Christians
rage over Gibson's 'Passion'
Bangalore:
Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" seems to have become
a rage among the Christians in the country even before the
film hits theatres across the country on Friday. Panning
the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus Christ as he's whipped,
flogged, lacerated and dragged with the cross before being
nailed, writer-director Mel Gibson tries to take the viewers
into the soul of the most sublime sufferings of civilisation
inflicted on its sporadic saints and saviours.
The
movie has evoked strong sentiments and faith among the community
in Bangalore, where the church arranged a special screening
of the film on DVDs for nuns and priests. They were immensely
moved by the torture and pain that Christ endured and feel
that the movie has brought back the relevance of his sacrifice.
For the nuns who watched the movie, the picturisation of
the Christ's suffering was beyond their imagination. For
them the narration was so starkly brutal and blunt that
they could feel the writhing pain with every whiplash falling
on the giant saint's bare back. "We could not imagine the
passion, Jesus really suffered the way they showed like
this in the picture. We wonder how could God be so patient
when such a lot of curses have been given to him," Sister
Hilda, an elderly nun, said.
For
the laymen, the film is all about bringing back the relevance
of the sacrifice of Christ into today's world. "The film
is very touching and I think it really brings out events
which really happened. It shows how Christ took the cross
and shed his blood on it. It really is mind blowing," Sajan
K. George, National Convener of the Global Council of Indian
Christians, said. The film opens in the garden of olives
where Jesus Christ had gone to pray after the last supper
and sweat blood, foreseeing the torture he had to go through
in the upcoming hours. The movie also narrates Satan's temptations
to Christ to avoid the sacrifices and escape the crucification.
Made in Aramaic and Latin languages, the film has English
subtitles. James Caviezel has acted as Jesus, Maia Morgenstern
as Mary and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene in the film.
The Mumbai-based distributors Kintop Films are trying to
get the film popularised through the Christian institutions
and organisations, which have a considerable influence in
southern, western and north-eastern regions of the country.
Three killed as train rams into school van
in Ludhiana (Go
To Top)
Ludhiana:
At least three people, including two children, were
killed and 16 more seriously injured when a train rammed
into their mini van at an unmanned crossing in Punjab on
Wednesday. The children were returning from school at around
2.00 p.m. when the mishap occurred at Gill village near
Ludhiana. Eyewitnesses said the driver was rushing to cross
the tracks even as the train approached at full speed. The
light-framed and heavily overloaded vehicle was twisted
out of shape by the impact. Two children, both below 10
years of age; and the van driver died on the spot. The children
were of the Guru Harkrishan Public School. Accidents at
unmanned railway crossings are common in India, which has
one of the world's largest railway networks. The antiquated
railway network that carries over 13 million passengers
a day on nearly 14,000 trains has a poor safety record with
about 300 accidents a year.
Durbar
moves to Srinagar (Go
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Srinagar:
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Syed
said today that with the state secretariat moving to Srinagar,
his government would now focus on pending developmental
work in the Kashmir Valley. Syed was speaking shortly after
the state secretariat reopened in Srinagar. Commenting on
a recent report that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has
agreed to fund several development projects in the state,
the chief minister said it was an announcement that should
be welcomed as the situation on ground in the state had
improved vastly.
UK eases visa restrictions on Pakistanis
(Go
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Islamabad:
The British Government has eased visa restrictions that
it had imposed on Pakistani citizens immediately after the
9/11 terrorist strikes in United States. According to Online
News, the British High Commission here will now accept applications
for all categories of visas. These include visas for visitors,
close relatives wanting to visit close family in the United
Kingdom, cases of Family Reunion, Business visitors, All
student applications, Returning Residents, Settlement applications
(only from spouses and fiancis and children under 18 of
those present and those settled in the UK. The sponsor in
settlement applications must be aged 18 and over. The applicant
in fianci applications must be aged 16 and over. Satisfactory
documentation must be included to prevent rejection.
70 pc rise in hate crimes against US Muslims
(Go
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New
York: Crimes against Muslims residing in the United
States increased by almost 70 per cent last year, an Islamic
civil rights and advocacy group has claimed. The Council
on American-Islamic Relations' (CAIR) report outlines 1019
incidents of anti-Muslim violence, discrimination and harassment
in 2003, the highest number of Muslim civil rights cases
ever recorded by the Washington-based group. According to
The Nation, which quotes the report extensively, "Unpatriotic
Acts," hate crimes jumped by 121 per cent. "The disturbing
jump in reports of anti-Muslim incidents is a wake-up call
to those commentators who use their public positions to
spread anti-Muslim hate,' the paper quoted CAIR Research
Director Dr. Mohamed Nimer, as saying. CAIR said factors
contributing to this sharp increase included a lingering
atmosphere of post-9/11 fear in America, pro-war rhetoric
leading last year's invasion of Iraq, a disturbing increase
in anti-Muslim rhetoric, and abuses associated with the
implementation of the USA Patriot Act.
The
report, the only annual study of its kind recommends a number
of actions designed to help reverse the tide of anti-Muslim
discrimination. These recommendations include a public inquiry
to post-9/11 policies impacting the Muslim community, legislative
actions to curb the use of profiling by law enforcement
agencies, strengthening of hate crime prosecutions, and
modifications to the USA Patriot Act. Muslims and those
perceived to be Muslim in Arizona, New York, California,
and New Jersey experienced the greatest increase in reported
incidents, ranging from a jump of 233 (California) to 584
per cent (Arizona). Along with religious and ethnic profiling
and denial of religious accommodation, workplace discrimination
was the largest category of complaints. California (22 per
cent), New York (19 per cent) and Virginia (7 per cent)
reported the largest percentage of total complaints. However,
the report does show a significant drop in reports of passenger
profiling and unreasonable arrests.
