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Documentary on Gujarat frenzy
Vocalist Shubha Mudgal performing at a function organised by Shahmat to denounce the killings in Gujarat , in New Delhi on Saturday night.
It's a tale of charred homes, shattered glass, lost hope, devastated existence and immense pain mingled with anger. Far from being over, the impact of the recent communal carnage in Gujarat that captured headlines across the country, is still reverberating throughout the State haunting the sub-conscious memories of people affected by it and rocking the conscience of the whole nation.
Capturing glimpses of the horrific violence that ravaged the State of Gujarat is a documentary titled ''Genocide in the Land of Gandhi'' produced by well-known film-maker, Gopal Menon.
The documentary, which aims to communicate the ''angst'' of a shattered community through the powerful medium of celluloid, was screened at a meeting organised by a community of artists, academics and writers, organised under the banner of Sahmat -- Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust -- to express their ''distress'' here last evening. Bringing close the reality of the appalling brutal force witnessed in Gujarat, the 30-minute documentary is full of personal instances where the people of Gujarat had suffered at the hands of communal forces and the state machinery. ''They forced open the door. My brothers managed to escape through the other entrance. I kept calling the police but they told me to handle it myself and did not respond to my calls for help''; ''My grandson was burning in front of my eyes and I could do nothing to save him. He kept telling me not to cry'' -- several similar personal experiences are recorded in the film.
The documentary lays the blame squarely on the administration and the police for ''facilitating'' the violence in Gujarat. The disturbing visuals that formed part of the documentary were summed up in a statement issued by Sahmat. ''Ministers of the State Government and other political representatives were perpetuators of mob violence; the police professed inability to bring the situation under control; there was an unexplained delay in bringing in the Army and the Chief Minister presided over the mass murders.'' It also called for the dismissal of the Narendra Modi Government as well as banning the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal.
The documentary was followed by equally disturbing stills of mutilated bodies who fell prey to the communal fires that raged through the state. Disturbed by the happenings in Gujarat, singer Shubha Mudgal, who participated in the function, expressed her distress through the verses of Habib Jalib. Several poems written on the subject touching upon the sufferings of the victims of genocide were also read out by a number of poets such as Vishnu Nagar, Manglesh Dabrze, Alok Dhanna, Sachitanandan and Gauhar Raza.
By Anjali Malhotra
Photo: Rajeev Bhatt
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Life
Bangalore
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Coimbatore
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