Incident: Aamir Khan’s under-production movie titled PK, directed by Rajkumar Hirani has a scene in which a man dressed as Lord Shiva [is] pulling a rickshaw in which two burqa-clad women were sitting.
Facts
Here is the media report on the incident:
locals objected to a scene in which a man dressed as Lord Shiva was pulling a rickshaw in which two burqa-clad women were sitting. The man who was dressed like Lord Shiva was intercepted by a mob which had gathered on the spot. A policeman who was on patrol duty also inquired about the matter and the three actors were taken to Kotwali police station, said a police official. The actors told police that it was a dream sequence of the movie and they had all the legal documents and permission for shooting.
An FIR was subsequently lodged against the movie team including the director Raj Hirani and lead actor, Aamir Khan.
What is to be noted here is the manner in which the film crew cleverly sought to obfuscate the real issue–the nonchalant insult to Lord Shiva, a God revered and worshipped by millions of Hindus worldwide.
This incident is reminiscent of similar insults to Hindu Gods, icons, and symbols by the deceased painter, M.F. Hussain and the hypocritical media-intelligentsia-academia nexus that sought to defend his deliberate insults. One also wonders why the PK team did not pick Islam’s holy figures for such cavalier caricaturing. Indeed, the answer is quite evident. The answer again takes us back to M.F. Hussain’s movie named Meenaxi, which he withdrew because some Mullahs and Imams objected to a lyric/dialogue that they deemed was insulting to Islam.
Verdict
This is not the first time that Bollywood has indulged in mindless caricaturing of various elements of Hinduism. Whether the intention was deliberate or harmless is beside the point. The key element is that they don’t extend the same courtesy to other religions, which makes it both hypocritical and cowardly. It appears as if only Hinduism is the soft target.
It is clear that Aamir Khan and the crew of PK thought nothing about insulting Hindu Gods in the most derogatory fashion. We wonder whether Aamir Khan and company would have the guts to film the scene in question with the roles reversed: the Burkha clad women pulling the rickshaw with Lord Shiva seated at the back.
IndiaFacts verdict: The team of PK including Aamir Khan and director Raj Hirani have indeed insulted a Hindu God and need to apologize and/or face legal action for this insensitivity.
IndiaFacts also supports the people who have filed the FIR against this insult to Hindus.
Sandeep Balakrishna is a columnist and author of Tipu Sultan: the Tyrant of Mysore. He has translated S.L. Bhyrappa’s “Aavarana: the Veil” from Kannada to English.
manish
Make a resolution for the new year……………Never watch a film of the se anti – Hindu….Khans
Shiven Rock
Nothing have changed in BJP rule . HIndus still are treated 3rd class citizen In fact more anti hinus activity have increased after BJP came to power. If the trend continues than no hindus will ever vote to BJP and all the votes will be taken away by new party.
Vinu
In the beginning of the movie, the “no
insult intention to anybody….” declaration was shown. But one should see
the movie and will realise that they have left no stone unturned to insult our
Hindu community. The declaration itself is questionable. I am not against the
movie or the message but there were many better ways which would have never
hurt so much. Further, they should have highlighted the malpractices of
other religions too if they really intended to drive home the message to the
whole world. But in this case they targetted only Hindus which is not so
easily forgettable. I also understand that from business point of view,
Box Offices are happy, show anything, tell anything…. make money. After
all it is public money (paying to buy insult.)it is public money (paying to buy
insult.). Before thinking or writing
negative, one should understand that Hinduism is not just a religion, it is a
way of life. It is the only religion which respects every living or non living
thing that exists in the Universe.
Hindu Garima
No Hindu should tolerate it as it is an insult to the Sanatan Shiva the Most ancient God in the Hindu Panchayatan.In fact Hinduism should be called Sanatan Dharm.
Vivaswan
Now everybody wants to be understanding huh? When will Hindus stand up and quit being so cowardly? Speak your mind, if this scene offends you, it offends you. No Christian, Jew, or Muslim is ashamed when they judge others and cause riots for their religion. Yes, Hinduism is a religion of tolerance, and we should take pride in that, but you overgrown software engineer/doctors of the current generation have gone soft and cowardly and want to hide in your little shells out of fear. You are a form of poison to our culture and religion, and make me sick. YOU are the reason our beliefs get stepped on and trashed on a worldly scale. If you are too scared to stand up, SHUT UP. And let others do so. I’ll be damned if Hinduism gets treated as a third-class religion in all of it’s inherent beauty.
raja paranjpe
How much is indiafacts being paid by sañgh pariwar or by namo cronies? Your story analysis and so called fact corrections smells like paid news,again initiated by sangh and namo. Once upon a time I used to attend sakha añd was mesmerised by rss ideology but ñot anymore.
alwaysinfinite (@koyguy)
Dear Sandeep/IndiaFactsOrg,
Please answer the questions below in earnest as with that intention in mind I am asking them:
Would it have been Okay in your eyes if Aamir Khan(, Raju Hirani or anyone else) first played with the imagery of ‘Mahound’ before pursuing Shiva on a rickshaw?
Would it have been Okay if they were not ‘hypocritical’ and were equal opportunity offenders?
Can one not fictionalize our Gods for creative pursuits/satire etc without the fear of an FIR? I mean fictionalize and not the fiction being passed of as facts by the likes of Wendy Doniger, Jeffrey J Kripal.
Thanks,
Kshitij
Praveen A V
Dear Kshitij,
I am a supporter of Sandeep/IndiaFactsOrg, but the following comments are my own.
If doesn’t matter who else they offend, if they are insulting or hurting our beliefs, it will not be tolerated. We will protest against it in ways provided by the constitutional. In fact, Hindu is such a culture, that we do not tolerate insult of other beliefs also.
As long as one is not insulting or hurting our beliefs, they are free to do anything.
Thanks,
Praveen
gbhai
Well Praveen. The rule should be the opposite. Let’s give everyone the right to insult everyone’s belief. Why should anyone’s belief be respected may I ask? For example there are many thousands in India who believe Sonia Gandhi is desh ki bahu. Will you stop those who attack her because they are insulting the beliefs of many? Islam etc. are empty ideologies that rest solely on the basis of blind belief. The only way to get rid of them is to have the power to attack beliefs. The greatest thing you can do in service is Islam etc. is to make it impossible to criticise them, which is effectively your position.
Praveen A V
To prove that a persons belief is wrong there is no need to insult their belief. If you start insulting, you will do immense damage to society and rip it apart. By insulting someone’s belief there is NO way you can achieve anything good.
This movie seems to be trying to insult Hindu beliefs unnecessarily.
ketan thakkar (@ketan_thakkar)
Other than expensive hammering, best movie promotion in Bollywood is done by creating curiosity in the thoughts of audience. And to create such curiosity there are two easy tricks viz
a) reduce the size of the blouse of actress
b) reduce the respect for certain religion
Both these things create outrage and anxiety/curiosity. Outrage among ones who dislike the idea. Anxiety/curiosity among the ones who like the idea.
In either case both the entities do buy tickets at-least once “Dekhe to zara aakhir exactly dikhaya kyaa hai”.
This saves lottsa bucks, for the movie maker, to be spent behind movie promotion and also ensures that almost pro-idea as well as anti-idea audience does watch the movie at-least once. And not just watch but watch in theater in first week itself. Cause curiosity will kill before the movie comes on TV channels.
iamkrz
I used to like Aamir Khan’s films, but the day I watched Satyameva Jayate I knew he is as corrupt & leftist as the MSM. This idiot needs to be thought a lesson.
Shaina
Hey @ iamkrz….i am no aamir khan fan but……….. how can u hate aamir for satyameva jayate?? i thought it was an amazing show??………….. wait are u 1 of the doctors .. with ill medical practices?? and corrupt?? who isnt corrupt in India??
Omkar Dani
did amir made any episode of satyamev on muslim terrorism or single episode on islam allowing 4 wives ?
sri sasidhar gogineni
How can he be so disgust with doctors.I can understand the corruption of doctors.But he was surprised with doctors taking high fees .If he can take crores for a show and movie,what is wrong in doctors who are high skilled professionals to take high fees.I thought Amir khan should learn few things before teaching somethings.
Anand R
Just do some fact checking guys before asking if this is a real news. Just because he is Amir Khan, he is not above it… deep inside he is a Hindu hater (I am telling you from personal experience).
If he is so adamant for ‘freedom of expression’ why doesn’t he make the holy prophet of his religion pull the rickshaw? It will be nice to the people of the ‘most peaceful religion reacts’.
By the way, here are the mainstream news links
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/fir-against-aamir-khan-for-hurting-religious-sentiments-while-shooting-for-pk/1/314088.html
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/bollywood/P-K-actor-dressed-as-Shiva-draws-irk-for-riding-rickshaw-unit-director-arrested/Article1-1134209.aspx
Binit Chandra
In India Secularism means anti hindu
Arunav
Can we stop getting offended at such silly things?
Gaurav Kapoor
Similar incident with reverse positions like any prophet doing the same what the Lord shiva has been depicted would have resulted into another Hindu Muslim Clashes all over the country and so called suckulars and MSM would have been cursing Hindus 24×7….
Praveen A V
Sandeep, can this also be a publicity stunt?
Udit Gupta
Nice observation Mr. Sandeep, unfortunately we live in a nation where majority has always been subjected to such coarse insult. People always say that Hindus are tolerant but the fact of the matter is that we have become either cowards or apathetic. Almost 11 decades of slavery has simply demolished our self-esteem.
GeekinGermany
Seriously guys. This is what you do as part of fact checking? I appreciate the work that you are doing, busting all those main stream media reports, especially by Sandeep but where are the facts regarding this particular incident. You are quoting another news item, was it verified?
Can we please get back to actual, real work!
T90
Where is the media report link? Unless i missed it!