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WATCH: Muslim family forced to leave theater for ‘disrespecting’ national anthem

November 30, 2015

New Delhi: A Muslim family was made to leave a theatre in Mumbai after they allegedly refused to stand for the national anthem.

A video showing a group people excoriating the Muslim family for not standing up when the national anthem was playing allegedly in PVR Kurla, Mumbai has gone viral on the social media.

The over two-minute video clip shared on YouTube on Monday shows the family, surrounded by a group of people, trying to defend their stand, but in vain.

One agitated man can be seen and heard threatening to slap one of the Muslims. “Thappad marunga mai (I’ll slap you)”.

In the end, the family was forced to leave the theatre amid applause from the people present there apparently welcoming the move.

Here’s the video:

Actors Rajat Kapoor and Gaurav Kapur emphasised that playing “Jana Gana Mana…” in cinema halls is a bit “misplaced”.

Can we please stop playing the national anthem before a film screening? Can we?
Or we must wear our patriotism on the sleeve at all times

— Rajat Kapoor (@mrrajatkapoor) November 30, 2015

Gaurav shared:

I love singing my National Anthem. But I don't like being forced to sing it before a film. That's a mild kind of fascism isn't it.

— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) November 30, 2015

National Anthem is great before any India sporting encounter. That's the mood. I feel it's a little misplaced before a film.

— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) November 30, 2015

Here are some other reactions on the incident:

It is not an offence to remain seated if the National Anthem plays in a theatre. (Source: https://t.co/aGlBSDoxl2) pic.twitter.com/QL0egzFsNk

— Suprateek Chatterjee (@SupraMario) November 30, 2015

Why what's wrong in playing the national anthem before films? Next you will say lets not play on 15th Aug. too. https://t.co/yxUzpTIbP1

— Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) November 30, 2015

“Hate Story” maker Vivek Agnihotri posted that “playing (the) national anthem before a movie is a redundant idea but also know that no one in a civilised society would refuse to stand up”.

Meanwhile, singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya felt it was an “Insult to #NationalAnthem” if one avoids standing up.

Stand-up comedian and writer Sorabh Pant agreed, and shared: “We should all stand for our national anthem. But: getting kicked out for not? And, it playing before ‘Calendar Girls’ – is that patriotism?”

It wasn’t only celebrities who raised their voice against the stir.

One user opined: “If you need to compel someone to stand up to respect the national anthem, that’s a battle that’s lost already”, while another asked: “What the hell is ‘Muslim family’? They’re Indians and they must stand up for national anthem instead of disrespecting”.

(With inputs from IANS)

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World

Rohingya Muslims Remain Fearful Due To Forceful Repatriation

Another man who was informed he was on the list told VOA he witnessed troops killing people from his village

NewsGram Desk

November 9, 2018

Rohingya, Myanmar, refugees — Rohingya refugee women wait outside of a medical center at Jamtoli camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. VOA

Rohingya Muslims who fled a brutal military campaign in Myanmar last year are living in fear after being told they are on a list of over 2,200 people due to be forcibly returned to the country this month.

Some have said they are considering taking their own lives to avoid being sent back to Rakhine state, where Myanmar’s military is accused of waging a genocidal campaign of mass murder and rape.

“If we go back, they can kill us, they can torture us. We have already lost everything once,” said one man from the Jamtoli camp, speaking on the condition of anonymity, who was told by camp officials he is on the list along with his family.

Bangladesh and Myanmar last month struck a deal to begin returning Rohingya refugees by “mid-November”. The 2,200 names were picked from a list of 8,000 that Bangladesh gave to Myanmar in February.

Bangladesh’s refugee relief and rehabilitation commissioner, Abul Kalam, has told Human Rights Watch the Rohingya on the list “were not chosen because they particularly wanted to go back.”

More than 730,000 Rohingya have fled into Bangladesh since August last year from what UN investigators say is genocide. Myanmar has consistently denied the charge and says the campaign was a legitimate response to what it called terrorist attacks.

The UN’s Special Rapporteur on human rights for Myanmar, Yanghee Lee,has called on both countries to scrap the plan to return people this month, warning Rohingya face a “high risk of persecution” if returned.

The plan may also “violate obligations under customary international law to uphold the principle of non-refoulement,” she added.

“Bangladesh should not be sending anyone at this time,” Nay San Lwin, a Rohingya activist, told VOA. “Forcing survivors and refugees back to the killing fields where genocide is still going on is complicity in genocide.”

A humanitarian who works closely with the Rohingya community in Bangladesh said that, although Rohingya at Jamtoli had been told they are on the list, names had not yet been officially confirmed. Until the UN’s refugee agency receives an official list from the Bangladeshi government, “we’re not entirely sure,” who is due to be returned, they said.

They added that they were aware of one man who had attempted suicide after hearing he was on the list: “The issue is that the lack of clarity and communication alone is already causing harm regardless of whether repatriation actually starts.”

Rohingya, India — Some Rohingya children and a woman at an unidentified refugee colony in West Bengal, eastern India. VOA

Rohingya who believe they are on the list told VOA that a block leader in their camp said they would be moved to another location inside Bangladesh on November 12 in preparation for their return.

Myanmar has this year built “reception centers” and “transit camps” to house and process the expected returnees.

The facilities are surrounded by barbed wire and security posts, and advocates fear the camps could become permanent homes for returning Rohingya. “They are like concentration camps,” said Nay San Lwin.

Myanmar government spokesperson Zaw Htay told VOA he could not comment for this story.

The Rohingya man from the Jamtoli camp in Bangladesh, who was told his family was on the list last week, said his mother recently fainted from the stress.

As he was fleeing Rakhine state in September last year he saw his nephew and son-in-law shot dead, he said.

“Other families who are being sent back are crying loudly, all day and night,” he told VOA. “One family on the list have lost their parents. They’re crying, they have no one to look after them.”

One of the Rohingya Refugees settled in the hut with their fifth child . BENAR.

Another man who was informed he was on the list told VOA he witnessed troops killing people from his village as he fled Rakhine state at the end of August last year. “They were killing everyone, small children, the elderly, everyone,” he said.

Also Read: Should Promote Human Rights More in Myanmar: Facebook

Earlier this week two block leaders – Rohingya volunteers who help refugees communicate with officials – approached him with a form and asked how many family members he has, and for a picture of the head of the family.

He refused, he said, and an argument ensued. “We will never agree to go,” he told them. “If they make us go we will take our own lives here, this is our final decision.” (VOA)