Film And Discussion
Sunday May 9 @ 1:30 p.m.
Cinema Room 1800 SFU Harbour Centre, 515 W. Hastings, Vancouver
Join us for a film screening of the acclaimed film Lal Salaam, a fictional account based on the ongoing social, political, and economic realities that are affecting Adivasis (“tribal people”) and fueling Naxalite movements. Cast includes award winning actors Nandita Das, Sharad Kapoor, Makrand Deshpande, Vijay Raj, and Rajpal Yadav.
For the past five decades, widespread neo-liberal globalisation in India, symbolized through mega-dam projects and special economic zones, have driven Adivasis off their lands and forced communities into starvation. Landowners and multi-national corporations have been supported by federal and state governments to industrialize and extract natural resources in Eastern and Central India, where the Maoist Naxalite movement has slowly grown. Naxalites are active in approximately 20 states, accounting for 40% of India’s total geographic area, focused within and around Adivasi communities. In the context of the War on Terror, the Indian government has declared the Maoists as the ‘single largest threat to India security’, recently mobilizing over 100,000 forces as part of Operation Greenhunt to target Naxal insurgents and continue forcible acquisition of Adivasi lands.
We encourage people to attend this critical event, featuring a film along with speakers and discussion. Organized by South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy, co sponsored by South Asian Film Education Society.
