Global protest against Bollywood's support to promote Sri Lanka
To
Brand Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan & the Advisory members of India International Film Academy (IIFA)
Wizcraft International Entertainment, Subbas Joseph, Viraf Sarkari, Andre Timmins
Hritik Roshan, Salman Khan, Ameer Khan, Anil Kapoor, Lara Dutta, Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi, Irani Boman and the other artists planning to go to Sri Lanka.
Sponsors of IIFA: Videocon, Micromedia, Starplus TV, Panasonic, Shoppers Stop, Linc pens Idea, Grey goose, Reebok and other sponsors,
Organisations and supporters :
FICCI Management and participating members.
Unicef, Habitat for Humanity
Sir/Madam,
We, the concerned global citizens and lovers of Bollywood films demanding the “Wizcraft International entertainment” the organising company of India International Film Academy (IIFA) and its advisory board to move its award ceremony 2010 from Sri Lanka to some other country until justice is found.
As you are aware, war crimes against Tamil community by the Sri Lankan Government, and its military services are being exposed after investigation by many international human rights organisations (Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group) and particularly by the United Nations. Through media, we are witnessing the cruel proof of genocide of Tamils, unacceptable to the civilized world. [1], [2], [3], and [4]
Holding the IIFA awards celebrations in Colombo, will only help Sri Lanka hide its war crimes and ongoing ethnic cleansing.
We, who love Indian movies, its music and its dramatic stories, say that:
We are shocked that our favourite actors, actresses and musicians of Bollywood are becoming “collaborators” of Sri Lanka which is accused of massacring over 40,000 innocent men, women and children in the last days of the war. Sri Lanka also runs Nazi-style internment camps of nearly 150,000 Tamil civilians behind barbed wires depriving them food, medical care and proper hygiene since last year breaking international laws and Geneva Convention. [5]
Killing of more than 400 South Indian fishermen and wounding a thousand of them is also directly attributed to the Lankan Navy inside Indian waters and international waters. We are saddened to see the shocking footage of Channel 4 News (UK) which uncovered chilling evidence of point-blank executions of Tamils at the end of the war, carried out by uniformed Sri Lankan soldiers under orders from the top. [6]
“Human Rights Watch” (HRW) has released on May 20, 2010 a few pictures as samples of torture and killing of a Tamil man by Sri Lankan soldiers. HRW has in their possession, 200 of those horrible photos and videos as proof of Sri Lankan war crimes against Tamil population. [7]
Confirmations of stories are being exposed that the Sri Lankan army had knowingly slaughtered civilians and rebels who surrendered with white flags. [8] Evidences of mass burials of Tamil men, women and children by the Sri Lankan soldiers are surfacing daily, identical to such scenes of dead bodies of Jewish victims of the Nazi Germany. [9]
We are joining the world leaders like Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel and Nelson Mandela in protesting against Sri Lanka’s war crimes of Tamils. [10]
We hope for the humane decision of actor and brand Ambasador of IIFA Amitabh Bachchan, to avoid the Bollywood celebrations in Colombo after listening to the Tamils. It is reported that his family members Aiswari Rai and Abishekh Bachchan will also skip the event. Shah Rukh Khan has also announced that we won't be participating in this event. [11]
We learn that the entire South Indian cinema related organisations (actors, actresses, directors, producers, distributors, technicians and theatre owners) have declared in a joint statement boycotting the IIFA event in Sri Lanka. They are also requesting the North Indian colleagues to do the same as symbol of solidarity with the Tamil people. [12]
We request the directors and member companies of FICCI follow the examples of well known Indians like Mr. Narayanamoorthy of Infosys and Dr. Swaminathan, the agricultural expert, who have refused to work with SriLanka. [13]
We would like to remind you that, today, even after more than sixty years of Jewish and Armenian genocide in Europe, war criminals and collaborators are being hunted and punished around the world.
We are convinced, through their communiqués that the main objective of the Wizcraft, IIFA and Sri Lanka partnership is to promote Sri Lankan tourism. “Cricket for charity” as announced by them lately is nothing but a philanthropical gimmick.
Sri Lankan Tamils need LIBERTY not CHARITY. It is an insult added to their wounds.
In these circumstances, we request the Wizcraft, India International Film Academy (IIFA) and Bollywood artists to change the location to any other country other than Sri Lanka. Failing to do so is a disservice to the film industry of India, unpatriotic to India, unsympathetic to Tamil victims and disrespect to the Bollywood fans around the world.
Thank you for signing the petition.
To
Brand Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan & the Advisory members of India International Film Academy (IIFA)
Wizcraft International Entertainment, Subbas Joseph, Viraf Sarkari, Andre Timmins
Hritik Roshan, Salman Khan, Ameer Khan, Anil Kapoor, Lara Dutta, Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi, Irani Boman and the other artists planning to go to Sri Lanka.
Sponsors of IIFA: Videocon, Micromedia, Starplus TV, Panasonic, Shoppers Stop, Linc pens Idea, Grey goose, Reebok and other sponsors,
Organisations and supporters :
FICCI Management and participating members.
Unicef, Habitat for Humanity
Sir/Madam,
We, the concerned global citizens and lovers of Bollywood films demanding the “Wizcraft International entertainment” the organising company of India International Film Academy (IIFA) and its advisory board to move its award ceremony 2010 from Sri Lanka to some other country until justice is found.
As you are aware, war crimes against Tamil community by the Sri Lankan Government, and its military services are being exposed after investigation by many international human rights organisations (Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group) and particularly by the United Nations. Through media, we are witnessing the cruel proof of genocide of Tamils, unacceptable to the civilized world. [1], [2], [3], and [4]
Holding the IIFA awards celebrations in Colombo, will only help Sri Lanka hide its war crimes and ongoing ethnic cleansing.
We, who love Indian movies, its music and its dramatic stories, say that:
We are shocked that our favourite actors, actresses and musicians of Bollywood are becoming “collaborators” of Sri Lanka which is accused of massacring over 40,000 innocent men, women and children in the last days of the war. Sri Lanka also runs Nazi-style internment camps of nearly 150,000 Tamil civilians behind barbed wires depriving them food, medical care and proper hygiene since last year breaking international laws and Geneva Convention. [5]
Killing of more than 400 South Indian fishermen and wounding a thousand of them is also directly attributed to the Lankan Navy inside Indian waters and international waters. We are saddened to see the shocking footage of Channel 4 News (UK) which uncovered chilling evidence of point-blank executions of Tamils at the end of the war, carried out by uniformed Sri Lankan soldiers under orders from the top. [6]
“Human Rights Watch” (HRW) has released on May 20, 2010 a few pictures as samples of torture and killing of a Tamil man by Sri Lankan soldiers. HRW has in their possession, 200 of those horrible photos and videos as proof of Sri Lankan war crimes against Tamil population. [7]
Confirmations of stories are being exposed that the Sri Lankan army had knowingly slaughtered civilians and rebels who surrendered with white flags. [8] Evidences of mass burials of Tamil men, women and children by the Sri Lankan soldiers are surfacing daily, identical to such scenes of dead bodies of Jewish victims of the Nazi Germany. [9]
We are joining the world leaders like Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel and Nelson Mandela in protesting against Sri Lanka’s war crimes of Tamils. [10]
We hope for the humane decision of actor and brand Ambasador of IIFA Amitabh Bachchan, to avoid the Bollywood celebrations in Colombo after listening to the Tamils. It is reported that his family members Aiswari Rai and Abishekh Bachchan will also skip the event. Shah Rukh Khan has also announced that we won't be participating in this event. [11]
We learn that the entire South Indian cinema related organisations (actors, actresses, directors, producers, distributors, technicians and theatre owners) have declared in a joint statement boycotting the IIFA event in Sri Lanka. They are also requesting the North Indian colleagues to do the same as symbol of solidarity with the Tamil people. [12]
We request the directors and member companies of FICCI follow the examples of well known Indians like Mr. Narayanamoorthy of Infosys and Dr. Swaminathan, the agricultural expert, who have refused to work with SriLanka. [13]
We would like to remind you that, today, even after more than sixty years of Jewish and Armenian genocide in Europe, war criminals and collaborators are being hunted and punished around the world.
We are convinced, through their communiqués that the main objective of the Wizcraft, IIFA and Sri Lanka partnership is to promote Sri Lankan tourism. “Cricket for charity” as announced by them lately is nothing but a philanthropical gimmick.
Sri Lankan Tamils need LIBERTY not CHARITY. It is an insult added to their wounds.
In these circumstances, we request the Wizcraft, India International Film Academy (IIFA) and Bollywood artists to change the location to any other country other than Sri Lanka. Failing to do so is a disservice to the film industry of India, unpatriotic to India, unsympathetic to Tamil victims and disrespect to the Bollywood fans around the world.
Thank you for signing the petition.