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| India-Pakistan |
| Hindu extremists nix statue of Christian (Charlie Chaplin) |
| 2009-03-16 |
| On Friday, Hindu radicals in the southern state of Karnataka stymied plans to erect a 20m (67ft) statue of the film star, on the grounds that he was a Christian. The move came amid a backlash against Western culture that has raised concerns that parts of India are at risk of being "Talebanised" by Hinduism's far Right. The Chaplin sculpture was being built at a cost of about 3.5 million rupees (£48,600) near the town of Udupi, the site of several Hindu temples. The structure was to form part of a film set, but work ground to a halt when Hindu activists chased the workers away and buried the building materials. Hemant Hegde, the film-maker, told local reporters that he abandoned the project after being threatened by a mob of about 50 people, whose leader told him: "We will not allow you to construct a statue of a Christian actor." The protesters were said to belong to the Hindu Jagarna Vedike (Hindu Enlightenment Group), a group linked to an attack on a Christian school in the same state last May. |
| Posted by:lotp |
| #9 Chaplin fan lists alternative sites Kannada film actor-director Hemant Hegde is determined to have a statue of his idol Charlie Chaplin installed on the west coast of Karnataka. On Tuesday, he will meet chief secretary Sudhakar Rao to seek permission for erecting the statue either at Om Beach, near Karwar, 520 km northwest of the state capital, or at Devbagh, 550 km northwest of Bangalore. Both places are on the coast in the Uttara Kannada district. “This time, I hope the government will give me an approval in a week. Being an artiste and director, I cannot run around for three months to get permission (that's his grouse against authorities in Udupi, where he sought approval for building a 60-ft statue at Paduvari village, 150 km from Mangalore). That will upset our shooting schedule,” he told HT on Monday. Hegde failed to get permission to have Chaplin's statue built in Paduvari village because locals did not want a Christian's statue near the entry to their temple. Chaplin was never known to have been a believer in religion, but that is another matter. Hegde said he planned to have the statue along the coast as it would form the backdrop for a song in the last segment of his film, House Full. Some fans of Charlie Chaplin called him to offer private land for the statue but the actor-director is not sure if the offers are for real. On Thursday, he plans to organise a protest in Bangalore by representatives of the Kannda film industry against the manner in which he was forced to leave Paduvari on Friday. |
| Posted by: john frum 2009-03-16 19:32 |
| #8 Charlie Chaplin was an agnostic. I thought he was communist symp. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-03-16 18:53 |
| #7 Charlie Chaplin was an agnostic. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles the flatulent 2009-03-16 16:43 |
| #6 The should make the statue w/six arms and have the legend read: "I am Charlie the maker and thrower of banana creme pies." |
| Posted by: regular joe 2009-03-16 16:17 |
| #5 Can a man wait for years for permission? Apparently this is a famous temple, located on the beach. I doubt the Babus will give him permission. A new 60 foot permanent structure on the beach would violate coastal zone regulations. Post-Tsunami, these building regulations are actually being enforced. I can think of a lot of places where a 60 foot statue of Charlie Chaplin would be welcome. The parking lot of a historic place of worship is not one of them. |
| Posted by: john frum 2009-03-16 07:41 |
| #4 Ah. Thanks SailorMan. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2009-03-16 07:37 |
| #3 In British India, "Babu" was a term used to describe a native Indian clerk. The word was originally used as a term of respect attached to a proper name, but later, especially when used alone and not as a suffix, was a derogatory word signifying a semi-literate native, with a mere veneer of modern education.[1] In the early 20th century the term Babu was frequently used to refer to bureaucrats and other government officials, especially by the Indian media; in this sense the word hints at corrupt or lazy work practices. It can also mean the pimp or client of a sex worker. The term babu has thus fallen out of favour in polite society, since it may be taken as an insult. |
| Posted by: john frum 2009-03-16 07:31 |
| #2 Babudom? I know Babalooism (the worship of Ricky Ricardo) but not Babudom. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2009-03-16 07:29 |
| #1 Much ado about Chaplin’s statue in Karnataka A fan of actor-filmmaker Charlie Chaplin has just discovered that it is not a joke dealing with Indian babudom. Hemant Hegde set out to build a statue of Chaplin, partly as a tribute to his idol and partly to lend some glamour to his Kannada film House Full. “Diganth (an actor) and I play two idiots and the film is about our misadventures,” said Hegde. “We wanted to build the statue and hand it over to the tourism department so that people would remember our tribute even years later.” But Hegde’s plans are stuck in red tape. On Friday, the film unit put up a shack and dug a pit for a pedestal for the 60-foot-high statue at Paduvari village, 150 km north of Mangalore. But they had to pack up because the official permission was not in hand. Besides, the spot was in front of a temple, at a place where pilgrims park vehicles and from where they walk down towards the sanctum sanctorum. On Saturday, the crew drove away in search of another spot in Uttara Kannada district for the statue. “The deputy commissioner told me to get a no-objection certificate from the police and the forest department, but every official wants me to wait,” said Hegde. “They tell me to go ahead but won’t give me that official letter of sanction. Can a man wait for years for permission? The villagers said, ‘We don’t want to see a Christian before we enter the temple.’” Hemalatha, deputy commissioner, Udupi, said she agreed to allow the shooting but asked them to wait for the construction plans to be approved. Suresh Batawadi, a member of the Paduvari gram panchayat, who led a protest to stop the construction of Chaplin’s statue in front of the temple, said the film crew was told to find another place and get permission from the district administration. “We told them to look around for alternative places but they left in a huff,” said Batawadi. “How can we speak against Christians when we’ve many families living here? I think this is some publicity gimmick for his film.” |
| Posted by: john frum 2009-03-16 06:41 |