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Earth, Cracking India in Clinton's briefing kit

Aseem Chhabra

When US President Bill Clinton arrives in South Asia in a couple of days, his views about the human aspects of the India-Pakistan conflict may have been, at least partially, impacted by two works of art -- director Deepa Mehta's 1999 film, Earth and writer Bapsi Sidhwa's 1990 novel, Cracking India, the basis for the movie.

Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Karl F Inderfurth has sent him a video of the film and the book to be included in the briefing kit for his visit to the Indian subcontinent.

Earth, India's official entry for the 1999 Oscars for best foreign film, deals with the effects of Partition on a group of people in Lahore.

"The copy of the video was by sent over (to the White House) by Mr Inderfurth," Leonard Scensny, public affairs advisor for the South Asian Bureau at the State Department told rediff.com "I heard him say it. So I know it is true."

"He [Inderfurth] had seen the film and was very impressed by it," Scensny added. "He thought it was a very good -- well, I am not speaking about [being] accurate -- but [as] a very good introduction to the passions that were aroused by Partition. So he thought it would be a useful thing for the President to watch."

Neither the White House and the National Security Council press offices nor Scensny could confirm whether Clinton had seen Mehta's film.

Clinton is a movie-buff. He was a recent guest on film critic Roger Ebert's popular television show where he listed some of his favorite films. Among them is last year's best foreign film Oscar winner, Life is Beautiful, which deals with the Holocaust. Mehta's Earth also focuses on what many people have described as the South Asian holocaust.

Bapsi Sidhwa, reached at her home in Houston, Texas, told rediff.com that Inderfurth first saw Earth at a screening on November 4 in Washington DC.

"There were 30 officers from the State Department present at the screening," Sidhwa said. "This was a fund-raiser and I imagine the State Department was informed of it."

Most officials sat through the question and answer session that followed the screening, Sidhwa said. Later Inderfurth and some colleagues approached Sidhwa and Mehta and discussed the possibility of meeting with the two the next day.

"I had already left for Houston, so Mr Inderfurth called instead," Sidhwa said. "He said he had loved the film and was going to read the book (Cracking India)."

She added that Inderfurth was also interested in her opinion on the political changes in Pakistan, including the coup that brought General Pervez Musharraf to power.

Recently, Inderfurth had another telephone conversation with Sidhwa where he told her that he had read Cracking India. He added that both the book and a video of Earth were going to be included in Clinton's briefing kit.

Sidhwa said two of her books -- Cracking India and The Crow Eaters (1980) have been "mandatory reading" for American officials visiting Pakistan.

In December 1998, at a screening of Earth in New York City, Nicholas Platt, president of the Asia Society said he read Cracking India before he assumed the post of US ambassador to Pakistan in 1991.

"So Mr Clinton could do a lot worse than read Cracking India to get a grasp of the situation, not only as it existed, but as it exists today -- the bias and fears and tensions between different religious groups that brought about the Partition in the first place," Sidhwa said.

"Cracking India is not about the politics of Partition, although politics plays a large role in the narrative, and there is enough about the politics of that time to place the characters and incidents in historical context."

Sidhwa said she was not under the misconception that Clinton would have only read her book or seen Earth to understand the conflict between India and Pakistan.

"I am sure Bill Clinton will have access to several politico-historical points of view about the partition written by academics and advisers," she said.

"They [Clinton's advisers] are very savvy people. They probably know everything that is to be known about the Partition of India."

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