Stills from Oh my God and Student of the Year. The movies are in controversy for alleged attacks on Hindu beliefs
New Delhi:
Leader of Opposition in Lok SabhaSushma Swaraj today said she would raise in the forthcomingwinter session of Parliament the issue of attacks on Hindubeliefs in Bollywood movies and asked like-minded people fromvarious parties to join hands.
"I came to know about the attack on Hindu beliefs in tworecent movies - Oh my God and Student of the Year. In thelatter, there are references to Radha not knowing how to danceand being invited to the dance floor to learn dancing. Why isit that the attack in films is only on Hindu beliefs and onnames like Sita, Radha and Kaushalya," she asked.She was speaking at a cow protection program organised bythe RSS here.
Swaraj said some names are revered by Hindus and theseare shown in a bad light in Bollywood movies."There are thousands of names so why pick on these names?We will raise this issue in the forthcoming Parliament sessionand demand that this be stopped," Swaraj said.
She maintained that other religions are not touched bythe filmmakers for fear of reprisal but this is not the casewith Hinduism.
"Some politicians tell me that they are not able to raisesuch issues due to their political affiliation or as theirparty does not permit. Others say you raise it and we willsupport while lend tacit support," she said.
Another issue the BJP leader plans to raise is thecomplaint against the BSF of not sharing details of cowsmuggling done at the Indo-Bangladesh border. She announcedthat she and Shiv Sena MP Chandrakant Khaire- who was presenton the dais- will demand an answer from the government inParliament on the issue.
Swaraj emphasised on the need for cow protection andputting a stop to cow slaughter.She said India does not buy dairy products from the US asthey feed meat to their cows.
"When US President Barack Obama last visited India, theUS Ambassador to India had lamented that India does not buy USdairy products. I said this is not possible due to culturaland religious issues- our cows are vegetarian. We feed themmustard oil cakes and cotton seeds," Swaraj said.
She told the US envoy that India was buying dairyproducts from Australia as they had agreed after elaboratenegotiations that they will not feed meet to the cows whoseproducts they sell to India.
Cow protection, an issue dear to several Hindus, hasalways been strongly espoused by the BJP and the RSS. It haseven raised this issue in some states during elections.Swaraj dwelt at length on how cow rearing helps inpoverty alleviation in some countries and this model- which isalready time tested in India- can be widely adopted here."Our Prime Minister had said that it is a matter of shamethat our country is suffering from cow protection. Saying sowill not solve the problem, Mr Prime Minister. You will haveto do something," she said.
She also referred to the Cow Bank Initiative of Vietnamwhich had helped the country in poverty alleviation.Swaraj said she has also opened 800 milk centres in herconstituency Vidisha and donated cows through a stategovernment scheme to help the poor.
"I came to know about the attack on Hindu beliefs in tworecent movies - Oh my God and Student of the Year. In thelatter, there are references to Radha not knowing how to danceand being invited to the dance floor to learn dancing. Why isit that the attack in films is only on Hindu beliefs and onnames like Sita, Radha and Kaushalya," she asked.She was speaking at a cow protection program organised bythe RSS here.
Swaraj said some names are revered by Hindus and theseare shown in a bad light in Bollywood movies."There are thousands of names so why pick on these names?We will raise this issue in the forthcoming Parliament sessionand demand that this be stopped," Swaraj said.
She maintained that other religions are not touched bythe filmmakers for fear of reprisal but this is not the casewith Hinduism.
"Some politicians tell me that they are not able to raisesuch issues due to their political affiliation or as theirparty does not permit. Others say you raise it and we willsupport while lend tacit support," she said.
Another issue the BJP leader plans to raise is thecomplaint against the BSF of not sharing details of cowsmuggling done at the Indo-Bangladesh border. She announcedthat she and Shiv Sena MP Chandrakant Khaire- who was presenton the dais- will demand an answer from the government inParliament on the issue.
Swaraj emphasised on the need for cow protection andputting a stop to cow slaughter.She said India does not buy dairy products from the US asthey feed meat to their cows.
"When US President Barack Obama last visited India, theUS Ambassador to India had lamented that India does not buy USdairy products. I said this is not possible due to culturaland religious issues- our cows are vegetarian. We feed themmustard oil cakes and cotton seeds," Swaraj said.
She told the US envoy that India was buying dairyproducts from Australia as they had agreed after elaboratenegotiations that they will not feed meet to the cows whoseproducts they sell to India.
Cow protection, an issue dear to several Hindus, hasalways been strongly espoused by the BJP and the RSS. It haseven raised this issue in some states during elections.Swaraj dwelt at length on how cow rearing helps inpoverty alleviation in some countries and this model- which isalready time tested in India- can be widely adopted here."Our Prime Minister had said that it is a matter of shamethat our country is suffering from cow protection. Saying sowill not solve the problem, Mr Prime Minister. You will haveto do something," she said.
She also referred to the Cow Bank Initiative of Vietnamwhich had helped the country in poverty alleviation.Swaraj said she has also opened 800 milk centres in herconstituency Vidisha and donated cows through a stategovernment scheme to help the poor.
