Indian Diplomacy : Time To Recheck

chowk needs to get a few investigative journalists to contribute here instead of news reporters.

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Here is an interesting email that has been doing the rounds. It seems to describe the Indian policy towards Pakistan in better detail than this article :-)

``If an insect falls into a glass of Pepsi, then:

The Saudi:

Throws the glass away and walks away.

The American:

Takes the insect out, and drinks the Pepsi.

The Chinese:

Eats the insect, and throws the Pepsi away!

The Israeli:

Su//ks the Pepsi from the insect before throwing the insect and

drinks the Pepsi.

The Pakistani:

Accuses the Indian of throwing the insect into his Pepsi before throwing away both the insect and the Pepsi and vows to reply in kind.

The Indian:

Accuses Pakistan for helping the insect to infiltrate into the glass, supplying it with nourishment to continue swimming in the Pepsi,

blames it as a long term ISI operation, terms the insect as an Islamic militant, then an Afghan mercenary and finally a Pakistan SSG commando in

undercover operation and presents the identity card of the bug to prove that it indeed is a Pakistan army personnel in an undercover operation to change the status of Line of Control, shows this guy on Zee News saying it is bla bla (some common Muslim name) & makes it speak Urdu which obviously the insect doesn`t know how to comprehend, and vows to defend every inch of the glass and every drop of the Pepsi and demands that the US should declare Pakistan a terrorist !!!!!``

Re: Amit Mathur

You could have written a better article than this. This article is a compliation of news stories, and it does not require any tremendous creativity to write such an article. Where is the critical analysis?

What is the point of this article besides a rather slanted summary of current events.

Plaese proofread your manuscripts for errors before submission. Is that not one of the basic tenet of ``writing``?

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Alas! Jealousy has many faces...:

#3

``And of course that vastly over-rated shyster Jinnah (a 2-bit lawyer then fast fading into irrelevance)``

Irrelevance:

This is a discussion on a UK Based NON-PAKISTANI, NON-SOUTH ASIAN Message board with predominantly Non-Pakistani population (Aisha and the Greywolf are the only Pakistanis)

to Quote Mr.Charles Propelec, a regular every day canadian for example :

``The more I learn about this man, the more I want to learn``





Admin

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Registered: Oct 2000

Location: London, UK

Posts: 1011

Extensive interview on Jinnah

Last Saturday Mr Lee did an interview on “Jinnah” for Versa, a TV, Radio and Film major at San Jose, California.

This is the first ever interview he gives on the subject for the USA media. The interview was conducted by Aisha Fayyazi, the interview can be listen to at Versa in Real Media. Premium Members can watch the interview on Mpeg4 video, which includes 15 more minutes of extended post-interview commentary at CL WebTV.

``That is why this film should be seen. As I said this earlier, to give a true picture of the meaning of Islam and also to give a true picture of the founding of a Muslim state. Which was created for the right reasons. If you go to Pakistan, I don`t think there is a single place you could go into, any shop, any restaurant, any building, any office where there isn`t either a photograph or a painting or a picture of the Quaid-e-Azam. Everywhere I went that was the case. He is much revered in Pakistan. He`s an almost god-like figure, certainly an icon, a legend and I think this film is very important...``

__________________

JinnahFilm.com Mr Lee`s best film, Help with its release

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09-07-2002 21:05







Nilredwen

Member

Registered: Apr 2002

Location: NYC

Posts: 29

Very informative

I didn`t expect to sit and listen to the whole half hour interview at one sitting but I found it so fascinating I couldn`t tear myself away. The more I hear about the man Jinnah and the movie the more I hope that someday I shall have the opportunity to see this film. I particularily found it heartening to hear the quote from Jinnah where he advocated for complete freedom of religion in Pakistan. That was very forward thinking of him and clearly got him in trouble with some of the extremists!

I also was very interested when they discussed the Kashmir conflict`s roots. This is such an important and hot issue today and it is important to seek a better understanding of how the troubles arose. I definitely learned some new facts from the movie clip of the trial. More people should be exposed to this and be enlightened!

Finally I found Mr. Lee`s last comments on how he feels that it is important for an actor to portray a historical figure as realistically and close to reality as possible. This made me wonder what Mr. Lee thinks of such movies as ``A Beautiful Mind`` which was accused by many people of bending the truth a lot about the main character and changing things about. Does he disapprove of taking such liberties then in other films? Or only in the case of films about such major historical/national figures as Jinnah?

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10-07-2002 03:11







Charles

Premium Member

Registered: Oct 2000

Location: Calgary, AB, Canada

Posts: 596

Good interview

Impressive to hear Mr. Lee giving his personal opinions on both Jinnah the man and Jinnah the film. Timing couldn`t be better for me personally, as I spent a couple hours last night watching the documentary Jinnah: The Making of Pakistan on the Canadian History channel. It is truly amazing what Mr. Jinnah was able to accomplish, and based on what I`ve both read and seen, I`d say that much of that achievement is due solely to Mr. Jinnah`s personality and sheer force of will. Hearing Mr. Lee`s views added an interesting perspective on this most fascinating of men - Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

I noted in the interview that Mr. Lee mentioned that friends and family of Mr. Jinnah were pleased with his performance, which makes me wonder if Mr. Lee had on any occasion ever met with either Dina Wadia or her son Nusli Wadia? If so, is there any information available from Mr. Lee regarding the meeting or their comments?

The more I learn about this man, the more I want to learn!

Cheers!

__________________

Charles Prepolec

News Editor

The Official Christopher Lee Web

Visit Sherlock Holmes: Baker Street Dozen

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10-07-2002 03:59







Skorpionn

Premium Member

Registered: May 2002

Location: Lompoc, California

Posts: 113

Mr. Eloquence

Once again, an eloquent and intelligent discussion of the film by Mr. Lee. It`s fascinating how he immersed himself so deeply into the history of this man in order to ``honor`` the role he played in the film. There`s so much other actors/actresses could learn from his examples and dedication - but fame seems to be their #1 concern instead of truly doing their job correctly as an ``actor.`` I`m anticipating watching it.

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Russian Proverb

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10-07-2002 04:09







Greywolf

Member

Registered: Mar 2002

Location: Lahore Pakistan

Posts: 13

As a Pakistani ....

As a Pakistani, I am most grateful to all of you for this amazing discussion... and to Mr. Lee for campaigning so fervently for this movie... Patrick French, the British Historian, once commented that Mohammed Ali Jinnah was the most under-rated statesman of the 20th century... whose achievements deserve a lot more than that which has been accorded to him...

His image was deliberately distorted by Mountbatten who hated Jinnah for denying him the opportunity of being Pakistan`s first Governor General and then the otherwise brilliant movie Gandhi whose director Attenborough was heavily influenced by Mountbatten... I am not aware of Mr.Lee`s meeting with Mr.Wadia, though when I was living in US for College .. I was made aware of the fact that Mr. Jinnah`s daughter Dina currently resides on Manhattan`s Park Avenue... She is pretty reclusive so I couldn`t imagine meeting her...

Mohammed Ali Jinnah stood for Democracy, complete freedom of religion, rule of law and equal rights for all... sadly Pakistan has not always honored the true creed of this man... It is true that Jinnah`s picture is often put up in every building in Pakistan.. but Pakistanis have ignored Mr.Jinnah`s true beliefs, ideals... today Pakistan is nothing like Mr.Jinnah wanted it to be... More important than introducing Mr. Jinnah to world at large, THIS MOVIE WILL PLAY AN IMPORTANT PART IN MAKING PAKISTANIS REALIZE THE TRUE CREED OF THEIR FOUNDING FATHER....

And as a Pakistani, I THANK MR.LEE for this...

__________________

You are FREE. You are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the state.

Jinnah 11th August 1947

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10-07-2002 07:10







mpapadakis

Premium Member

Registered: May 2002

Location: Sydney, Australia

Posts: 53

Extraordinary Insight...

I for one cannot wait to see this film hopefully it will be released before to long.

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10-07-2002 08:51







Jurious

Member

Registered: Jun 2002

Location: Lincoln, UK

Posts: 156

Excellent film

I`m one of the fortunate people who has seen Jinnah, and I think that it`s a wonderful film. To be honest, I couldn`t believe that there was so much I didn`t know about Pakistan and its history, and it taught me alot.

I`m ashamed that stuff like this isn`t taught to us in schools - we concentrate quite selfishly on our own history, or, if not our own, then the history of close European countries or of the Americans - never of Asia or Africa. I`m not saying that we shouldn`t know about our own countires - I just think we need to know a little more about the rest of the world, and of people like Jinnah, whom, before the film, I had never even heard of! Yet he did so much!

Infact, so inspiring did I find the movie - with much thanks to Mr.Lee`s wonderful performance, and of the hard work put into the film by the entire cast and crew - that I wanted to find out more - hence why I may be doing some history coursework on the conflicts surrounding the formation of Pakistan, and everything. I have already done much more research on the subject, and have found it an incredibly engaging topic.

It`s great to see Mr.Lee doing an interview about it, though I haven`t seen it myself yet. I think he did very well in the role, and he worked very hard to make his role close to the real man, Jinnah. I only hope that people who haven`t yet seen this film do get the chance to some day in the near future.

__________________

Darth Jurious - Dark Lady of the Sith

There is no peace, there is anger. There is no fear, there is power. There is no death, there is immortality. There is no weakness, there is the Dark Side.

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10-07-2002 17:47







Joakim

Moderator

Registered: Nov 2000

Location: Stockholm Sweden

Posts: 305

Jinnah

This is the best film Mr Lee has done during the 90`s.

This is one of the best interviews I`ve ever heard on Jinnah. It`s wonderful that it`s for an American broadcast. I don`t think you can be more specific than Mr Lee is in the interview. This film should be seen.

__________________

`` I would never belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member``

-Groucho Marx-

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11-07-2002 20:56







farre

Premium Member

Registered: Jun 2001

Location: Boston, Massachusetts

Posts: 160

MPEG-4

Juan,

Has the MPEG-4 version of Versa been posted? I don`t see it listed in the CL Web TV section yet...

Best,

John F

__________________

``Doctor Janeway`s Plague``

http://www.farrellmedia.com/books.html

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11-07-2002 21:56







Greywolf

Member

Registered: Mar 2002

Location: Lahore Pakistan

Posts: 13

Video of the Interview

I doubt that there is a video of the interview... because I know Aisha Fayyazi personally, and most of her interviews are conducted over the phone...

By the way, can anyone give the name of the company/group which is preventing `Jinnah``s release on DVD/Home Video?? Because I am writing a letter of protest to the President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, and will also have a letter of protest read out in the Elected legislature of Pakistan, once that is in session after the October elections....

-YLH

__________________

You are FREE. You are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the state.

Jinnah 11th August 1947

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12-07-2002 08:25







Admin 2

Administrator

Registered: Feb 2001

Location:

Posts: 26



quote:



Has the MPEG-4 version of Versa been posted? I don`t see it listed in the CL Web TV section yet...



No, it hasn`t been posted yet. My brother is away until Sunday.

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Admin 2

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12-07-2002 14:26







Alfonso

Premium Member

Registered: Nov 2000

Location: Chicago, USA

Posts: 642

Wealth of information

Mr. Lee`s interview with Ms. Fayyazi was fascinating and informative. But, even more fascinating still are some of the links at the ``Versa`` website. There one can find a wealth of information (of varying points of view from Muslim to Marxist) on Pakistan`s history, culture, and social-economic problems and development.

__________________

Alfonso

``With callous Science let the Horde collide,

The Mongols with the massed machines.``

-- Aleksandr Blok, The Scythians.

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12-07-2002 18:05







Admin 2

Administrator

Registered: Feb 2001

Location:

Posts: 26



The complete video interview is now at CL WebTV. One file, all connections.

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Admin 2

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13-07-2002 16:02







aisha

Member

Registered: Jul 2002

Location: San Jose CA

Posts: 1

Transcript of interview

I am pasting the transcript of the interview, I still have to update it on the website. Since I did the interview we have got more than half a million hits on the site and I have got a couple of emails, acknowledging how good a job Mr. Lee did.

-Aisha

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Aisha Sarwari: Thank you for giving us your precious time.

Christopher Lee: Not at all

Aisha Sarwari: We are more interested in finding out form you about the film, JINNAH. And briefly before we get into the detailed questions, tell us how an independent film like JINNAH compare to other big hits like, LORD OF THE RINGS?

Christopher Lee: You can’t compare, one film with another at all. And you have to remember that JINNAH is a very low budget picture, although it looks like a very high budget picture. But you can’t possibly compare a film which is about basically one individual and the people around him, who created a nation, with a film like the LORD OF THE RINGS, which is a great epic. In fact it’s three films, and its not basically just about one person. Certainly, not about the founder of a modern nation.

Aisha Sarwari: So what is your perception now about Jinnah? Did it change significantly? Did you know about him when you chose the movie?

Christopher Lee: I think that the film JINNAH is an extremely important film, for many reasons and it should be seen now. The reasons, actually there are quiet a few of them. One, it shows the true meaning of Islam. Islam means submission to the will of God. It does not mean terrorism or fundamentalism. Secondly, it shows the foundation of a Muslim state. How it came into being and how the founder of that nation achieved this. And again, it has nothing to do with all the terrible things that are happening in the rest of the world. It’s the story of a true Muslim and the people around him who decided that the Muslims of India needed a country of their own. There are several million Muslims still living in India, but of course Pakistan was created in 1947. Recorded (inaudible) partition of India and what became Pakistan.

The man responsible for this, basically it was one man, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, known of course Pakistan as the Quaid-e-Azam. Which means, ‘a great leader.’ He was a brilliant man with great intellect, great determination, iron will, honest, a man with total integrity. And he believed implicitly in what he was doing and he was determined that it would be for the good for the Muslim population to have their own country. So the story is not just about the creation of a state. As it is with us today. It is about one man and what he achieved, not just as a political leader, but as a father, as a brother and as a husband.

Now a lot of this information is comparatively unknown to the vast majority of the people in Pakistan today and many hundreds and millions of Muslims all over the world. He did single-handedly, well, almost single-handedly, so obviously because he had very fine advisers, determined and dedicated people around him. He almost single-handedly did create this nation. And he was a dying man and he knew it. And this is quiet clear in the film. Because he has a meeting with a doctor. He died of cancer of the lungs. He was a chain smoker and many of the photographs you see of him, he will have a cigarette or a pipe or a cigar in his hands. Unless of course it was an official function and he was making a speech or something like that. There is no doubt that it probably hastened his death. But he knew it. He knew that he was dying. Which makes it even more remarkable that he was able to keep going. So this is in essence the story of a nation.

For me as an actor, its certainly the most important part I have ever played. Because the responsibility on my shoulders was immense. I went to the country he founded and I was there for ten weeks, playing the leader of the nation, the creator of the nation, in the country he created, in front of his own people, and I can only say that with the exception of one newspaper that attacked us virtually everyday we received the gratitude of virtually everybody we spoke to: members of his family, people who knew him, people who worked for him and with him, some of whom are still alive today, considerably older than I am most often. The man in the streets, wherever I went, weather it was a member of the armed forces, weather it was a policeman, weather it was somebody who owned a shop, weather it was a newspaper man, weather it was people working in the hotels, it didn’t matter, they all said the same thing to me, “Thank you, thank you so much for coming to our country and making for the first time a film about our great leader. We are profoundly grateful.”

So the film has been shown theatrical in Pakistan for what is now three months. Virtually full houses both in English and in Urdu. Which indecently Jinnah did not speak very well. And it was very successful. It has also been shown in various festivals all over the world. It has had the most wonderful reviews wherever it has been seen. In the western world as well as the eastern world. At the London Film Festival and at the Festival in New York, it was in the L.A Times and other American Papers. And the reviews here for me have been the best I’ve ever had in my life. So , of course, that is immensely important to me, but simply as an actor.

I tried to create a true picture. I certainly did resemble him physically. I tried, by looking at old reels to recreate the way he walks, the way he gestures, the way he spoke. There are tapes of his voice. He had absolutely no accent. He spoke English the way I do which is accordingly the way I spoke in the film.

One of the interesting things I was told was that he used to make speeches to about a hundred thousand people, but his command of Urdu was not all that good, and he used to make speeches to a hundred thousand people, practically none of whom understood English at all. It didn’t seem to make the slightest difference.

When you talk about the word, ‘charisma’ it’s a word much overused. This was one man who had an amazing and extraordinary charisma, personality, presence, power. And despite the fact that they may not have understood what he was saying, they did seem to know what he was talking about.

So, it’s a film of which we are all extremely proud. It should be, it deserves to be seen. And as I explained before, for me as an actor, it’s the greatest responsibility I have very had as an actor, and the best part, I think, I have ever had as an actor, and probably, in so far as I am any judge, the best performance I have ever given.

SOUND BITE FROM JINNAH THE MOVIE

Aisha Sarwari: Can you tell us about how the props helped. The fact that you had a cigar in some of the scenes. Was that better for your performance?

Now there are actual pictures of Jinnah playing billiards, or pool or whatever it was there were playing. Would have been presumably English billiards. There are actually photographs of him at the Billiard table about to strike the ball with his plume and he is smoking a cigar. Or he has a cigar in his hands. So that’s why I did smoke, occasionally a smoke or a cigarette, at the breakfast scene with my daughter when she comes to tell me that she is going to marry a Parsee, and I disapprove strongly, which is rather ironic in the view of the fact that Jinnah himself married a Parsee. But any scene that you see when I was smoking is historically accurate.

Aisha Sarwari: As you mentioned a lot of Pakistanis have a lot of reverence for Jinnah, the Quaid-e-Azam -

Christopher Lee: Oh yes.

Aisha Sarwari: How was your reaction generally to, I know you said it was a challenge, what did you feel when people came up to you and thanked you, like you said?

Christopher lee: I felt that it was a great honor. I felt a great sense of humility and as a western Christian playing an Asian Muslim, it would have been perfectly understandable for people to have objected, and some did. There was one particular individual who insisted that I should be arrested and deported, but that was thrown out by the courts.

That is why I say its such a great responsibility. When people came up to me an expressed their gratitude, and ninety nine point nine percent did, it gave me a wonderful feeling of, I suppose satisfaction. It was a great privilege, it was a great honor, for them to say this to me, because they meant every word of it otherwise they wouldn’t have bothered.

Aisha Sarwari: What made you choose the film, what made you actually sign up for it?

Christopher Lee: Of course, because of the age I am now. I am eighty years old. I was well aware of Jinnah, just as I was well aware of Gandhi. Although Gandhi got much more publicity, over the years. I was well aware of Jinnah as a person, as a politician, as a leader. His name is by no means an estranged name to me. it was a name of which I was very familiar because of the news reels and the newspapers. And indeed in 1947, I was twenty five years old and I had come out of five years of war in 1946. And I had been with Indian troops during the war, because everyone was Indian then before partition. Many of them being Muslims and many being Hindus and Many being Sikhs.

So it wasn’t a strange experience for me at all, I felt perfectly comfortable playing the part. there were Pakistani actors in the film, who were very kind to me and we had a very distinguished actor in the film, Shashi Kapur, and it was a great gathering of people: Pakistani, British and Indian. And that is why the results were so encouraging. And that is why I must repeat, the film should be seen.

I don’t know why people are unwilling to show it theatrically. I think this will happen eventually. It might be on PBS, it might be on Network. Or it might be shown in the cinemas, the theaters, and it might, it should be shown on DVD. It has already been shown on Sky Satellite in this country for over a year. So it has been getting a showing, but not the over all world wide showing it should have.

People seem to be, perhaps the word is nervous of showing it. There are certain misconceptions in the world that have certainly not been helped by the acts of terrorism, notably of course on September the eleventh. Which were committed by Muslims. So there is this misconception, and it is a misconception, that all Muslims are the same. Which of course they are not.

It may be that the theater owners of the distributors are unwilling, or anxious, about showing this film, incase people say, ‘how can you show a film like this when we see what is happening in the whole world as a result of the acts of some Muslims?’ You cannot possibly apply the adjective ‘terrorist’, or ‘fundamentalist’. Oh no doubt are very sincere in everything they do, but you cannot possibly apply this to the vast majority of the Muslim peoples. Because it simply isn’t correct.

That is why this film should be seen, as I said this earlier, to give a true picture of the meaning of Islam and also to give a true picture of the founding of a Muslim state. Which was created for the right reasons. If you go to Pakistan, I don`t think there is a single place that you could go into, any shop, any restaurant, any building, any office where there isn`t either a photograph or a painting or a picture of the Quaid-e-Azam. Everywhere I went that was the case. He is much revered in Pakistan. He`s an almost god-like figure, certainly an icon, a legend and I think this film is very important because as I said earlier, majority of Pakistanis, are really not aware of what went on in his life, except that he did found the nation.

SOUND BITE FROM JINNAH THE MOVIE

Aisha Sarwari: Tell us a little about The Quaid-e-Azam’s secular yearnings, especially the quote, you are free to go to your mosques and temples, (or any other place of worship), in this state of Pakistan and-

Christopher Lee: I think if you’ll see in the film. When he speaks to the Pakistan, there is a big speech that he gives to Pakistani leaders in which he says. I actually, did say it word for word in the film from this very famous speech. He said, you are all free. I am not saying word for word now because I can’t remember it all. But he did say very very clearly, you are, all of you, all of you, of any religion free to worship in your various churches, mosques, synagogues, and this, he said, I believe is extremely important. In other words he was advocating, and he did this publicly, was complete freedom, not only of press, but freedom of worship of all faiths.

SOUND BITE FROM JINNAH THE MOVIE

Christopher Lee: Well, that again, tells you, because this is what he said himself, about how he felt, about not just Muslims but Hindus, and Christians, and Jews and Buddhists and every other religion you could think of. Freedom of worship, Freedom of worship, he said this again and again and again, in many words and I actually say this in a speech in the film

Aisha Sarwari: Doesn’t he also add that, “That has nothing to do with the business of the state” and he is also advocating a separation of Church and State, essentially?

Christopher Lee: That is quiet true, in other words he was saying, ‘the state is a state, we are a Muslim state but, you don’t have to be a Muslim to practice your own religion. You can do it anywhere with complete freedom, in a Muslim State’. I am not aware of that happening before anywhere in History.

Aisha Sarwari: How was Richard Lintern’s character for you. A lot of people I spoke to said, you should have also played that role if some make up could have made you-

Christopher Lee: No that would have been impossible. Richard Lintern gave a very good performance as the young Jinnah. There is a scene where the two meet. Richard Lintern was extremely good as the young Jinnah. If you remember the photographs. If you go back to the days of Jinnah’s youth, you’ll see that he has a moustache which of course I don’t have. And that gradually he ceases to have a mustache.

But here is a story of a man who even, as a young man. Probably as a result of him being a barrister here in London at Lincolns Inn, and he spent many years in Britain, became completely fluent in the English Language. And even in those days, when he was a young man, he was absolutely determined that one day, that he would translate his beliefs into reality. And I think Richard Lintern puts that across extremely well.

SOUND BITE FROM JINNAH

I think one of the most moving scenes in the film is when his wife dies. I think that is extremely significant. Because of course he didn’t marry again. I couldn’t have played the young Jinnah. I was too old when I did the film in 1997. I was seventy five. Now, no amount of make up was going to change you from being seventy five to somebody in your thirties. That would have been impossible and very unbelievable as well. You have to have, as it is in many films, the young and the old, and I think this worked very well.

Aisha Sarwari: Tell us about your life as an actor and what is the role of an actor in today’s world.

I have been an actor for fifty six years and I have been involved in something like two hundred and fifty -- two hundred and sixty productions. Either as films or TV films. And the role of an actor is to present characters and people, both imagined and factual, historical to an audience out there. In this particular instance what we are telling is the truth.

Of course there is this sequence of this surrealistic trial. When Jinnah the barrister is in essence the prosecuting council against Mountbaten. Now this is based on the truth because the witnesses who come forward are telling the truth. Commander of the army who did not support him as to admit this on the witness stand. Radcliff has to admit that the line, the boundary line was changed by Mountbatten’s orders, and Loard Ismay also confirm this.

And that Mountbatten brought the date forward of partition for personal reasons.

SOUND BITE FROM JINNAH THE MOVIE

So, that trial was in a sense trying to establish the truth over what really happened at that time, with regards to not only Jinnah, but Gandhi and Nehru and the Mountbattens.

My role as an actor is to give the best performance that I can give in anything I do. To be convincing. To at times surprise the audience. To do something you don’t normally expect. But basically to create people. That is the vocation of any actor who is a real professional and who really cares about what he’s doing.

Now what was the second part of your question?

Aisha Sarwari: The role of the actor in the context of the whole world?

Christopher Lee: If you are making a contemporary it has to be accurate. If you are making a historical story, presenting a historical story, it has to be even more accurate. Because obviously sometimes you go back centuries. And sometimes it is extremely difficult because you get differing information.

When talking about comparatively recent history of Jinnah, fifty five years ago. Therefore at this particular instance, it has to be totally honest and totally truthful. Because it is the modern era.

Aisha Sarwari: What do you think of Pakistan today?

Christopher Lee: You are not going to get me in a political conversation, because I am not qualified to discuss it. At the present moment there is conflict between India and Pakistan as there has been for many many years, as I think everybody knows. Which I think is a great tragedy. Apart form the religious differences, they are basically the same people.

Right now we have a military government in Pakistan, with enormous responsibilities and great problems. And I think the President General Pervez Musharraf is doing the best he can. But it’s very difficult for him. I think that the same thing applies to the Indians. They are trying to solve the problem, the eternal problem which Jinnnah refers to, in this trial that takes place in the film, as, ‘this mess about Kashmir’.

I have no idea how this will be solved. I am not a politician. I am not a military man. I only hope it will be solved and the two countries will find complete peace. But this is something that is a hope as far as I am concerned. And the hope of many millions of people all around the world. Because it is a very very tense situation.

I think that the Quaid-e-Azam, Jinnah himself was to come back today, I think he would be very dismayed at what is taking place. Because it is something that he never envisaged, and never thought would happen. Although at the time of partition there was a great deal of death.

Aisha Sarwari: Christopher Lee, I want to thank you for your time and your insight. Again, as a Pakistani and on behalf of Pakistan News service I want to thank you for portraying our leader so well.

Christopher Lee: Not at all. I am glad to have had the opportunity to talk to you. And I am glad that you have had the opportunity to hear exactly what I mean, how I feel and what I am saying. Because, one is so often misrepresented in the press. And I am now able to give you my own, I have to emphasize this, my personal opinion. And thank you for giving me the opportunity to do so.

__________________

``You are free, you are free to go to your mosques, you are free to go to your temples in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the state.``

M A Jinnah ( founder of Pakistan, 47)

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India: Guilty conscience?

In a CNN newscast a few days back, Shekhar Kapur, director of the 1994 movie Bandit Queen, was asked why there had been such widespread angry reaction in India to his portrayal of bandit-turned-politician and member of parliament Phoolan Devi. Anger, Kapur responded, (we paraphrase) is often caused by a guilty conscience; this was the first high-profile movie to put the spotlight on India`s caste system.

Anger was also among the most notable reactions of the Indian political and bureaucratic establishment to the ``performance`` of Pakistani leader General Pervez ``Kargil`` Musharraf during and after his recent India visit. How dare he, ran the complaint, hijack a press conference with Indian editors, take his case directly to the public and conduct open (and nationally televised to boot) diplomacy on behalf of his cause - and without a script?

Following his return to Islamabad, the ``villain`` general-turned-president held a press conference there and was bemused, explaining that he didn`t need a script to speak his mind, that in private with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee much as in public he had been frank and to the point, that reality dictated that Kashmir was the critical issue between India and Pakistan, and that he couldn`t understand why a free press and democratic polity should take him to task for his directness. He also promised that he would offer Vajpayee the same opportunity at a free-wheeling exchange with Pakistani editors upon the latter`s agreed upon return visit.

Actually, much of the Indian press didn`t mind Musharraf`s openness and apparent disdain for diplomatic protocol one bit and found the general - as one editor put it - ``logical, transparent, focused, candid, articulate, belligerent, media-savvy and fearfully self-confident``. It was the politicians and bureaucrats that minded, and we suspect that their discomfort and anger stems from the same cause identified by Kapur. Much as the Indian establishment has a guilty conscience regarding its neglect of the problems arising from the debilitating caste system, it feels guilty (and in part probably also stupid) about not having a cogent or persuasive solution to the Kashmir problem other than maintaining the status quo.

Of course, that status quo is not exactly something to write home about or effectively make hay with in domestic and international politics. Several hundred thousand security forces deployed in Kashmir for over a decade have brought the valley no closer to pacification. The ``major irritant`` in India-Pakistan relations, as General Musharraf calls it, has become an international concern as both India and Pakistan are now declared nuclear powers. For New Delhi to say that confidence-building measures across the board must be enacted in order to establish a context in which the Kashmir conflict can be profitably addressed doesn`t wash in Washington or London any more than in Islamabad.

And there are other elements to India`s guilty conscience and anger at being found out about having no policy beyond the status quo. As the international spotlight more clearly illuminates the situation on the ground in Kashmir, claims that only a small minority of Kashmiris are in favor of self-determination and support separatist forces become untenable.

But while General Musharraf for the time being has seized the initiative (and some may say the high ground), that same international spotlight will also expose more clearly the extent to which the Pakistani military and intelligence services aid the Kashmiri ``freedom fighters``, a hardcore of whom undoubtedly are Islamic terrorists whose agenda goes well beyond Kashmiri self-determination. Their agenda is radical Islamization, Taliban-style, and their target is not just Kashmir, but the rule of moderates (such as Musharraf) in Pakistan. Hence, much as India must confront its own political conscience, Pakistan must be prepared to address what India calls ``cross-border terrorism``. Without such reciprocity and with continuing unwillingness of both sides` moderates to reach a viable compromise solution for Kashmir, the only winners will be both sides` fanatics.

((c)2001 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com for information on our sales and syndication policies.)

Shah # 10

Bhaijan, it seems many Pakistanis born in the Muslim faith are not thrilled with ``puritanical`` deobandi Islam, either. We Hindus are, afterall, the detested kafirs. You don`t expect us to respect/support that kind of thing, do you? :)

Regards.

Ref 12-head-Shah #: 10

[Do they want the Muslims to create a replica of Kaba in India & perform Haj there?]

No, neither the Hindus nor the BJP nor the Vishwa Hindu Parishad nor the Bajrang Dal want Indian Muslims to create a replica of Kaaba in India and perform Haj there.

However, the people who want to do it and who have been doing it for close to a century are Indian Muslims.

Please go to the following website:

http://kamrup.nic.in/

and read about:

``Poa Macca: At Hajo itself, a place of pilgrimage for the Muslim. It is believed that by offering prayer here a faithful gains one fourth spiritual enlightenment of what could be gained at Macca. Hence the name.``

Elsewhere I have read that Pao Mecca was built on holy sand brought from Mecca itself by earlier pilgrims. This was a time when the Haj pilgrimage would take two years to complete because of lack of road and transportation facilities. The Muslims of Assam who made the pilgrimage resolved to do something for their fellow Muslims who could not afford to perform the Haj; they brought back bags of Meccan sand and built a mosque on grounds where the Meccan sand was spread. They associated this mosque with the holiness of Mecca itself and named it Pao Mecca.

As a Hindu, I can understand why Indian Muslims would consider this mosque holy and would want to make a pilgrimage to this site. After all, as Aryan migrants into India, we have deliberately practiced collective amnesia so that our holiest places are associated today only with India and not any place outside of it. Our holiest river today is the Ganges, not the Indus; our holiest confluence is Prayag. In that sense, we can understand the motivation of those earlier Haj pilgrims who, against great odds, brought back Meccan soil to form the foundation of Pao Mecca.

You, on the other hand, will disagree and consider these simple humble Muslims to be nothing but kaffirs.

Therein lies the difference between the pious and the bigoted.

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The constipated toad of a Foreign Minister of India needs to be replaced by a more modern person willing to accomodate neigbours and stop dreaming about Akhand Bharat...