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Don't bend to bigots
- “One is my brother and the other is not is the thinking of a narrow-minded person. For those who are broad-minded, liberals, or noble people, the entire world is one big family.” This translation from the Maha Upanishad is part of the vision statement of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), established in 1952 and held annually in Goa.
- the abrupt cancellation of the scheduled screening was widely perceived as a re-run of 2009, when the Husain documentary was withdrawn following threats from the very same quarters.
- An important reason for an organisation such as IFFI to stage film festivals is to promote cinema as a vehicle for encouraging reflection and debate on a variety of social issues.
- Withdrawing the film would have been tantamount to encouraging those very groups that forced Husain to flee India by threatening his life and liberty
- Fortunately, IFFI did the right thing in the end by declaring it would go ahead with screening the film in the face of the threats — a decision that sends a timely message against cultural bigotry, obscurantism, and moral vigilantism.
