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INITIALLY
BANNED IN INDIA, SANDSTORM REVEALS A FIGHT
AGAINST ENTRENCHED CASTEISM & SEXISM
Some years before the release of Sandstorm
(Bawandar), Sanwari (played by Nandita Das)
of the Untouchable caste works as an organizer for a feminist
organization in India to make some extra money for her family.
Shobha Devi (played by Deepti Naval) hired Sanwari on learning
of an incident when she demanded full payment for her work
at a landfill. Going from village to village, Sanwari spreads
the message that women have equal rights; for example, she
preaches that elders should not pair off young girls and
boys at the age of 4 or 5 as irrevocable marriage partners,
thereby condemning girls to prepare for a domestic career
when their intellects might be suitable for academic success.
In the countryside, where casteism and sexism are assumed
to be the natural order, such a message is radical, especially
when delivered by an Untouchable. Accordingly, Sanwari is
first taunted and then raped one day by five Brahman men,
including a village council chief and a priest, some of whom
beat and hold down her spouse Sohan (played by Raghuvir Yadav)
so that he cannot defend her honor. When Devi finds out about
the rape, she shepherds Sanwari through the Indian criminal
justice and political systems, where Murphy's Law operates
at almost every turn, until a trial is held. In reporting
the rape, the police inspector on duty (played by Ravi Jhankal)
requires evidence in the form of a physical examination,
which in turn can only be provided to a victim when an order
is signed by a magistrate. The magistrate, however, is too
busy getting dressed for a party to sign the order on Friday
night, so his Monday order comes when the bruises in her
body have partially healed. On Monday, when the inspector
collects her undergarment, blood and semen have already dried.
Since police take no action to investigate, Devi goes to the local parliamentary
representative, Dhanraj Meena (played by Govind Namdeo), who gives a rousing
speech but later secretly blocks an investigation.
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Devi
then takes Sanwari to New Delhi to meet the head of an
NGO, whose board of directors agrees
to pursue the matter, some primarily because they will gain
political advantage. In any case, Prime Minister Narasimha
Rao (played by his brother) rallies to Sanwari's cause, providing
funds for her legal defense, and the lawyer (played by Gulshan
Grover) who prosecutes her case is firmly committed to seek
justice on her behalf. Nevertheless, the five are acquitted
by a judge whose reasoning is based on stereotypic casteism
and sexism, showing that he has no idea about the real-world
conditions of a female Untouchable in India. Five years later,
Amy (played by Laila Rouass), a mythical journalist of Indian
descent from England, and her Indian boyfriend Ravi (played
by Rahul Khanna) arrive in India to do their own investigation,
and most of the film consists of interviews and flashbacks
based on their recollections. The film ends with some obvious
propaganda, a statement to the camera by Devi indicating
that the case is still on appeal and that neither Sanwari
nor her supporters have given up hope that she has provided
the paradigm case that may bring fundamental social change
to India. Nevertheless, questions emerge from the presentation,
directed by Jag Mundhra in the manner of a docudrama about
Bhanwari Devi, the actual victim. (1) Why not also charge
the five defendants with assault and battery on Sanwari's
husband, a much easier case to win? (2) The film speculates
that the semen present on Sanwari's undergarment matches
neither those of the accused nor of her husband because the
sexist police officer later jacked off into the garment.
(3) The New Delhi NGO activist fabricates evidence by tearing
Sanwari's upper garments. (4) Some of Sanwari's supporters
use her case for their own political ends, but of course
so do those who oppose her case. Nevertheless, for raising
consciousness about serious political problems in India,
the Political Film Society has nominated Sandstorm for
best film on democracy, best film on human rights, best film
on peace, and best film exposé of 2003. MH
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