Liberal, Tolerant, Modern and Open-Minded INDIA

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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Protestors in India burn Gere effigies

By SAM DOLNICK, Associated Press Writer Mon Apr 16, 11:24 AM ET

NEW DELHI - Angry crowds in several Indian cities burned effigies of Richard Gere on Monday after he swept a popular Bollywood actress into his arms and kissed her several times during an AIDS-awareness event.

Photographs of the 57-year-old actor embracing Shilpa Shetty and kissing her on the cheek at an HIV/AIDS awareness event in New Delhi were splashed across Monday’s front pages in India — a country where sex and public displays of affection are largely taboo.

In Mumbai, members of the right-wing Hindu nationalist group Shiv Sena beat burning effigies of Gere with sticks and set fire to glamorous shots of Shetty.
Similar protests broke out in other cities, including Varanasi, Hinduism’s holiest city, and in the northern town of Meerut, where crowds chanted “Down with Shilpa Shetty!”

The two appeared at a press conference in New Delhi on Sunday to highlight the HIV/AIDS epidemic among India’s truck drivers. In front of a cheering crowd, Gere kissed the giggling Shetty on the hand, then kissed her on both cheeks before bending her in a full embrace to kiss her cheek again.
“This is a bit too much,” Shetty said after the embrace.

On Monday, Shetty tried to stamp out the controversy. “I understand this is his culture, not ours. But this was not such a big thing or so obscene for people to overreact in such manner,” she told the Press Trust of India news agency.

“I understand people’s sentiments, but I don’t want a foreigner to take bad memories from here,” PTI quoted her as saying.

The spokesman for Hindu nationalist party Bharatiya Janata Party condemned the kiss.

“Such a public display is not part of Indian tradition,” said Prakash Javadekar, according to PTI.

Shetty, already well-known in India, became an international star after her appearance on the British reality show “Celebrity Big Brother” — another controversial public appearance. A fellow contestant, Jade Goody, sparked international headlines by making allegedly racist comments to Shetty. Mobs took to the streets of India to denounce Goody, and Shetty went on to win the competition.

Gere’s screen credits include “Chicago,” “Pretty Woman” and “An Officer and a Gentleman.”

Yahoo!®

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Re: Liberal, Tolerant, Modern and Open-Minded INDIA

vuttt izz diss .. first Nilofar Bakhtiar goes hugging some budha khusat, and now Richard Gere starts hugging whatever her name is. Don't these old white men have anyone to hug?

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Re: Liberal, Tolerant, Modern and Open-Minded INDIA

..

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Re: Liberal, Tolerant, Modern and Open-Minded INDIA

Ahmadjee, you shud see them transiting dubai with lil kids from vietnam & thailand...!!! They are thurkies, coz they know their gals dont give "it" to them & they have no other alternatives...

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Re: Liberal, Tolerant, Modern and Open-Minded INDIA

this is revenge, richard gere is a pakistani isi operative

the french bhudda took our nilofers izzat so isi made this happen to equal the score with the indians

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Re: Liberal, Tolerant, Modern and Open-Minded INDIA

^^ and in that case, is shilpa shetty benazir bhutto?

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Re: Liberal, Tolerant, Modern and Open-Minded INDIA

pretty stupid of the hindu nationalists.. I saw some pictures.. and I do think that Richard crossed the line a little.. and Shilpa shudve probably stopped him but she didnt cuz HEY ITS RICHARD FRIKKEN GERE lol.. but even then... burning effigies and protests of such scale are totally uncalled for !

Shilpa puts it in a good way .**"I understand this is his culture, not ours. But this was not such a big thing or so obscene for people to overreact in such manner,"...

*but then she says

* "I understand people's sentiments, but I don't want a foreigner to take bad memories from here,"
**^ F That.... no need to suck up to "foerigners"... they dont return the favour to my brown brothers do they? i've seen so many desi families who are on tour here to niagra falls or sumthing and ppl stare em down with the attitude " ahh you brown chhheee step aside"... im not saying desis shud b rude to foreigners on visit to india/pakistan, but they shudnt suck up either..

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Re: Liberal, Tolerant, Modern and Open-Minded INDIA

it is these kind of idiots who need to be spanked. But whatever....this thread is started by a known india hater. I think others should stop replying to this thread.

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Re: Liberal, Tolerant, Modern and Open-Minded INDIA

.

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Re: Liberal, Tolerant, Modern and Open-Minded INDIA

Firstly, Shilpa Shetty is not a holy cow......her past exploits with actor Akshay Kumar are well known to everyone who follows bollywood with some attention.

Secondly, the protesters mostly are her fans, it's easy in a city like Delhi or Mumbai to disguise yourself as a Shivsainik and burn a few effigies...I won't be suprised if our tabloid looking media has stage managed one of these effigy burning ceremonies to feed some sensational news in the name of "exclusive', I know our media well.

Now, if one looks closely, the incident itself is not like Shilpa is responsible....in a ceremony if someone respected actor like Richard Gere grops you up, all of a sudden, you have little time for reaction....although it may be Richards culture...Media needs to grow-up along with people more and more.

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Re: Liberal, Tolerant, Modern and Open-Minded INDIA

Yeah.. The intention to diss is pretty obvious by whoever started this thread.. another e-jihadi spreading propoganda against a Kafir country... its highly stupid to stereotype a nation of billion by the actions of a few hundreds :).. India has definitely a lot more liberal, tolerant and open minded than pakistan, and this shud not be offensive to pakistanis.. there r all kinds of ppl on both sides of the border

Remember:
1) I'm neither fully Hindu nor fully Indian
2) The first step towards solving a problem is acknowledging the existence of the problem

EDIT:
PS - It's very amusing how many hours our e-jihadis on guppieland spend everyday finding any negative reporting about India.. I really think they get orgasms everytime they are able to dig up any such information.. I'm subscribed to Google News Alerts from both India and Pakistan.. there r good and bad news from both countreis every day.. but ofcourse, their concentration is only on the bad news from India.. Good reprot from India today = India is the most favourite destination for UK residents to come for medical operatoins.. 1st world developed nation's citizens flocking to a third world country for medical help..I'm only half indian, i've never lived in India but I still take pride in this report..

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Re: Liberal, Tolerant, Modern and Open-Minded INDIA

^^ It's even more interesting to see E-hinduists like you post so frequently on a Pakistani message board!

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Re: Liberal, Tolerant, Modern and Open-Minded INDIA

^^ I'm not a e-hinduist.. . I respect all faiths, and I like Buddhism the most, followed by Islam and then Hinduism...I'm Canadian-Pakistani-Indian.. and... I'm not Hindu.. I thought I mentioned that in my post.. Can you read alright?

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Re: Liberal, Tolerant, Modern and Open-Minded INDIA

If it was a Pakistani actress Pakistanis would react the same...for a lot of third world countries when someone goes with another race its treated like treason almost...

Indian and Paki actresses get up to all sorts...its only an issue when they get up to all osrts with someone whos not their race...

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Re: Liberal, Tolerant, Modern and Open-Minded INDIA

^^ I agree.

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Re: Liberal, Tolerant, Modern and Open-Minded INDIA

I agree.

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Re: Liberal, Tolerant, Modern and Open-Minded INDIA

^^ Pakistanis don't blow the trumpet of tolerance and secularism though. It's quite hypocritical when you call yourself the largest secular democracy on Earth, the champions of non-violence, and then you get all violently angry when someone American guy kisses your woman. This Shetty lady has pobably even made love on screen, that didn't seem to bother anyone!

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Re: Liberal, Tolerant, Modern and Open-Minded INDIA

Theres already a thread on this in Shor Sharaba.