Whereas poor Oppenheimer, the American Jewish physicist, spent years of research with a team, trying to build the atomic bomb, partly driven by Nazi anti-Semitism, and was obliged to do the bidding of his political and military handlers. During World War II, the US dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, killing over 1,20,000 and thousands more from radiation exposure: Japan surrendered, ending World War II. Oppenheimer, seeing the horrific destruction the bomb caused and concerned about future terrors with further demands for a hydrogen bomb, wanted to place international controls on nuclear weapons, but his “softy” approach cost him his job with the US Atomic Energy Commission. Once the destructive genie is out of the bottle, every power drunk politico will want to play with it and use it for his own ends, but nobody will be able to put it back, that’s the problem. And when it explodes, the handlers now grinning with pride do not realise that the fire will burn everybody to a cinder. Until then, theek hai, play with your new toy. 

When you set the simplistic template—“All minority people are pure evil, all majority people are pure, innocent victims”—driven by a poisonous Us versus Them debate, the modus operandi itself ensures a powerful debasement of ourselves as human beings, twisting facts, emotions, to suit one’s ends. For instance, Sudipto Sen’s The Kerala Story, the filmmakers claimed, was based on “true facts of 32,000 women from Kerala” being brainwashed, recruited by ISIS and sent to Syria. When their bluff was called, they promptly changed their story to “three women from Kerala.” Amazing. Sure, the story is valid even if it happened to one woman, but that doesn’t make it a “Kerala story,” as Kerala’s population is about 3.5 crore. But facts and emotions are mere playthings for filmmakers to do their political handlers’ bidding, wittingly or unwittingly. Be careful, the Revolution devours its children. Until then, enjoy!

Poll

Who will win the Punjab Elections?

BJP 32.76%

AAP 43.10%

INC 24.14%

Submit

View All In Poll

Meenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival, National Award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist. 
Reach her at meenakshi.shedde@mid-day.com