Prakash Jha and Anuradha Mishra interviewed by Pragya Jha
Prakash Jha and Anuradha Mishra are trying to do something which will not typically attract attention and support from many because it is neither an election issue nor a vote grabbing matter. Yes, who will like to talk about the plight of displaced Hindus from Pakistan! Well, Prakash Jha and his team have decided to make a movie on this issue. NewsGram's team member Pragya caught up with them to listen to their ideas and deeds! Here we go:
- Tell us about yourself and your production house? We (Prakash Jha and Anuradha Mishra) are trained from India Today Media Institute in the past, and now own a start up production house P2P Productions and a charitable trust Samvedana.
- What inspired you to make this documentary? We accidentally came to know about these Pakistani Hindus residing in Delhi while we were making clips on slum of Delhi about 9 months ago. When we first saw the condition of these people in refugee camps, there was a curiosity which kept on increasing to know why they left their motherland and now struggling with basic needs in India. We wanted to know about their life in Pakistan and the difference which came in their lives after coming to India. From a child to the eldest one in the refugee camp, everyone can recount their sufferings for being a Hindu, a religious minority in Pakistan. Basically, they are going through "silent" religious persecution in Pakistan which not many know about and nothing has been ever done to help these people. Since we are trained in audio- visual communications and it's one of the most powerful media to raise awareness, we have decided to help them through this way.
- What is the aim of this documentary? The aim of this documentary is to raise awareness globally about the religious persecution of Pakistani Hindus, the reason they are running away to India. We want to use this documentary as a pitching tool for different organisations and authorities which in turn will help in their resettlement who are migrating to India and struggling for basic needs in refugee camps.We are sure the documentary will help them getting many helping hands and things will change in fast pace.
- What are the challenges that you are now facing with the documentary? The biggest challenge that we are facing currently is financial support. And for that, we are doing crowd-funding , which has garnered a good amount of attention in media. Our aim is not to just make a simple documentary but to market it well in order to get these displaced people some sort of support. We also want to cover as many parts as possible in India where these displaced Pakistani Hindus have taken refuge. Related Article: What is my Identity-An Indian or Pakistani5
- How are you overcoming these challenges? As mentioned, we are doing crowd-funding and trying to bring different people along with us to support this cause. We are also talking to different Human Rights Organisations who can support us in this endeavour. We have created a facebook page and a website with a name-"Who am I- Pakistani or Indian" a few months ago to connect with people who want to help these people somehow.
- Which are the organizations that are helping you? Organisations like Hindu Human Rights, London and Global Human Rights Defence are helping us in this endeavor.
- How many team members are currently working on this documentary? There are 2 core team members that are us- Prakash Jha and Anuradha Mishra, and we are completely involved in this project. Besides this, we have 4 other efficient team members who are involved in some way or the other.
- We wish that your documentary reaches a global platform if this documentary comes to be a great success than how it would change the life of the Hindus Pakistani? The documentary aims not be a documentary only. It aims to deliver the story with the perspective of these displaced Hindus. The documentary will reach out globally and will be a tool to pitch different human rights organisations, who have ignored these people since forever and we wish to see the change in the positive direction and expect them to help in their resettlement, plus it will surely divert the world's attention towards the atrocities they face daily in Pakistan and a different kind struggle which goes on after coming to India. Global awareness could end half of their problems. The readers may follow the links for more details: a) Crowd-funding at Ketto: https://www.ketto.org/whoamifilm b) Website: http://whoami.p2pproductions.in/ c) Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/whoamip2p/