READERS’ PULSE

International Film Festival of India (IFFI) was held in Goa recently. Jury chief and Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid said that “We were, all of us, disturbed and shocked by the… film, The Kashmir Files,” the Hindi film directed by Vivek Agnihotri. He criticised the film as “a propaganda, vulgar movie, inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival”.

Renaming of towns, cities and public places has been on the agenda of BJP governments in different States. About a year ago, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government of Madhya Pradesh renamed Bhopal’s Habibganj railway station as Rani Kamlapati, and Hoshangabad as Narmadapuram. Now renaming of some other localities in the city is in the news.

Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud, a brilliant legal mind has been appointed as 50th CJ of Supreme Court of India on November 9. He is known for giving law a human face. It is hoped that he will discharge his duties without any fear or favour and will remain faithful to the Constitution in letter and spirit. Late Justice V.R. Krishna Aiyar has said that Judges are not free from bias and prejudice. I am sure that Hon’ble Justice Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud will prove this statement of his fraternity wrong.

The collapse of Morbi suspension bridge in Gujarat killed at least 135 people, many seriously injured, and many more said to be missing in the tragedy. Who is to be blamed? Arrest the main culprits and punish them as early as possible. And government officials should maintain safety measure and avoid such tragedies in the future.

I read the news (vide Radiance of 8 Oct., 2022) about a 22-year old brother who grew up as a Christian and considered himself an atheist at 18. After thorough study and research of various religions, he, ultimately, chose the religion of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and embraced his religion (i.e. Islam) from atheism.

It was reported in newspapers and social media that a Hindu Munnanni worker was arrested for asking people to buy only from shops run by Hindus in Vengamedu in Karur district recently.

Arshad Shaikh in his article “The Qur’ān on War, Peace and Violence” (Radiance Viewsweekly, 9-15 October 2022) has presented what Islam has said on the subject of War, Peace and Violence. He has covered all the aspects of this particular subject with the help of verses from the Qur’ān. The very characteristic of the article which struck my mind was the tone.

In the article on hijab (“Muslims and Criticism over Iran Hijab Row” Radiance Viewsweekly, 2-8 October 2022), it says Mahsa Amini refused to wear hijab.

This refers to the news published titled “Death toll from Pakistan floods reaches 1265” in Radiance of 17 September 2022. Pakistan has almost been devastated on two fronts. First of all, its economy is in tatters. Next, the country faces nature’s fury.

India’s young pacer Arshdeep Singh has dropped a simple catch in the second last over ongoing Asia T20 Cup in Dubai (UAE) recently, has turned into a nail-biting contest with arch rival Pakistan clinching the victory in the last over. As per the news reports, that Arshdeep’s Wiki page has been hacked and falsely linked him to Khalistani separatist movement.

It is duty of the CBI to challenge the grant of remission to the 11 convicted in the Bilkis Bano case. The accused were powerful and politically connected and Gujarat Govt. had closed the case. It was on the initiative of the National Human Rights Commission that the Supreme Court ordered a fresh investigation by the CBI in 2004. In the trial court, the case was prosecuted by the CBI. It was this CBI special court that sentenced 11 accused to life imprisonment.