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Sikhs too react angrily to 'In the nane of Buddha'
From Neville de Silva in London
The Sikh community here is studying the reaction to the controversial film "In the name of Buddha" which also insults the Sikhs while offending Buddhists everywhere.

The Sikh community here, a powerful minority, had been alerted to the incriminating nature of the film following extensive reports on it by this newspaper.

The film produced by a Tamil of Sri Lankan origin and an Indian Keralite, falsely accuses Sri Lankan Buddhists of pursuing the war against Tamils by fanning the flames of violence.

The Indian Peace Keeping Force is also accused of anti-Tamil conduct, but it is the Sikh soldiers in the IPKF who are identified as murderers, rapists and looters. These soldiers wear the turban, the distinctive headgear of the Sikh community.

Amarjitsingh Padda, a committee menber of the Sikh Gurdvara, a Sikh Temple here said that he had alerted the temple committee to this film.

"I have also informed the Guru Gobalsingh Study Centre and very , a big Sikh temple at Southhall and another Sikh organisation called the Sikh Agenda," he told The Sunday Times.

Mr. Padda has also brought the offending film to the notice of a Sikh monthly titled Sikh Bulletin, published in the United States.

Sikhs in other countries such as Australia will also be brought into the picture, the Sunday Times understands.

It might be recalled that Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. A major reason was Indira Gandhi's orders to storm the Golden Temple in Amritsar, perhaps the holiest of places to the Sikhs around the world.

"We dont want to be called rapists and murderers as the film does, a Sikh student Kripal Singh said." The authors of the film must accept responsibility for their wild accusations".

Meanwhile Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to Britain, Faisz Mustapha is due to call on his colleagues from Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia when he returns from Colombo where he has been for the past three weeks apparently in connection with the peace talks.

Other High Commission officials are said to have already brought to the notice of Britain's department of culture and Britains' Board of Film Classification th

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