happy pongal appeal

[Guest guest]

HAPPY PONGAL

Let this pongal be not only a happy occassion for u and ur family but to the two

little curious looking eyes at the corner of the street and watching your child.

Help a child learn and she will teach many more.

CONTACT: sevabharati

visit: www.geocities.com/sevabharati

yours

chowdary for sevabharati

  ganapa vijai wrote:

>"Vasant M Pandav"

>"HSSmw"

>CC: "Sushama Londhe"

>[hssmw] Fw: Call to Action... Protest wrongful protrayal of HInduism

>Thu, 17 Jan 2002 23:13:51 -0600 > >Gaurang Desai

>Call to Action... Protest wrongful protrayal of HInduism >Thu,

17 Jan 2002 09:47:00 -0800 (PST) > > !!! CALL To ACTION !!! > > by Ishani

Chaudhuri > > Protest Screening of > Anand Patwardhan's productions > "We are

Not Your Monkeys" &; "In the Name of God" > @ NYC Exhibit on 02/09/2002 >

>EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: > >In the name of holding an exhibit on "Meeting God:

Elements of >Hindu Devotion" the American Museum of Natural History

>(www.amnh.org) is planning to screen two anti-Hindu movies made by

>self-proclaimed leftist Anand Patwardhan, viz. "We are Not Your >Monkeys" and

"In the Name of God." > >Action Required: > > (i) Call to protest, > (ii) Send

fax to protest, > (iii) Send an e-mail to protest, AND > (iv) send a letter of

protest via regular mail. > [Preferably do ALL Four, or at least one] > >Action

Target: > > Elaine Charnov > Director, Public Programs and Artistic, Margaret > Mead Film &; Video Festival > American Museum of Natural

History > 79th St. at Central Park West > New York, NY 10024 > USA > > Phone:

212-769-5173 > Fax: 212-769-5329 > Email: Charnov (AT) amnh (DOT) org > > Cc: Ms. Laurel

Kendall > Curator of Hinduism Exhibit > Anthropology Dept. > American Museum of

Natural History > 79th St. at Central Park West > New York, NY 10024 > USA > >

Tel. 212-769-5892 > Fax: 212-769-5334 > E-Mail: LKendall (AT) amnh (DOT) org > >Further

Action: >(After you are done with your personal action) > > Ask local Hindu /

Indian organizations to send a letter of protest >on their letterhead. >

>PLEASE DO READ THE DETAILS AND DRAFT YOUR OWN LETTER OF PROTEST. > >Thank you.

> >Ms. Ishani Chaudhuri >[Contact E-Mail for this CTA: apcta (AT) hinduworld (DOT) com] >

>=========================== Begin Details ========================= > >The

American Museum of Natural History in NYC (www.amnh.org) is >holding an exhibit

on Hinduism entitled "Meeting God: Elements of >Hindu Devotion" (click on

exhibit icon on the left panel) until >02/24/02. The object is to portray to

the visitor how a Hindu >worships and reveres God through a collection of

deities, photos >and religious icons. > >However, this exhibit also features

"Public Programs" which are >meant to "enhance" the learning experience -

namely, dances, music, >mehendi and documentary videos. Two videos they are

planning on >showing (2/9 from 4p-6p) are entitled "We are Not Your Monkeys" (a

>Dalit interpretation of the Ramayana) and "In the Name of God" (the >VHP

militant Hinduism and consequent oppression of the lower >classes) -

>http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/meeting_god/home/programs.html >(gives

synopsis). Both are made by self-proclaimed Leftist Anand >Patwardhan. > >What

is shocking is not only is the Museum showing this (which has >no relevance to

the objective of the exhibit), but also NOT >allowing for the opposing party to

speak or show their side of the >story. They are essentially leaving novice

minds with a bigoted >view of Hinduism. > >The person in charge of the "Public

Programs" is Ms. Elaine >Charnov. She seems to be highly influenced by

academics. The first >video ("We Are Not your Monkeys") is the Aryan-Invasion

>interpretation of the Ramayan. Essentially it is saying that Rama >was an

Aryan who enslaved the monkeys (Dalits) and made opposing >Dravidian Ravana an

asura. Futhermore, the second video - "In the >Name of God", portrays our

community as a group of oppressive >religious zealots. > >The following points

to Ms. Charnov have already been made. > >******* Arguments against "We are not

your monkeys" ******* > >1. This video does not fit with the objective of this

exhibition, >which is about Hindu form of worship. > >2. This video cannot be

represented as "Ramayana" since it has >nothing to do with any of the dozens of

versions that is available >from different parts of India. It doesn't confirm to

the basics - >neither the characters nor the story line. > >3. A group of self

styled leftist activists created this video as >an interpretation of Ramayana

as per their Marxist ideology and >conforming to their world-view of

"oppressed" and the "oppressor". >To gain the mainstream acceptance, they are

trying to pass if off >as a "Dalit" critique of Ramayana. > >******* Arguments

against "In the Name of God" ******* > >1. This is a video about political

events that has nothing to do >with the current exhibition. > >2. Only one side

of the story is presented here, with selectively >edited footage, extensive

interviews with people sharing the >director's viewpoint, while conveniently

ignoring the other side. > >3. The video depicts an entire community as

aggressors, bigoted and >brainwashed religious zealots. > >4. It is not fair to

publicly screen this biased documentary, >without giving a chance to the accused

groups to present their >case. > >5. The extensive coverage given to a rally

organized by certain >political leaders exposes the director's political

leanings. > >6. As usual, this video is being promoted by Marxist ideologues as

>a dissident voice of the oppressed community, which is far from the >truth. >

>*********************************************************************** >

>Please do not forward the above to Ms. Charnov verbatim, as the >above has

been sent to Ms. Charnov. Instead you may write your own >points and/or phrase

it differently. Ms. Charnov was not available >on the phone. You may try. Phone

conversations are more effective. >Do a thorough background study before calling

or writing to her. >For more info., you may want to do a Google.com search on

the Video >names and on the director himself. A general search on the movies

>can yield the entire synopsis. > >Ms. Charnov also seems to be associated with

Human Rights Watch >International, and is probably interested in showing "We Are

Not >Your Monkeys" based on that - but whatever it is, this is >definitely not

an academic circle where this can be debated, nor is >it a Human Rights forum.

> >There is still some time - the screening is on 02/09. Our objective >is to

make Ms. Charnov reconsider her options. > >Contact info: > >Elaine Charnov -, Public Programs; Artistic Director, >Margaret Mead Film &; Video

Festival > >American Museum of Natural History >79th St. at Central Park West

>New York, NY 10024 > >Phone: 212-769-5173 // Fax: 212-769-5329 // Email:

Charnov (AT) amnh (DOT) org > >The curator for the Hinduism exhibit is Ms. Laurel Kendall

>(LKendall (AT) amnh (DOT) org - Ph: 212-769-5892 // Fax: 212-769-5334 >[Anthropology

Dept] ) > >- She can be cc'ed a copy of letter to Ms. Charnov. >

>============================== > > >

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