GUWAHATI:
After garnering praises and accolades at various national and international film festivals noted film producer Aimee Baruah’s national award-winning film ‘Semkhor’ has landed into a controversy, with members of Nagaland alleging that their customary practices have been wrongfully depicted in the film which “aimed at causing emotional injury”.
‘Semkhor’, set in the locales of a village that also goes by the same name, is the first Dimasa-language movie.
The film, which chronicles the life and times of a woman from the tribe, was awarded Rajat Kamal at the 68th National Film Awards, besides Baruah bagging a Special Jury Mention.
Notably, Aimee Baruah maintained that she had categorically stated that it was a work of fiction.
“The disclaimer at the start of the movie mentions it as a work of fiction set in a landscape of Dima Hasao. We intended to promote the region for its development,” Baruah told news agencies on Tuesday.
“I am ready to face any criticism, but it should be based on facts. Most of those seeking to create this controversy has not even visited Semkhor,” she maintained.
Opposing her statement, Nagaland-based Dimasa organisation- Dimasa Naisho Hosom (DNH) rejected to accept it as fiction and said, “The contention of it being a fiction does not hold water when the depiction is of Semsa (Dimasa) of Semkhor. We wonder how could they depict it without authenticating the facts in the movie.”
The DNH expressed solidarity with the Dimasa frontal organisations on the matter of the wrong depiction of the Dimasa traditions, customs and practices in the movie.
“The Dimasa tribe instead of indulging in gender discrimination maintain a very unique tradition of male and female clans consisting of 40 male clans and 42 female clans which are equally given importance. The ground zero reporting by NDH says the reality is not the one shown or narrated by the movie director Aimee Baruah,” DNH president Kumar Naben and general secretary Nibison Hasnu said in a statement here.
“The DNH join in demanding an apology to the Dimasas by Aimee Baruah early. Aimee Baruah seems to utter anything without knowing what is what about others. Makham jikha is of the Dimasa not a Manipuri language. Does the award for the film Semkhor a deserving case?” the DNH questioned.
Meanwhile, the regional office of the Central Board of Film Certification under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will hear a petition filed by three Dimasa organisations for restriction of broadcasting of the movie in Guwahati on /Wednesday.
“The hearing was postponed today. The regional officer will hear us tomorrow,” said lawyer Desreen Thousane.
The three organisations have also complained to the Commissioner of Police, Guwahati for restricting the film from its release. However, the film was released on September 23.
In a letter to the regional officer of the Central Board of Film Certification, Greater Guwahati Dimasa Kachari Association (GGDKA) khunang Dr Mahanta Langthasa, Dimajik Hoshom, Guwahati (DHG) president Chaya Thaosen, DHG secretary Marmi Hagjer, Dimasa Students’ Community, Guwahati (DSCG) president Kunal Kemprai and DSCG general secretary Blairing Kemprai urged the authorities for restricting the broadcast of the movie for depicting a wrong picture on the practices of the Dimasa community.
“It has come to our knowledge that a film “Semkhor” directed and produced by Aimee Baruah and written by Sasanka Samir which is based on the lifestyle of the Dimasas living in Semkhor has portrayed the rituals and certain lifestyle of the Dimasas of Semkhor in an adverse manner whereby it has hurt the sentiments of the community in a very disincentive manner,” they said in the petition.
“It has been learnt that the film as stated by Aimee Baruah in an interview and also as written in the description of ‘Samkhor Trailor| Aimee Baruah| Film|’, it displays our custom in Semkhor ‘if a woman dies during childbearing and the infant happens to be a girl child, is buried alive along with the mother’ which is completely wrong and misleading on the part of the director and writer of the movie. The wrong portrayal of the customs and rituals in the movie has hurt the sentiment of the Dimasa community as a whole and especially of those belonging to innocent people of Semkhor,” the petition stated.
“The defamatory impleadment of the community as such has vehemently misinterpreted the Dimasa customs/ customary law in particular and community in general and the movie is misleading the general public about the tradition and culture of the Dimasa. The people of the Dimasa community have never entertained such a custom as specified by them and to make our stand more reliable, we would also like to mention herein that it is evident from the statements of the senior citizens, elderly people and the inhabitants of Semkhor that the same was never a practice of our community and to elaborate it, in the existing practise one will not find a whisper as regards the female infanticides,” the petition also stated.
‘If to speak about the hurting of sentiment, it is evident from the press release of Dimasa Mothers’ Association, FIRs by former Executive Member, NCHAC and former president of ADSU Mahindra Kemprai, numerous statements and condemn made by the netizens and other civil organisations that the community is deeply expressing their disagreement against the movie as it has wrongly misrepresented the customs of Dimasas, a matter of cultural appropriation,” they said in the petition.
“We humbly request you to kindly look into the seriousness of the matter involving the sentiments of the indigenous tribe and after proper analysing the genuineness of the statements made herein, to restrict the release and broadcast of the movie ‘Semkhor’ and also considering the same as an offence,” they added.