by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews
Stellan Skarsgard
By Sugandha Rawal,
New Delhi : Stellan Skarsgard doesn’t want to enter the political world thanks to US President Donald Trump. The Swedish actor, who has been part of films like “Good Will Hunting”, “Thor”, “Avengers” and “Mamma Mia!”, says politicians unite people for all the wrong reasons.
He feels there is a wave of religious nationalism around the world, and that it will lead to more bloodshed.
Skarsgard has always been vocal about everything, including politics. He has said on several occasions that his perspective about the world changed after reading the Bible and the Quran after the 9/11 tragedy.
“For decades since the Second World War, the West had become a developed democracy… developed an idea that everybody is equal, values of humanism and tolerance. Now, in the last 10 years, there has been a backlash… And there is religious nationalism all over the world,” Skarsgard told IANS over the phone from Scotland.
“I believe everybody should have the right to have their own religion. But that doesn’t mean that they should forget everybody else’s right to have their own religion… The idea of nationalism is excluding, not including.”
Skarsgard pointed out that “nationalism and religion are always used by strong politicians to unite people for the wrong reasons”.
Skarsgard looked back at the time when work brought him to India, and he saw a world embracing diversity in its true sense.
“When I was working in Mumbai, it was in the 1980s… What I loved about the city and India was that it was not very violent. You could walk in the middle of the night and didn’t have to fear of getting attacked or robbed or anything.
“There were a multitude of different approaches of religion and approaches of life and they were all tolerated. And I must say that the current religious nationalism is encouraging the opposite. They are encouraging fight and there has been a lot of bloodshed and more will come.”
As a child, Skarsgard wanted to become a diplomat and travel the world with the message of harmony and peace. But instead found his way into showbiz and went on to do iconic roles like Jan Nyman in “Breaking the Waves”, Professor Gerald Lambeau in “Good Will Hunting”, Bootstrap Bill Turner in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, Bill Anderson in “Mamma Mia!”, Dr. Erik Selvig in the “Thor” and “The Avengers” franchise.
The actor turned 67 last month. Indian channel Sony Pix had a special screening session and aired some of his iconic films as part of the birthday celebrations.
Does he think he is spreading the message of peace as an actor?
“No, I don’t… I wanted to become a diplomat as a child and I thought it would be a great idea… I don’t believe actors have the power to change reality.”
For a lot of fans, Skarsgard, who has dabbled in all the mediums — be it films or small screen or theatre — will be an inspiring politician. But he wants to stay away from politics.
“No, because in this, if I know more about the world than Trump, then I don’t know enough.”
His opinions have created trouble for him in the past, but that doesn’t deter him from calling a spade a spade.
Recalling an incident, he said: “I always say what I have on my mind. And it is not always appreciated. I did an American horror film and on the premiere at the red carpet somebody asked me ‘What scares you?’, and it was at the time of George W. Bush. I said the reign of this country scares me and that had repercussions… But you still have to express (yourself).”
On the work front, he will soon be seen in “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again”, “Music, War and Love”, “Out Stealing Horses”, “Chernobyl” and “The Painted Bird”.
(Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
M. Venkaiah Naidu
Mumbai : Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said that yoga adopts a holistic approach towards health and well-being and it has “nothing to do with religion”.
“Yoga adopts a holistic approach towards health and well-being,” Naidu said while participating in the Fourth International Yoga Day celebrations here.
“Yoga has nothing to do with religion and it is a holistic science embodying the basic principle of organic, interconnectedness of different facets of life,” he said.
“It is unfortunate that some people attribute religious overtones to this ancient scientific system.”
He emphasised that yoga should become a part and parcel of people’s daily routine to combat modern-day health problems, both physical and mental.
“There is also a misconception that yoga is only a sort of physical exercise meant to help the fitness of an individual… It is a holistic system where the mind and body act in unison and get completely rejuvenated as physical postures, breathing exercises and meditation help in overall well-being of an individual,” he said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : A BJP leader has moved the Supreme Court seeking to empower the Election Commission (EC) to refer the complaints relating to corrupt practices and misuse of religion by contesting candidates and political parties to investigating agencies.
Besides seeking to empower the Commission, PIL petitioner Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay — a Supreme Court advocate and a leader of the Delhi Unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — has also sought directions to the Central government to take appropriate steps to restrict misuse of religion by candidates and political parties for electoral gains.
The petition has cited the Goswami Committee report and the suggestions made by the EC in its proposed electoral reforms in support of its plea for empowering the Commission to take cognizance and refer to investigating agencies the cases of misuse of religion for electoral gains by individual candidates and political parties.
Seeking directions from the top court, petitioner advocate Upadhyay has pointed to the “growing instances of misuse of religion by political parties and contesting candidates for electoral gains, and its appalling effect on secularism, unity and integrity of the Country”.
The PIL petitioner has, in support of his contention, referred to the 1990 report of the Goswami Committee on Electoral Reforms, the 1993 Vohra Committee report on the criminal-politician nexus, the 1998 Indrajit Gupta Committee report on State Funding of Elections, the report of the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution and other reports including that of the Law Commission and the 2008 Second Administrative Reforms Commission.
“The democratic institutions provided in the Constitution,” the PIL says, “are sound and the path for progress does not lie in denigrating any of these institutions.”
However, the PIL has contended that “there could be no denial that these institutions have been subjected to considerable stresses and strains and that vested interests have been trying to promote their selfish ends to the great detriment of public good.”
The PIL says it was in this backdrop that the Constitution was amended to expressly spell out “the high ideals of socialism, secularism, unity and integrity of the nation” and to make the directive principles more comprehensive and giving them “precedence over those fundamental rights, which have been allowed to be relied upon to frustrate socio-economic reforms for implementing the directive principles.”
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Entrepreneurship, News, Social Entrepreneur
Syed Usman Azhar serving free food below the Dabeerpura flyover in Hyderabad | K.R. Vinayan (file photo)
By Mohammed Shafeeq,
Hyderabad : Homeless beggars, ragpickers and labourers sitting with plates on a mat are waiting under a flyover. As the clock strikes 12.30 pm, a slim man appears on the scene and starts serving hot rice and dal.
Dabeerpura flyover in the old city has been witnessing this every day since 2012 and not a single day goes without the hungry gathering there for lunch or the man not serving them food. Meet Syed Osman Azhar Maqsusi, who works with unflinching zeal to satiate the hunger of the needy with apt slogan ‘hunger has no religion’.
As someone who lost his father at the age of four and who himself experienced the pangs of hunger, Azhar understands their pangs and is ready to do whatever possible to alleviate their suffering.
It was a chance encounter with a homeless woman near the same flyover six years ago which motivated him to launch the free food programme. “Lakshmi was crying due to hunger. I arranged food for her and decided to do everything within my limited means to remove the hunger of as many people as possible,” recalled the 36-year-old to IANS.
Initially, his wife used to cook the food at home and he used to bring the same to flyover for serving the needy. Later, he started cooking under the flyover to save the cost on transportation.
“It started with 30-35 people and today more than 150 people are being provided food here,” said Azhar, who now runs the Sani Welfare Foundation and has hired two cooks.
Three years ago, he extended this work to Gandhi Hospital, the biggest government-run facility in Secunderabad, the twin city of Hyderabad. A van of the foundation transports food for 150-200 people every day.
The Foundation along with NGOs is also running daily food programmes in Bengaluru, Guwahati, Raichur and Tandur.
Azhar is happy that the work which he started alone has motivated many individuals and organizations. “Today you can see many people distributing free food among the needy at various places in the city,” says Azhar with a sense of achievement.
He, however, believes that his dream will come true only when hunger is eliminated from this country and the world. “There should be nothing called hunger,” says Azhar.
He runs a Plaster-of-Paris unit near Dabeerpura and spends a few hours every morning and evening there. “The rest of the time I spend in arranging food at both the places,” said Azhar, who is helped by his brother, his cousin and a couple of volunteers on weekends.
As Azhar sat in his shop, a donor arrived with three bags of rice on his two-wheeler and Azhar himself unloaded the bags.
Last month, he was invited by actor Salman Khan to Mumbai for an event of his foundation “Being Human”. Selected as one of the six real-life heroes from across the country, Azhar had conversation and photoshoot with the actor. The social worker was earlier on a show ‘Aaj ki raat hai zindagi’ hosted by Amitabh Bacchan. Various organizations have also honoured him.
Azhar, however, remained down to earth. “I don’t have an office or staff. There is no change in my lifestyle.”
He doesn’t collect funds. “If people come with donations in the form of rice and dal, I accept it. I don’t accept cash unless the donor is not in a position to bring rice or dal,” he said.
Third among the four siblings, he dropped out of school when he was in fifth standard and started working as a labourer.
“We used to live in my grandfather’s house. He also had a big family to look after. We used to get food once a day and sometimes even that was not available. But whatever may be the situation, we should remain thankful to the almighty Allah.”
For Azhar, the biggest inspiration is his mother, who struggled to bring them up. He believes that Allah is arranging food for the hungry and the needy through him.
“It doesn’t matter who is coming to eat. All I know is they are hungry. It’s in their destiny. Dane dane pe likha hai khane wale ka naam (Every crumb you get to eat has your name on it),” adds Azhar.
(The weekly feature series is part of a positive-journalism project of IANS and the Frank Islam Foundation. Mohammed Shafeeq can be contacted at m.shafeeq@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews
Mini Mathur
By Durga Chakravarty,
New Delhi : “My CPR came in the form of Kabir Khan… He was a Khan not a Mathur; he was an atheist, which in the Mathur books is even worse than being a Muslim.” Seasoned TV host Mini Mathur, who made this statement in a video, says as long as people have faith, patriotism and loyalty, their religion must not be questioned.
Mini, a popular video jockey from the 1990s and one who was loved for her anchoring on “Indian Idol”, is married to ace filmmaker Kabir Khan of “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” fame. She did not tell her father about Kabir’s surname for a year before they got married. Now, they have two children — Vivaan, 14 and Sairah, 7.
Does she feel that there is still a mind-block about cross-cultural marriages?
“Well, I feel communalism is emphasised at the moment… I feel that a lot of religion talk is happening. I feel that religion and religious talk really means nothing for the next generation,” Mini told IANS over phone from Mumbai.
She says people “need to live lives happily with people who are cross-cultural”.
“People are marrying cross-culturally… I am product of a cross cultural marriage and we celebrate every religion.
“My best friend is Christian, my husband is Muslim. He is half Rao-Tamil Brahmin and half Pathan, and I am fully Kayasth. What are my children going to be? I have no clue… As long as they have faith, patriotism and loyalty, nobody should ask them what their religion is,” she said.
Mini is currently seen in TLC’s 10-part series “Mini Me”, along with her daughter Sairah. The mother-daughter duo ventured out on a trip across six countries in Europe for the show, also produced by Mini.
“It is my concept and I decided to do this for personal reasons. I said that I would go out there without a channel, sponsor and any brands on board because I didn’t want it to be fake or set up; I wanted it to be as organic and real in feel as possible. So I will go and shoot it and come back; we will see if it takes the form of a film, short film, documentary or series,” she said.
Mini and Sairah travelled across Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Montenegro, Croatia and Spain in an attempt to strengthen the mother-daughter bond.
Asked how important is it for parents to make quality time for their children, she said: “When you have children, it is important to realise that this is a lifelong responsibility and you can’t just have children to satisfy your maternal or paternal instinct.
“It’s a lifelong commitment and if you are not prepared to do it well or give it everything, then you shouldn’t do it.”
The 41-year-old says she worked non-stop when her two children were babies.
“Now that they are seven and 14, I feel they need more of my time. They need to talk to me every single day when they come back from school; so I do much slower work than I used to earlier. Now I only do stuff which means something, which means quality to me and I am indispensable to that project.
“If somebody can replace me, I don’t want to do that project.”
On her own bond with her children, she said: “I like to believe that I am pretty bada** and cool… I like to be somebody that they can relate to, that they don’t find outdated, somebody who speaks their language, who understands their problems over the years, and at the same time have a bond where they understand me as Mini, the person, and not relate to me only as Mini, the mother.”
(Durga Chakravarty can be contacted at durga.c@ians.in)
—IANS
