On November 9, 2023, filmmaker, actor and author Sudhanva Deshpande released a statement against the “disinformation campaign” being run by times now against him and Professor Sharmistha Saha. Through the statement, Deshpande has referred to a programme that was run by Times Now wherein they made derogatory statements against Prof. Saha and Deshpande and referred to them as Hamas supporters and apologists.
On November 6, a lecture was held at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) wherein a 2004 documentary film, ‘Arna’s Children’, made by Juliano Mer Khamis, an Israeli Jewish filmmaker, actor and theatre director was shown. As an introduction to the documentary, Deshpande had been invited to give a lecture by Prof. Saha. Certain students attending the lecture and otherwise have deemed the introductory lecture to be pro-Hamas and pro-violence. Furthermore, objections have been raised by some over the alleged glorification of “militant terrorists” by Deshpande. A complaint has now been registered against Prof. Saha, which questions the appropriateness of the professor’s actions in extending the invitation.
What did the show entail?
On November 8, a programme was run by the Times Now with the title “IITians alleg Prof. Saha for inviting filmmaker who glorified Palestinian terrorist”. The show opened with the following statement- “Mumbai: Hamas Backers get a Stage”. The host can be heard stating that “the heart of the Hamas backers continue to bleed, not for the innocents butchered by them but for the terrorists who picked up arms in the garb of freedom.”
This story was originally published in sabrangindia.in. Read the full story here .
