November 10, 2004

A Provocative Documentary Examines the Genocide in Gujarat

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Quick: Where has religious violence leading to massive rape, looting, thousands dead, and hundreds of thousands of refugees been silently condoned and loudly denied by the government over the last three years?

Darfur, yes. But in India, the world’s largest democracy, too? Yes.

Final Solution by Rakesh Sharma is a documentary about genocide and the politics of religious hate in the Indian state of Gujarat, where violence perpetrated by Hindus killed at least 2,500 Muslims since 2002. Between February 2002 and July 2003, Sharma shot over 160 hours of film to create the best (and perhaps the least seen) political documentary of the year. It is evidence, compellingly laid bare, of genocide.

But to too many, genocide is already a clich