With Steyn and Philander missing out, Kyle Abbott is in line for a call-up and the right-armer will have to step up his game and provide much-needed support in his role as the third seamer.

The city has witnessed a lot of rain over the last few days and dense cloud cover coupled with moisture in the air means that the ball may swing a bit more in the air. The South African pacers may prove to be dangerous in such conditions.

Simon Harmer and the in-form Imran Tahir will be the spearheads in the spin department. J.P. Duminy, who is likely to return to the Test XI after recovering from a cut to the webbing of his hand, is more than useful as a spin option apart from his utility as a top order batsman.

South Africa have a list of worries in the batting departnment as well. Their batsmen proved woefully inadequate on the turning track in Mohali during the first Test. They were bundled out for a mere 108 runs in the second innings as the Indians wrapped up a 109-run victory inside three days.

With the track at the Chinnaswamy Stadium also expected to be helpful for spinners, the visitors may expect another tough battle.

The form of their captain Hashim Amla is also a cause for concern. One of the most technically gifted batsmen in the Proteas squad, Amla managed a total of just 43 runs during the two innings in the opening Test.

The rest of the Proteas line-up packs enough punch in the form of Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers, Duminy and Dean Elgar. De Villers — who will appaear in his 100th Test — is familiar with the track thanks to his stint with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The Indian camp has fewer problems to worry about. Talented off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and leg-spinner Amit Mishra were promising in the opening Test and will be expected to come up with the goods here as well.

With India skipper Virat Kohli’s penchant for a five-pronged bowling attack, rookie allrounder Gurkeerat Singh Mann may be expected to make his Test debut. The Punjab lad has done well with his off-spin in domestic cricket and is a good option if the Indian think tank led by Kohli and team director Ravi Shastri decides to go for an extra spinner.

A middle-order batsman in the Punjab team, Mann is in good form at present, having scored an unbeaten double century in a Ranji Trophy game last month. He has also played as an opener in domestic tournaments.

The pace department has also got a boost since the experienced Ishant Sharma is eligible for selection after serving a one-Test ban. If the Indian team mangement does decide to include him in the playing XI, either Umesh Yadav or Varun Aaron will have to sit out.

One of the few issues of concern for the hosts is the poor form of opener Shikhar Dhawan. But the rest of the batting line-up wears a solid look.

Opener Murali Vijay has done well while the talented Chesteshwar Pujara has been consisted at the No.3 slot. Skipper Virat Kohli Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja are expected to form the middle order.

The lower order may also chip in with a useful contribution since both Ashwin and Mishra are also handy with the bat.

(IANS)

Suu Kyi’s party wins majority in historic Myanmar vote

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Nobel laureate’s party captures two-thirds majority – enough seats to choose the country’s next president.

Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has led her NLD party to a majority in parliament [Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters]

Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has led her NLD party to a majority in parliament [Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Yangon: Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party won a majority in parliament on Friday in the Southeast Asian nation’s historic election.

With votes still being counted, the Union Election Commission said the National League for Democracy (NLD) party had crossed the 329 threshold of seats needed for an outright majority in both houses of the 664-member parliament.

The country’s first free election in 25 years took place on Sunday.

“The people of Myanmar have been dutiful and it is time for the NLD to try to fulfill the wishes of the people,” senior party official U Tin Oo told Al Jazera outside of its headquarters. “The NLD has to try hard to change.”

Phil Robertson from New York-based Human Rights Watch said it was time to move on from the country’s bloody past.

“Obviously the people of Burma have had their voices heard,” Robertson told Al Jazeera. “I think it’s important we know who has won this election, and now the very hard work of moving beyond the human rights abuses of the government comes into play.”

NLD captured 21 lower house seats on Friday, the election commission said, taking its total to 348 seats with 82.9 percent of the vote now confirmed.

The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party has won 140 seats so far.

The party holding a majority is able to select the next president, who can then name a cabinet and form a new government.

Suu Kyi won the last free vote in 1990, but the military ignored the result. She spent most of the next 20 years under house arrest before her release in 2010.

Friday’s majority announcement came exactly five years to the day when Suu Kyi was freed from house arrest. Al Jazeera’s correspondent Wayne Hay was there.

“I had to sneak into the country to cover the 2010 election,” recalled Hay. “On this exact day five years ago, we were here outside the home of the NLD’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi as she was released from her last period of house arrest.”

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is barred from taking the presidency because she’s married to a foreigner under a constitution written by the then-ruling generals to preserve their power.

But Suu Kyi has said that may change once her party is in power.

On Thursday, the country’s powerful military rulers – who have dominated Myanmar’s politics for decades – congratulated Suu Kyi on her electoral win and pledged a peaceful transfer of power.

While election observers have said the vote was for the most part free and fair, some people from minority communities – in particular the Muslim Rohingya  – were denied the right to vote and others were disqualified as candidates.

Myanmar’s government has denied the Rohingya citizenship. Hundreds died in clashes between Rohingya and Buddhists, the religious majority in the country, in 2012.

About 140,000 Rohingya live in squalid camps while thousands more have fled by boat, leading to a regional migration crisis.

While campaigning, Suu Kyi addressed allegations of “genocide” targeting the Muslim Rohingya saying “it is very important” not to “exaggerate the problems” in Myanmar.

“I promise everybody who is living in this country proper protection in accordance with the law, and in accordance with the norms of human rights,” she said.

 

 

Day of mourning in Lebanon after deadly Beirut bombings

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Twin explosions in the capital kill at least 43 people with ISIL claiming responsibility.

Beirut bombings

by Al Jazeera

Beirut: A national day of mourning was held Friday after two suicide bombers on motorcycles killed at least 43 people and wounded more than 200 others in a predominantly Shia area of southern Beirut.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for one of the worst attacks in years in Lebanon.

“They targeted this place because they don’t have any other way to fight us,” Fouad Khaddam, an eyewitness at the scene, told Al Jazeera. “They have run out of options… They targeted this area because we are Shias. But let me be clear – we won’t be fazed.”

“Soldiers of the Caliphate” were responsible for the attack, according to a statement allegedly posted by ISIL, which was published a few hours after Thursday’s blasts.

The health ministry and the Lebanese army said the body of a third suicide bomber was found at the scene of the attack.

The explosions took place in the Burj el-Barajneh area, located off a main highway leading to Beirut’s airport. Burj el-Barajneh, a well-known commercial and residential spot, suffered extensive damage from the two blasts.

The bombings came at a busy time in the evening when the streets were full of families gathering after work.

Lebanon’s prime minister held an emergency meeting with ministers and military chiefs on Friday as his country mourned.

One of the suicide bombers blew himself up at the gates of a school, according to the Lebanese minister of education, Elias Bou Saab.

Witnesses said there were only minutes between the two blasts.

“I was standing outside my store with my friend when the first explosion happened,” one resident, who was wounded in the explosion, told Al Jazeera.

“He was martyred in the explosion. As I was trying to move him, the second explosion happened.”

Much of southern Beirut is a Hezbollah stronghold and witnessed a string of deadly suicide explosions in 2014 claimed by al-Qaeda affiliates.

“What happened here is a crime… This battle against terrorists will continue and it is a long war between us,” Hezbollah official Hussein Khalil said from the site of the explosions.

The attack came as Hezbollah steps up its involvement in the Syrian civil war, now in its fifth year.

“Personally, I was against Hezbollah’s decision to get involved in Syria, but right now I am convinced they were right. They are taking proactive action, they are not waiting for ISIL to come,” said area resident Mohammed Alabaman.

Kamel Wazne, a Lebanese political analyst, told Al Jazeera the bombings came at a time when major offensives [backed by Hezbollah] were taking place in Syria against ISIL and the armed group al-Nusra.

“This is probably just to remind Hezbollah there are other [groups] who can take revenge… It might be again the beginning of a circle of violence for Beirut.”

Additional reporting by Nour Samaha

US air strike targets ISIL fighter ‘Jihadi John’

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Pentagon says it carried out an attack in Syria to kill the fighter made infamous by gruesome hostage-beheading videos.

'Jihadi John' is the ISIL fighter in the videos showing the beheadings of hostages [Associated Press]

‘Jihadi John’ is the ISIL fighter in the videos showing the beheadings of hostages [Associated Press]

by Al Jazeera

The US military launched an air strike in Syria targeting ISIL fighter Mohammed Emwazi – better known as “Jihadi John” – who participated in the beheading videos of two American journalists and the killing of several other captives.

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said the air strike carried out on Thursday in Raqqa targeted Emwazi, a British citizen.

Cook said it was unclear whether Jihadi John was killed.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press a drone targeted a vehicle believed to be carrying Emwazi.

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday called the attack “self-defence”, saying Emwazi was a “barbaric murderer”.

“We cannot yet be certain if the strike was successful,” Cameron said. “It was the right thing to do… Britain and our allies will not rest
until we have defeated this evil terrorist death cult.”

Jihadi John is in the ISIL videos showing the killings of journalists Steven Sotloff andJames Foley, US aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, and a number of other hostages.

Emwazi, a computer programmer from London, was born in Kuwait to a stateless family of Iraqi origin. His parents moved to Britain in 1993 after their hopes of obtaining Kuwaiti citizenship were quashed.

‘Bhouri’ is a women-centric film: Chanderpaul Singh

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Bhouri

Débutante producer Chanderpaul Singh is now ready with an off beat & realistic film, needless to say with all the commercial trappings intact, offering named ‘Bhouri’. In this exclusive interview he speaks at length all about his pet project ‘Bhouri’.

Right at the outset tell us what is your upcoming film ‘Bhouri’ all about?

First of all I would like to enlighten one & all that my upcoming film ‘Bhouri’ is a womencentric film. It depicts how all women, especially if they are beautiful, in a particular small village is treated as an object of a lusty desire of some men to give vent to their carnal pleasure.

How about narrating the plotline of ‘Bhouri’ in a nutshell?

The opening sequence of ‘Bhouri’ introduces us to the part of a famished rural India to which the higher authorities have turned a blind eye. The local governance & supplies are dominated by a group of 5 upper class men who collectively rule the village. They exploit their power in every possible way. The villagers are compelled to satisfy them, often at a great expense to their meager means & dignified self respect to the extent that most of the women, especially ‘Bhouri’ the most beautiful of them who was recently married to Dhanua one of the villager, in the village have been compelled to flesh trade for these so called 5 tyrants’ gratified sexual pleasures. And all these women are a hapless & helpless as their menfolks’ only means of livelihood in the village is the Zamindar owned & run kiln (Bhatta). The film ‘Bhouri’ narrates the plight of these women who are sexually exploited sometimes even with force. Until Bhouri revolts & protests strongly against this sexual malpractises.

Don’t you think this sexual exploitation scenario has been repeated time & again in Bollywood movies?

Yes! You are right on this score but you forget one thing that every filmmaker & director presents such oft repeated scenario with their own perspective, their own hindsight. And as far as ‘Bhouri’ is concerned it is based on one particular angle which is set against the backdrop of the fight of women in rural India. In particular ‘Bhouri’ is based on a fictional yet somewhat true story of a 22 year old girl named Bhouri whose extremely fair complexion & sharp features became a source of endless pain & punishment in life as her only crime was that her over attractive looks aroused (sexual) lust, lust & only lust.

Don’t you think the blatantly bold theme of ‘Bhouri‘ topped with a fair amount of skin show will prove to be a hindrance at the time of censoring the film?

The skin show that you are referring to has been done in a very decent & dignified manner as per the requirement of the theme of the film. So I don’t think the censors will raise any objections to it.

As a parting shot how about giving us an insight into the crew & the cast of ‘Bhouri‘?

‘Bhouri’ has been produced by me under the banner of S Video Picture Pvt Ltd Presents. The other crew members are directed by Jasbir Bhati, screenplay & dialogues by Jagat Bhushan Singh & Manjeet Mahipal, cinematography by Mohammed Rubaiz, editing by Mansoor Azmi & Miraz Ali, music by Sanjay Pathak, lyrics by Priya Pathak & Manjeet Mahipal & PRO Raju Kariya. The film stars débutante Masha Paur as Bhouri & stalwarts like Raghuveer Yadav, Kunika, Shakti Kapoor, Mohan Joshi, Sitaram Panchal, Mohan Joshi, Mukesh Rishi & above all Aditya Pancholi.

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