Kalpana Nair spoke to the director about what it takes to make a truly national blockbuster. But while calls from the American far right insist this international peace accord is a mistake, few recognize what this deal truly means for the Islamic Republic of Iran. It isn’t just about economic stability and international security, though those are important. Perhaps most significantly, President Rouhani’s tweet declares that this deal is also about Iran fulfilling its Islamic obligations — obligations that Prophet Muhammad ordered and exemplified in his unrivaled rules of war and negotiation 14 centuries prior.
To be clear, Iran’s domestic human rights record leaves much to be desired. On the international front, however, we see a subtly different picture. Iran has not invaded another country in centuries. This, despite the United States overthrowing Iran’s democratically elected government in 1953, aiding Iraq in invading Iran with the use of chemical weapons on Iranian soldiers in 1980, and maintaining economic sanctions for over a decade.
But this history makes the role that Prophet Muhammad’s rules of war and negotiation play that much more significant.
By 628 A.D., Muslims had suffered for nearly two decades, starting with brutal persecution and boycott in Mecca that forced them to flee to Medina for safety, where they were later forced to defend themselves against yet more attacks. In January of that year Prophet Muhammad and his companions met with Suhayl ibn Amr, leader of the Meccan Army at a place called Hudaybiah. After tense negotiations and only for the sake of peace, Prophet Muhammad agreed to the Treaty of Hudaybiah—a deal wholly lopsided in favor of Meccans. The decade-long truce forbade Muslims from performing the Hajj pilgrimage that year, what we would today recognize as a violation of religious freedom. It forcibly returned to Mecca any Muslim male who had left—a human-rights violation and economic sanction. And it forbade Muslims from carrying arms when visiting Mecca—which left them them virtually defenseless.
At face value, the Treaty of Hudaybiah was an insult to the Muslims, and Muhammad’s companions were furious over the concessions to which he agreed. However, Muhammad acted exactly according to the Qur’an 8:62: “And if they incline towards peace, incline thou also towards it, and put thy trust in God.” Indeed, when negotiating a peace treaty, Islam obliges Muslims to accept that treaty even under suspicion that the opposing side is offering peace only to gain a tactical advantage. In other words, Islam offers every reason to pursue peace, and no validation for offensive war.
This act of humility for the sake of peace laid critical groundwork. When the Meccans violated the Treaty but two years later, Muhammad and his army of 10,000 soldiers marched on Mecca in a bloodless siege. As historian Stanley Lane-Poole writes, “[Muhammad] freely forgave the Meccans all the years of sorrow and cruel scorn to which they had inflicted him, and gave an amnesty to the whole population of Mecca.”
Given America’s 1953 overthrow in Iran, its support of Iraq’s 1980 invasion, its brutal economic sanctions and its quiet support for Israel’s nuclear arsenal, conventional wisdom dictates that Iran has no reason to trust America. But this is why President Rouhani’s tweet is so critical. It indicates that Iran is adamant on upholding the unparalleled rules of engagement and negotiation that Prophet Muhammad established—for the sake of regional and international peace.
In this backdrop President Obama deserves commendation. First was his landmark speech in Cairo in 2009. Just last month, he mended ties with Cuba. Now, President Obama has done what no president could in 40 years—sign a peace deal with Iran to prevent them from obtaining a nuclear weapon. This treaty, backed by an international coalition across the world spectrum, likewise has an international impact. Learning from the horrendous Iraq War debacle, President Obama stood his ground on Iran despite facing extreme past and current opposition from his conservative opponents in Washington and in the media, who have taken every chance to exploit anti-Islamic sentiment to promote their own bellicose worldview.
The result is a non-nuclear Iran dedicated to Prophet Muhammad’s unparalleled rules of war and engagement, and a diplomatic United States that leads an international coalition dedicated to security. Together, this treaty is the most comprehensive deal for international peace in decades.
Decimating the enemy leaves a void for another aggression. True victory is winning over the enemy with wisdom and goodly exhortation—and that’s what the Iran Deal accomplishes.
Bahubali took over 500 days to shoot. One year of pre-production. You dealt with 17 VFX studios in India, China and South Korea. One battle sequence featured 2,000 junior artistes. How did you manage such a mind-boggling project?
You either have to be extremely organized or you have to be mad. I think one day I was extremely organized and the next I was mad, and somehow we did it. At the core is the belief of everyone in the unit that we are going to make something big, something extraordinary. That drove us. “Are we really in the same country the world is writing off?” I asked myself several times during a weeklong exposure to different Greek destinations recently. It was at the height of the nail- biting crisis during which all eyes were focused on Greece. Going by the deadly news reports and television debates on the subject of Greece’s survival, it was easy for outsiders to believe there was no hope left and that the average Greek was broke, starved, desperate, scared and angry. As the hours ticked by, and fresh ultimatums were being issued by the mighty EU bosses, the atmosphere around the sun-bleached beaches of Europe’s most beautiful country was anything but panic stricken. Yes, there was a high level of tension expressed if one cared to engage locals in a political discourse (difficult, given the language barrier), but overall, there was admirable calm and stoicism. Most people I talked to sounded philosophical, even optimistic. They were fiercely proud to be Greek — that’s it. “For better or worse, this is my country,” said a middle-aged lady who had relocated from Australia a few years ago and had zero regrets about her decision. A garrulous taxi driver was dismissive about Germany’s attitude, explaining, “They don’t understand our culture. We are not Germans — we are Greeks!” Even if most citizens believed leaving the EU would only add to their woes (“We import nearly everything… we can’t afford astronomical taxes which we’d have to pay if we leave the EU”), the response was more practical than political.
From what I experienced first-hand, the shops were full, as were restaurants, bars, nightclubs and hotels. I paid with a credit card everywhere. Nobody hustled or pestered me for cash payments. I had been warned to hang on to my handbag, wear a cheap plastic watch, avoid jewellery, hide cash, stick to safe areas and shun locals. It’s the standard travel advisory notice that goes out worldwide during any crisis. How absurd these ‘warnings’ appeared! Had it not been for those shrill, aggressive news bulletins, I would never have known there was a gigantic problem and the country I was enjoying so much, was on the verge of collapse. Yes, Greece did come back from the brink. So what? So have many other European nations — Portugal, Spain, Italy in recent memory. In which way was the Greek situation all that different? If other countries were offered a decent bailout package in the past, why not Greece?
Mythological films in India usually tap into existing sources like the Mahabharata or Ramayana, but Bahubali is an entirely original epic. How did it come about? After a record production this year, India is working on creating a 'strategic uranium reserve' to ensure its atomic power reactors do not face shortage of the crucial nuclear fuel.
"The reserve pool could be anywhere between 5000 MT to 15,000 MT which can last for 5-10 years," said a senior government official.
A proposal for stocking 5000 MT of uranium has been sent to the Cabinet for approval but the cap is likely to increase in the coming years.
Over the past one year, India has been pursuing its case to buy uranium from different countries including Australia and Canada. It is also procuring uranium from Russia for its indigenous reactors. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Kazakhstan last week, India renewed a contract with the Central Asian country to procure 5000 MT of uranium.