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Black Friday: Who is responsible?
S P Singh
 It
is a sheer coincidence that I saw Black Friday on the same day
that the Samjhauta Express was hit by a blast near Panipat city.
That day, the imagery in the movie, on satellite channels and in
newspapers was the same. Mangled iron, mutilated bodies, white
sheets as make-do coffins, police searching for clues rather
than survivors, ministers making readymade statements announcing
inquiries and relief - everything was the same.
What was not same was the
movie had Hindus as victims, whereas the Samjhauta train had
Muslims and Hindus.
Black Friday to me was a
simple, pure depiction of events as they had happened. The
break-up of the movie in chapters was unique. It forced the
audience to break their chain of thought and concentrate on what
the storyteller wanted to say.
The truthful depiction is
strong and stark. One can see the brutality of the police and
those of the criminals without veneer of any kind. It is a shame
that the moviemaker, Anurag Kashyap had to approach the Supreme
Court of India to ensure the release of the movie. The creative
stamp of Anurag Kashyap -writer, director, dialogue-writer, can
be seen in every frame of the movie.
It is a crying shame that
the Censor Board awards Adult certification to cinema like Amu,
Parzania and Black Friday and allows the vulgar gyrations of
Indian actresses to be viewed by children. It is further
disturbing that La Tagore, inspite of all her tall talk has not
brought about any change in the thought processes and attitude
of the Censor Board of India.
I saw the movie as a
political activist. I found that the movie had everything except
the much needed socio-political dialogue. Why do such events
happen? Who is responsible?
Is it only the "extremists"
on "both sides" who should share the blame or somebody else as
well? What was the role of the State?
The movie shows gory details
of the deeds of the perpetrators, but the dialogue of the police
chief with journalists pooh-poohs the importance of human rights
in such trying circumstances. I could see the Indian state
laughing aloud during that scene, almost telling me, "Look we
have been saying so, human rights of victims is very important,
human rights of criminals is not!" Black Friday does not provide
a clue, but the really real portrayal raises a question, to
which neither the Indian state, nor its people and civil society
have given a comprehensive answer, "Are such incidents only law
and order problems?" Those of us, who are keen to search for
answers, watch Black Friday.
22 February, 2007
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