Bhatti’s “Behzti (Dishonor)” hurts Sikh Sensitivities

I think these must be the Khalistani idiots who are sitting vella nowadays. Actually most of Sikhs I knoiw in real life were quite happy abt the violent demonstrations. :(

The point I find interesting is not the attempts to silence Bhatti. Of course the attacks on her and on the performance/s should be condemned. And it has nothing to do with where you live - you just don`t go on the rampage like this no matter where you are - Europe, the US, India, wherever.
Gurpreet Kaur has every right to express her views.
But why demand that the play be performed in a gurdwara? Agreed, people have defiled the sanctity of a place of worship, but don`t you think you`re doing much the same thing by representing these acts in a holy place yourself? Aren`t you doing it for the sake of publicity, without which nothing succeeds or even attracts attention? (Reminds me of a play performed by Raja Bundela in Bhopal some years back which was attacked by the VHP goons. Turns out that Bundela had arranged for these attacks himself so that he would get the necessary publicity. Not, of course, that Bhatt is doing the same thing herself. But you get my point - that without publicity plays/films/books etc don`t succeed.)
The points raised by the play would be just as valid if performed anywhere else.

Gurpreet Kaur received threats of abduction and murder and she has gone into hiding. This is ridiculous. Some arts people including Hanif Kureishi (My Beautiful Laundrette) have spoken in support of freedom of expression. Mr. Kureishi said destruction of a theatre is as bad as destruction of a temple. The Behzti saga continues to unravel. Stay tuned.

Mohammad Gill

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Hypocrites whom we know as ``mazhab ke thekedaar`` are there in every religeon.If they do not raise issues like this,their existence is in danger.All religeous places have been used by people for ``forbidden`` activities and the people responsible for such activities are the same so called ``religeous people``...the self made custodians of religeon.They burn cinemas to protest against films like ``Fire`` ,they break centuries old statues of Bamyan Budha,they shit inside the golden temple during operation black thunder,they ransack Hussain`s studio....so on and so forth...they can ex-communicate any body not following their dictates,they can issue fatwa at any time...I dont know why their religeon is always in danger....???

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kaurasach:

Thanks for the correction.

Mohammad Gill

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It came as a surprising shock to me to know that sikhs can write and stage plays now. God what a development. I thought only hindus were the true drama baaz people.

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Kauray and DM ji: I think I know the difference of a Dera...most of the rape cases etc came forward were on Deras....during violent days of 80`s and early 90`s, murders in Gurdwaras were common...but since then, there has been fights and quarrels but number of murders is really down....everything else like nepotism, mishandling of the funds, money laundering, kabzas, misuse of institution is going on for years...that is true aboute most of the gurdwaras....big politics and power is associated with Gurdawaras now....there has been very few cases that came to light of rape etc but how do we know how bad it is? where ever money and power is involved sex and women are involved too you know.

I think that the you would have had the same reaction if a similar play had been made with the Gurdwara being substituted by a temple, church or mosque.

I think that the Sikh community is as primitive or advanced as any other community. Why should we expect anything different from them ?????

There is a very thin line dividing what issues and sensationalism is. Unless one sees or reads the script of the play who are we to judge.

According to the latest news, free speech has been silenced. Both Birmingham Rep and Soho Theatre have ceased playing behzti for fear ``of fomenting violence.`` ``The law abiding - the thetre management and the play`s writer, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, have lost out to the law breaking: the protesters who smashed windows, set off fire alarms and pelted the building with eggs.``

Raj karay so Khalsa baaqi rahay nah koi.

Mohammad Gill

Now, it is the turn of our beloved sikhs to raise questions about whether we desis are capable of living in the West by western rules. It may be a small part of our community which is responsible for the resulting withdrawal of the play, but unless there is a rising tide of protest from the sikh community itself against the behaviour of those who took to violent means to show their protest, sikhs too will be considered as intolerant.

This is all about free speech, which includes the freedom to offend. Yes, the sikhs who felt offended had a right to demonstrate their protest, but not to break windows or cause problems for the safety of the actors, technicians and the audience.

In any case, murders have taken place in the gurudwaras, including in the Golden Temple itself. But even if this is totally far fetched, it should not have been forced to withdraw. Remember guys, when we show our intolerance, we are abusing the tolerance of the societies which enables us to live in these countries and practice our religions, our customs, our foods, our cultures and even our prejudices.

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