Indian censors have banned an award-winning documentary that chronicles one of the country's most painful and deadly episodes of Hindu-Muslim violence. \nFinal Solution is scheduled for release in 40 art house cinemas in Germany next month, where it won an award at this year's Berlin Film Festival. But in India, the Central Board of Film Certification has refused public screening of the film, saying it might trigger more sectarian violence. \nFilmmaker Rakesh Sharma said on Friday he would approach the Mumbai High Court to challenge the board's ruling. \n"I will be going straight to court," Sharma told reports about his feature-length movie that records the 2002 religious rioting in the western state of Gujarat, which killed more than 1,000 people, most of whom were Muslims. \nThe riots broke when Hindu mobs set off a wave of revenge killings after the burning of a train that left 60 Hindus dead. \nThe attack was blamed on Muslims, but investigators have not been able to confirm that. \nSharma's movie weaves in speeches of Hindu nationalists with interviews of rioters and victims. The censor board said the documentary was "highly provocative and may trigger off unrest and communal violence." \n"People who make hate speeches should be banned and not the filmmaker who records it," Sharma said. \nThe 210-minute movie won two awards at this year's Berlin Film Festival and one award at the Hong Kong festival. It wasn't allowed a screening in Singapore during the city-state's film festival in May, after its censor board deemed it "potentially inflammatory." \nOne chilling episode in the film shows a 4-year-old Muslim boy, named Ijaz, detailing in a singsong voice how he saw his grandfather and aunt being killed. \nIn the final scene, he recites his multiplication tables and then says in a calm voice he would kill Hindus, "because they did the same."
Three years after a deadly virus struck India’s endangered Asiatic lions in their last remaining natural habitat, conservationists are hunting for new homes to help booming prides roam free. The majestic big cats, slightly smaller than their African cousins and with a fold of skin along their bellies, were once found widely across southwest Asia. Hunting and human encroachment saw the population plunge to just 20 by 1913, and the lions are now found only in a wildlife sanctuary in India’s western Gujarat State. Following years of concerted government efforts, the lion population in Gir National Park has swelled to nearly 700, according
A rogue overgrown sheep found roaming through regional Australia has been shorn of his 35kg fleece — a weight even greater than that of the famous New Zealand sheep Shrek, who was captured in 2005 after six years on the loose. The merino ram, dubbed Baarack by rescuers, was discovered wandering alone with an extraordinarily overgrown wool coat, and was promptly shorn to save his life. Kyle Behrend, from the Edgar’s Mission farm sanctuary, said that it appeared Baarack was “once an owned sheep” who had escaped. Merino sheep do not shed their fleece and need to be shorn at least annually, as
DMZ SWIM: Over more than three hours, South Korean surveillance cameras caught him eight times and audible alarms sounded twice, but border guards did not notice A North Korean defector wore a diving suit and fins during a daring six-hour swim around one of the world’s most fortified borders and was only caught after apparently falling asleep, a Seoul official said. South Korean forces did not spot the man’s audacious exploit, despite his appearance several times on surveillance cameras after he landed and triggered alarms, drawing heavy criticism from media and opposition lawmakers. Even after his presence was noticed, the man — who used diving gear to make his way by sea around the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides the Korean Peninsula — was not caught for another
The Paris prosecutor’s office on Tuesday said that French actor Gerard Depardieu was in December last year charged with rape and sexual assault after authorities revived a 2018 investigation that was initially dropped. Depardieu was not detained when he was handed the preliminary charges on Dec. 16 last year, the office said. The prosecutor’s office addressed the charges after the case was leaked to the media. Media reports have said that the charges relate to allegations made by an actress in her 20s that date back to 2018. An initial inquiry against the star was dropped in 2019 because of lack of evidence, but
RSS