Straight Answers

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">Raj Babbar, Actor-politician, On his comeback to films with Ashok Pandit’s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Sheen</span><br />Do you agree with producer-director Ashok Pandit''s statement that with the release of <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Sheen,</span> the Kashmiri Pandit''s problem will be solved?<br />It''s an emotional statement which should not be taken literally.I have read the bound script and let me tell you, the problem of the Kashmiri Pandits has been addressed very appealingly. In fact, although I am not a Kashmiri Pandit in real life, I could easily identify with my character -- Pandit Amarnath, Sheen''s father in the film. For in the wake of Partition, when my family came to live in Agra, people in the area referred to me as ''Sharanarthi Ka Ladka''. I was too small to understand the exact meaning of sharanarthi then, but it did sound like a gaali to me! And hurt me no end. 1984 created refugee camps for Sikhs, 1991 for Kashmiri Pandits and 2002 for the Muslims in Gujarat! So you see, the refugees don''t belong to any particular region or religion! They are all Indians who have become outsiders in their own country! <br />Isn''t <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Sheen</span>, meaning ice, rather a wrong title as ice is cold and hard? <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Sheen </span>means snow that covers mountains. Unfortunately, in Hindi, there is one common word barf for ice and snow, both. For a Kashmiri person, snow symbolises purity and softness. Moreover, for a person living on a snow-covered mountains, his homeland becomes the layers of snow and not mitti or rocks. Incidentally, the low temperature of snow can be as damaging and painful as the high temperature of fire! One freezes the body, other burns — the end result being the same!<br />Pandit also raised a volatile question: “Why didn’t Hindustan do anything for its 7.5 lakh Hindus, who had been suffering for 14 years now?�<br />Why didn’t Hindus believe in the adage self-help is the best help? The common man believes in peaceful coexistence. Earning his livelihood and looking after his family are his priorities. It''s the politicians who exploit religion for vote and note! Ours is a secular country with its beautiful cosmopolitan culture. <br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">bombaytimes@timesgroup.com</span> </div> </div>