Denial Of Visa To British Director Callum Macrae Is An Appeasement Of The Sri Lankan regime
Statement By Film Makers
10 November, 2013
Countercurrents.org
We, the undersigned, strongly condemn the Indian government for refusing a visa to award winning British filmaker Callum Macrae, thereby preventing him from attending the premiere of his documentary ‘No Fire Zone’ in New Delhi and Mumbai.
The denial of visa is clearly part of the Indian government’s appeasement of the Sri Lankan regime of Mahinda Rajapakse, which has been accused of war crimes during the last phases of the civil war in 2009, which resulted in the deaths of over 70,000 civilians.
Mr Macrae’s, globally acclaimed documentary presents hard evidence of these crimes that include rape of Tamil women, torture and murder of journalists and human rights activists. Mr Macrae’s team was nominated for the Noble Prize in recognition of its contribution to human rights.
In the last few years the Indian External Affairs Ministry has similarly prevented several other filmakers, artists, intellectuals and activists from traveling to India for seminars, exhibitions or public events. By blocking the free flow of ideas, information and artistic works across national borders the government is impinging upon the democratic rights of Indian citizens also.
We appeal to all freedom loving citizens, groups and organisations to challenge this violation of freedom of expression, a right which is enshrined in the Constitution of India for the protection of Indian democracy.
Signed:
Lenin Rajendran, K.P.Sasi, Anand Patwardhan, Sanjay Kak. Meghnad, Anjali Monteiro, Pankaj Bhutalia, K.P.Jayashankar, Shohini Ghosh, R.P.Amudhan, Vani Subramaniam, B.Ajitkumar, Satya Sivaraman, K.P.Pradeep, Leena Manimekalai, Surajit Sarkar, Gopal Menon, P. Baburaj, N.Sreemith, K R Manoj, Sreemith.N, Deepak Narayan, Musthafa Desamangalam, Surabhi Sharma, Pedestrian Pictures, VIBGYOR Film Collective
For further information contact:
K.P.Sasi: Ph: 09567666798
Satya Sivaraman: Ph:09818514952
Comments are moderated