[sacw] FISHERS OF MEN (a film from India)

[Harsh Kapoor]

FYI (Important film on anti christain violence in India)
South Asia Citizens Web
--------------------------------

Hello friends

Long before the attacks on Christians hit the front pages, my wife and I
spent most of 1996-97 investigating the issue in the Sarguja and Raigarh
districts of MP... the domain of Dilip Singh Judev, BJP Rajya Sabha MP and
headquarters of the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram.

We made a 116 minute film titled Fishers Of Men which unfortunately has not
been seen by people who we think can help make the diference. Information
and transcript of the film is available at www.kilima.com/fishers.

If you would like a copy of the film or want to organise a screening please
get in touch with us at the addresses below. We also have an international
broadcast version of 30 minutes which is available from our distributors
Journeyman Pictures in the UK (info@j...).

Please find below a synopsis of the film :

FISHERS OF MEN
- A SYNOPSIS

A Feature Documentary
directed by
Ranjan Kamath & Padmavathi Rao

For over a century, a substantial number of Adivasis or, tribals of the
Chottanagpur plateau - an area comprising eastern Madhya Pradesh and
portions of Bihar, Orissa and
West Bengal, in India - have embraced Christianity in order to free
themselves from the
shackles of bonded labour and feudal oppression still prevalent in rural India.

Adivasis have never managed to assert their religious, cultural or political
identity. They have been relegated to the lowest rungs of the Hindu caste
structure and
treated as outcasts of society, with no individual rights.

Through the efforts of Christian missionaries, generations of tribal
converts - particularly Oraons - have made tremendous social progress
and have been asserting their identity. A combination of an education
and Christianity have helped the Adivasis establish an
alternate identity, outside the Hindu caste system. They have undermined feudal
authority, much to the consternation of Hindu fundamentalists who are
feeling insecure.

Whilst the demand for a tribal homeland called Jharkand has gained
tremendous momentum over the last five decades, Hindu fundamentalist
organisations like the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad have held the
Christian missionaries singularly responsible for encouraging the Jharkand
movement.

After decades of apparent harmony, there has been a recent increase in Hindu
revivalism, in a bid to split tribal unity along religious lines and thus
weaken the
Jharkand movement.. The countermeasures taken by organisations like the
RSS, VHP and
the VKA include, harassment of missionaries through the legal system and
intimidation of Christian tribals using force and terror, which has resulted
in a growing mutual distrust.

As part of the revivalist campaign, Dilip Singh Judev of Jashpur, Member of
Parliament has devised Operation Ghar Vapasi (Home Coming), which is the
widespread
're-conversion' of Christian tribals to Hinduism, under the auspices of the
All India Vanvasi
Kalyan Ashram.

In the absence of dialogue between Hindu revivalists and Christian tribals,
this film is an effort to understand how the two communities will co-exist
within a secular
Indian fabric, despite the divergent religious, cultural and social
perceptions that both
communities currently have of each other.

Ranjan Kamath / Padmavathi Rao
RKO Films P. Ltd
704A Silver Oak, Hiranandani Gardens
Powai, Bombay 400076
Tel : 9122 570 4728
Telefax : 9122 570 0741

email :rko@v... /rkofilms@h...

Bangalore :
#75, 17E Main, 2nd Cross
VI Block, Koramangala
Bangalore 560095
Telefax : 91 80 5533146
email :rko@v... / rkofilms@h...

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