In the name of God -Khuda Ke Liye

Till very recently, I was residing and working in the old city part of modern Hyderabad. Burqua clad women, shanties put on the road, the pleasant call to the devoted ones during 'namas' time are part of living experience here. The meat shops exhibit their commodities by hanging them up side down. A minor boy mincing the meat and a pardanashin lady waiting for the minced meat at a distance from the stall is a common site. In the narrow 'gallis' of the old city one will find shops selling anything from calligraphy products to pearls.In these numerous shops surrounding Charminar, one will invariably find a minor boy working for wages in each shop. Thus goes the standard of living despite the hundreds and thousands of secularists working day in and day out for minority welfare.

I had a case where one of the employee's widow came for claiming pension benefits. The man died was 63 years old, got married for the second time just a year back and died before informing the department formally. The age of the widow is 23. The eldest daughter of the deceased is 26 years old. This lady had nothing , and was married to the said man on the hopes of getting life long pension. I was pained to send her back to obtain legal heir certificate as she had 9 other contenders who are sons and daughters of the dead man.

It was around this time that Taslima Nasrin was attacked in Hyderabad. Our great saviours of liberty(read CPI[AtoZ]) had as usual gone in to hibernation. I first read Taslima in 1999. She didn't impress me through her writing. But the plot and characters had free spirit, I thought. 'Lajja' and 'French Lover' are the imaginary versions of 'My forbidden face'. Though she is not a great writer , she is not a criminal either to be deported at the middle of the night. Shame on all of us who speak of freedom of thought and speech. The point to note here is , her invitees included men from the same community as the men who attacked her. But they were made helpless .These two incidents made me to think about the way religions treat women, particularly Islam.

I had another visitor recently, who had come for a problem related to a magazine. From the very first word, he was trying to convince that his magazine does not support terrorism in the name of Islam. I was convinced then, that every religion today is hijacked by a minority number of people within the religion, who pose that they are the only authority to decide the course the religion should take. The struggle is more for Islam as the issue has gained irreversible international connotation.In this context , a movie which I saw recently made me remember all the above said incidents. I share here my experience with the movie and I strongly recommend the movie.

This is a Pakistani movie titled 'Kudha ke liye' directed by Shoaib Mansoor.The story is about a liberal Pakistani upper middle class family.The family has a liking for music and the two sons of the family are good singers. The elder one,Mansoor, goes to America to learn music. The younger one, Sarmad gets preached by Maulana Tahiri and slowly becomes a radical. The Moulana says that singing is 'haram'and there is no remedy in Koran for that sin. Sarmad also marries his cousin Mariam deceitfully. Mariam is the daughter of Sarmad's uncle, a Pakistani Muslim and her mother is an European christian. Her marriage is a kind of 'honour' marriage. Mariam is held against her will in Waziristan , one of the most backward areas in the world. Meanwhile , 9/11 comes to US and racial profiling starts in the US in a big way. Mansoor becomes a victim of this profiling.This is the story of Mariam and Mansoor happening in two different continents ,each representing the radical and liberal points of view of Islam at the same time. The movie also underlines the 'famous' American ignorance about the rest of the world with sarcasm.

First thing that gets your attention is the music of the movie. Its a fine blend of modern and classical forms of music. Simple but soul stirring. Next is the screenplay.The scenes are so intricately woven that the great irony it tries to depict unfolds without any struggle. The selection of artists is very good and every one has done his or her part convincingly. Rasheed Naz who plays the radical Maulana Tahiri and Shaan who plays Mansoor have done a good job.This is a movie which beautifully narrates the cross road at which Islam is with world civilisation and its struggle from within and without. The voice of a devout but liberal Muslim struggles to be heard by the rest of the world through the frenzy calling of 'Takbir' 'Allaho Akbar'. This is symbolically told in the court scene.The best acting comes from Naseeruddin Shah who plays the role of Maulana Wali. His dialogue delivery with calculated pause is the ultimate entertainment. He says, 'Deen me daadhi hai, daadhi me deen nahi'( beard is in religion and religion is not in beard).His dialogue delivery in chaste Urdhu is a treat. Having back ground knowledge will be an added advantage to understand and enjoy subtle messages. The last scene is a fine poetry where the entire intention of the film is summarisedartistically.

This movie got rave reviews and said to have changed the course of Pakistani cinema. But it has also managed a fatwa issued against it in Pakistan. The director reportedly went on a holiday with family fearing harm to him and his family. Lot of bitterness is spilt all over the Internet about this movie.So its up to the beholder to see .There is much more to the movie than what I've told.There is much more to the questions that the movie raises than the movie itself.

Unfortunately, the movie, the first Pakistani movie to be released in India, despite good reviews, was not released in good theatres. This movie is the voice of a common man/woman who is caught in the conundrum of interpretation of religion and its subsequent cross firing. Its the common man whose family is split, whose rights are curtailed , whose privacy is infringed. Finally he is made to give his life for something which he doesn't really agree upon. Where will it take him ? To 'A Wednesday'?