New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj today said she would raise in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament the issue of attacks on Hindu beliefs in Bollywood movies and asked like-minded people from various parties to join hands.
"I came to know about the attack on Hindu beliefs in two recent movies - 'Oh my God' and 'Student of the Year'. In the latter, there are references to Radha not knowing how to dance and being invited to the dance floor to learn dancing. Why is it that the attack in films is only on Hindu beliefs and on names like Sita, Radha and Kaushalya," she asked.
She was speaking at a cow protection program organised by the RSS here. Swaraj said some names are revered by Hindus and these are shown in a bad light in Bollywood movies.
"There are thousands of names so why pick on these names? We will raise this issue in the forthcoming Parliament session and demand that this be stopped," Swaraj said. She maintained that other religions are not touched by the filmmakers for fear of reprisal but this is not the case with Hinduism.
"Some politicians tell me that they are not able to raise such issues due to their political affiliation or as their party does not permit. Others say you raise it and we will support while lend tacit support," she said. Another issue the BJP leader plans to raise is the complaint against the BSF of not sharing details of cow smuggling done at the Indo-Bangladesh border. She announced that she and Shiv Sena MP Chandrakant Khaire- who was present on the dais- will demand an answer from the government in Parliament on the issue.
Swaraj emphasised on the need for cow protection and putting a stop to cow slaughter. She said India does not buy dairy products from the US as they feed meat to their cows. "When US President Barack Obama last visited India, the US Ambassador to India had lamented that India does not buy US dairy products. I said this is not possible due to cultural and religious issues- our cows are vegetarian. We feed them mustard oil cakes and cotton seeds," Swaraj said.
She told the US envoy that India was buying dairy products from Australia as they had agreed after elaborate negotiations that they will not feed meet to the cows whose products they sell to India. Cow protection, an issue dear to several Hindus, has always been strongly espoused by the BJP and the RSS. It has even raised this issue in some states during elections. Swaraj dwelt at length on how cow rearing helps in poverty alleviation in some countries and this model- which is already time tested in India- can be widely adopted here.
"Our Prime Minister had said that it is a matter of shame that our country is suffering from cow protection. Saying so will not solve the problem, Mr Prime Minister. You will have to do something," she said.
She also referred to the Cow Bank Initiative of Vietnam which had helped the country in poverty alleviation. Swaraj said she has also opened 800 milk centres in her constituency Vidisha and donated cows through a state government scheme to help the poor.
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