‘War and Peace’, for me it was not just a documentary film, instead it acted as a podium for an non-ending discussion beyond the boundary of culture, language, class, sex and it could cross all the geographical restrictions also. ‘War and Peace’ had done by ‘Anand Patwardhan’, the famous documentary film maker of India. He became the creator of a set of sensational documentary films. Ram ke naam (in the name of god), Jai Bheem comrade are few among them.

Watching a documentary is entirely different for an individual viewer and community audiences while comparing to Films. The major difference between these two is ‘real content and artificial content’. In a cinema the film maker do an effective homework to make things available in his frames, none of the object will be allowed to float inside the frames without his / her permission! But in the documentary film making the whole idea is different, every single incident or an object, if it has got a serious face then it will definitely captured in the camera, also keeps as an essential tool in the sensible documentary film making. Anand Patwardhan is the very gifted documentary film maker in that sense. He use all the small pieces of the visuals efficiently in his films (own perception of the writer).

‘War and Peace’ starts with the narration of an incident took place in 1948, which was ‘Gandhiji’s Assassination’. The director narrated himself since the very beginning. He made The relation between the visuals, voiceover and his stand is clear in the docu in the beginning itself, he starts “Gandhiji was assassinated two years before I was born, and the grief of this moment never really went away, unconsciously transmitted through the love of parents and family, that our family like Nathuram Godse and his co assassins were upper caste Hindus cured me forever of any narrow understanding of nation.” Hindu nationalist organizations like Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh were banned soon after the incident took place, because Godse was nested in RSS’. The visuals played above the voice over, ‘Gandhiji’s body takes into the flames, ‘Agni’ received with the presence of the enormous crowd’ , as a very normal viewer felt a crucial pain inside the heart while watching it.

Gandhi was a man, who kept try to pour the peace and happiness throughout his life into the lives of the common men of this nation, and sacrificed his whole life for the same. Nobody expected his life will reach to an end by the mainstream Hindu violence;

The documentary takes diversion from here. It starts explaining about the nuclear bomb attack of US in Nagasakki and Hiroshima.

–      Just after the World War – II, most of the countries started believing that they will be powerful only if they clutch nuclear bombs in their lap, This thought guided Ruling Congress govt in 1974 and the BJP govt in 1998 to push India to the chair of ‘nation  with nuclear power’ (Pramod Mahajan’s speech elaborates about this in the documentary late r)

The documentary discuss about India’s first step to become the nuclear power nation. In 18 May 1974, the day of Buddha Jayati, India’s autocratic ruler as well as Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi took an initiative of the nuclear detonation in Pokhran (Pokhran I). The responsibility of detonation is handled by the Indian Army in their test range. The ruling BJP govt made 2nd initiative for detonation in the same place as Pokhran II — Cylindrical Underground Nuclear bomb, both of these parties leaders never forget the contribution of Dr. Raja Ramana, a nuclear scientist for setting up something like this confidentially as a leader.

India done the Pokhran II experiment on 13 May 1998 and Prime Minister AB Vajpayee’s state level announcement followed “greatly successful and India become the full-fledged nuclear state”, there were agitations begun inside and outside the country. India was not serious about the nuclear strength till the end of India-Pakistan war – 1971. Earlier there were discussions initiated by the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru with USSR, but it could ever reach the target till 1974. The sad part is that the first experiment mission they have conducted on the date of Buddha Jayanti and named the secret mission as “Smile of Buddha,” Buddha was the person who brought the people into the light of peace and purity, how can Buddha able to smile if his people believes that the strength is something related to the nuclear power.? Who gave the permission for them to use fame of a Historical / Religious figure for such an idiotic action?

The oligarchy may controlled by the Congress family but not this biggest nation’s culture and people. The term usage has become controversial and protests arise against it.

Against the strong and continues agitations in1998, the BJP government worked out a promotional video on Indian Military and its strength with newly made nuclear bomb. Something can pour national emotion on the innocent minds.

After the initial discussion, the documentary film maker brings us to the path of Pokhran and to the places near the ‘nuclear test zone’ (Pokhran I and II); all must know that this place was chosen by the Indian Military already as a firing range. There is a poor village just 15Kms far from the Pokhran test site, Anand Patwardhan could drafts a clear diagram between his camera and the viewer, which extends the discussion into the issues facing by the people due to the recent nuclear tests. When the state detonate the bomb the whole villagers were watching it – they hear the noise and saw the smog accumulation, but they did not know how much crucial of its after effect. There were 14 people had a direct interaction with the test or we say the cancer disease find an easy reach to the 14 poor villagers. Government never sit idle, they send a special medical team and convinced the poor people and said “It’s not because of the nuclear explosion.”

Now the state got the power, what if the poor villagers lost it?

The documentary leads you from the village to other parts of the country and into Pakistan as well. There were mixed reactions arises from the people. Some people of the country thought “Wouldn’t it offer a little confidence when your nation proves its power” But it cannot reduce your fear rather accumulate mre fear and anxiety, when you hear that your neighbor country also became powerful with the nuclear bombs how can your confidence will balance? The history proved that all the bombs which used or placed above the poor people. It never misplaced just above the heads of the authorities or political ideologists, who might plan for the creation of such items.

The documentary captures visuals from our neighboring nation Pakistan, and it shows the artists as well as activists who works for the peace between these two nations. The road and transport relations between India and Pakistan had to close for such a long time after India’s Pokhran II experiment. In India the peaceful agitation begun in the anniversary day of Pokran test, it was a rally to cover 100s of villages with walk of 1500Kms. They collected signatures from the villages against nuclear bombs. But the local BJP activists and leaders blocked them at the entrance of Pokhran. There were a clever game BJP and Sangh Privar played in that climate, they usually misunderstand the poor people of the nation to win on the vote-bank politics. Injecton of communal poison in the hearts of innocent people is the strategy they found and used from the history till now. In another documentary named ‘Ram ke naam’ done by Anand Patwardan is deeply discussed about the making of communal violence for vote-bank politics and just before the Babary Masjid Demolition by Kar Sevaks. Rakesh Sharma’s Final Solution is another good example. AB Vajpayee become the Atom Bomb Vajpeyee for the BJP and crew, now he is not there under the light but shadow– that is another politics, need not have to discuss here. These peace protesters asked to go to Pakistan by the BJP-Sangh cohorts.

What was the result of the whole? That clearly explained in the documentary. Pakistan crossed the line of control (LoC) at Kashmir and another India-Pak war opened after 1974. 100s of Indian soldiers lost their lives while flushing them back. Somewhere we felt the dangerous situation come face to face for exchange nuclear bombs. Like how Patwardhan explained “every war is just a war and every enemy devil in calm night”.  The television brought out the war visuals into our living room, and we understood the depth of every visual and the crying of war affected people. The snow filled ‘tiger hills’ of Kashmir filled with smog made by Rajive’s  Bofors guns. “The war has brought death to many for a few it brings fresh opportunity.  The BJP national politicians met a good opportunity for the next general elections and Indian corporate companies accumulated a large amount of money from special ‘War advertisements and special live programs’. Of course NDTV Journalist Burka Dutt awarded much better journalistic popularity from her war coverage.

What Congress received from Gandhi’s saying and What BJP-Sangh Parivar cohorts received from the India’s Culture are balanced. And we felt both political outfits are vicious on the people!

Now I shall ask you, War and Peace, Which one you will opt?

– Murali Margassery

  muralimargassery@hotmail.com