ACT NOW!!

AHAD Gives Voice to Hindu Sentiments Against Eyes Wide Shut

The following statement was issued by Ajay Shah, Convenor, American Hindus Against Defamation, in response to the decision by Executive Producer of Eyes Wide Shut to edit out the Bhagwad Gita shloka from the UK and other foreign distribution of the movie.

American Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD) is pleased to hear that the executive producer of the movie, based in UK has decided take note of the protest by AHAD and its sister organizations in UK and around the world and edit out the Hindu shloka (verse ) from the movie Eyes Wide Shut.

AHAD congratulates the Hindu community for coming together to protest the misuse of Shree Bhagwad Gita. Within just a week of launching the protest, over 700 people signed the online protest (http://www.hindunet.org/ahad/eyes), and in the same week, during the Dharma Sansad (gathering of Hindu religious heads in USA) held in Austin, TX, an overwhelming majority of 500 Hindus present protested the use of shloka in this movie.

AHAD also thanks its sister organizations in UK (VHP, Temple Council, HSS etc), India, the Caribbean countries, etc. who rallied the Hindus around the world to protest the inclusion of this verse. This was indeed a global protest.

AHAD thanks the widow of Mr. Kubrick Ms. Christiane Kubrick and the Executive Producer of the movie Jan Varlan for their role in removing the offending placement of the verse from the movie.

This is the fourth incident that AHAD coalition has successfully taken up. AHAD, in past protested the distortion of Lord Krishna's picture on Aerosmith's Nine Lives cover, inclusion of Hindu deities at the Karma Club in Chicago, and improper portrayal of Hindu deities in Universal Studio's Xena : Warrior Princess show.

When thousands of Hindus watched the latest movie by Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, "Eyes Wide Shut" they were stunned.  While they have been admirers of the stars, what lay ahead, was completely unexpected.

The orgy scene in the middle of the movie has the recitation of the verse from the Bhagwad Gita, one of the most revered Hindu scripture.  The shloka

Parithranaya Saadhunam Vinashaya cha dushkrithaam Dharmasamsthabanarthaya Sambhavami yuge yuge

which means :

"Whenever there is a decline of Dharma and the rise of Adharma,O Arjun, then I Shree Krishna manifest (or incarnate) Myself. I incarnate from time to time for protecting the good, for transforming the wicked, and for establishing Dharma"

American Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD) expresses shock and dismay on behalf of a billion strong Hindu community in the world at the insensitivity expressed by Warner Brothers at the depiction of this key Hindu verse.

AHAD was contacted by hundreds of individuals and scores of Hindu organizations, urging us to give voice to the Hindu resentment against the misuse of Bhagwad Gita. 

AHAD sent a message to Warner Brothers on August 3, 1999, stating the following :

There appears to be no connection, or apparent justification for the use of this shloka in the movie. It appears to be totally out of context!

We, American Hindus Against Defamation are baffled,
disgusted and annoyed by the use of the shloka, and
fail to understand your intent and the relevance of
its usage. We have also been contacted by major media
organizations, including BBC-London, NY Post, etc.,
seeking our comments.

Before we make any comments to them, we have decided to first contact you and seek a prompt and honest explanation as to why it was decided to use this scripture during this scene in the movie. We
are not launching a protest at this time, however, we
do request an explanation as soon as possible.

[end of excerpts from the letter]

Now, we regret to inform the Hindu community that although we have been able to talk to the representatives of Warner Brothers, we have not received any explanation from Warner Brothers about the use of this scriptural quote in writing.

We are therefore assuming that Warner Brothers either does not care about the sentiments of Hindus or treats this matter casually or has a vested interest in delaying the response. 

On behalf of the Hindu community AHAD demands that :

1. Warner Brothers apologize to the Hindu community for this indiscriminate and abusive use of Hindu scripture.

2. The movie be altered to remove this shloka.

3. CD containing this shloka (verse) be withdrawn and re-released.

4. The video distribution of this movie not contain this shloka (verse)

5. The TV/cable distribution of this movie not contain this shloka (verse)

We certainly hope that Warner Brothers has depicted this Hindu shloka in the movie as an oversight and not to hurt the sentiments of a billion strong Hindu community around the world.  We are also certain that Warner Brothers will respect the demands we have made above.  If Warner Brothers does not accept the Hindu demands, the Hindu community will not be a silent spectator to the humiliation of its religious beliefs and scriptures.