The Hindu : New Delhi News : Presenting `the other side of the American story'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 01, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Presenting `the other side of the American story'

Staff Reporter

SFI is screening 12 films at DU, JNU as a protest

NEW DELHI: Protesting against the upcoming visit of U.S. President George W. Bush, the Students' Federation of India is screening a set of 12 films at Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University in the Capital and will parcel the same to the University of Hyderabad to present to the student community what it calls "the other side of the American story".

Aimed at driving home the point that "students in India are aware and concerned global citizens who do not approve of the American global policies", the short documentary films include "Still Life and "Colour and Anthem" by Palestinian filmmaker Cynitha Madanskey and "The Stand of Salvador Allende" and "Breaking the Silence" by John Pilger.

While the films were screened at Jawaharlal Nehru University here on Sunday, a set of the same has been dispatched for screening at Delhi University and the University of Hyderabad.

"Students in India are an enlightened group that follows the various policies and actions of America and we understand that there are several policies that are anti-people and anti-humanity of which we do not approve. Students are not bound by international diplomacy and are free to speak their mind and that is what we are doing through this programme. Through these films we are expecting to reach out to a larger student community and make them familiar with the ill-effects of the actions taken by the American government," said Students' Federation of India president Arun Kumar.

Stating that they wanted to the world to know that students in India did not approve of the actions of America, he noted: "While we continue to use traditional mediums -- posters and letters -- to promote our stand, we are now also using the new and powerful medium of films and computers to spread our ideas and make it accessible to student community. Jana Natya Manch will also be organising cultural programmes to drive home the point."

Meanwhile, Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) too has put up posters protesting against the visit.

"Our posters that read `No blood for oil', `Bush go back', `No to U.S. occupation' and `No to American terrorism' have also been put up at Delhi University and Jamia Millia Islamia in an effort to reach out to the Capital's student community," said a member of SAHMAT.

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