Normally
it
is
our
filmmakers,
who
are
served
PILs
(public
interest
litigations)
by
disgruntled
citizens.
In
what
could
seen
as
a
historic
reversal
of
the
relationship
between
cinema
and
the
nation's
collective
conscience,
director-actor
Faruk
Kabir,
who
has
made
a
film
on
juvenile
crime
Allah
Ke
Banday,
is
all
set
to
file
a
PIL
against
the
Indian
government
for
serious
lapses
in
the
laws
governing
remand
homes.
Says
Faruk,
"During
my
research
for
Allah
Ke
Banday,
I
had
to
visit
several
remand
homes
repeatedly.
I
was
shocked
to
see
how
these
homes,
meant
to
be
shelters
for
young
wayward
kids,
were
being
managed.
Let
me
tell
you,
these
homes
are
not
going
to
reform
the
kids.
They
will
only
encourage
them
to
become
bigger
criminals."
Knocked
down
by
spasms
of
guilt,
Faruk
has
got
together
with
his
cast
members
Naseeruddin
Shah
and
Sharman
Joshi
to
file
a
PIL
against
the
administrative
teams
that
run
India's
Juvenile
Remand
Homes.
Says
Faruk,
"What
I
saw
in
these
remand
homes
made
a
terrific
script
for
my
film.
But
I
didn't
want
to
treat
these
troubled
and
abused
kids
I
came
across
as
'slumdogs'.
I
didn't
want
to
come
away
from
their
lives
with
the
feeling
that
I've
just
exploited
these
wretched
kids
for
my
film
and
then
forgotten
them.
I've
to
take
my
interest
in
these
kids
beyond
my
film."
Through
the
PIL,
Faruk
intends
to
ask
the
Indian
government
some
basic
questions
about
the
remand
homes
across
the
country.
Over
to
Kabir,
"No
counselling
is
being
provided
to
the
juvenile
inmates,
which
leads
them
to
be
as
misguided
as
they
were
in
the
outside
world.
Many
a
times,
they
become
psychologically
damaged
for
life.
Innumerable
cases
have
been
seen
where
although
sentenced
for
a
year
only,
the
inmates
end
up
spending
four
to
five
years
of
their
lives
in
remand
homes
because
there
is
no
provision
for
them
to
even
know
of
their
rights.
“The
Government
has
no
program
to
make
the
delinquents
self-sufficient
by
teaching
them
professions
that
they
can
use
once
they
come
out
into
the
world
and
not
go
back
into
crime
due
to
lack
of
options.
And
there're
no
proper
avenues
for
formal
education
for
juvenile
inmates
when
that
is
their
right
and
the
duty
of
the
various
government
agencies
to
provide
them
classrooms,
teachers,
books,
educational
programs
etc."
Faruk
feels
by
challenging
the
Indian
government,
he
would
be
fulfilling
a
duty
beyond
cinema.
Says
the
director,
"It's
okay
to
be
using
these
tortured
lives
to
tell
a
gripping
story.
Having
said
that,
don't
we
owe
these
wayward
kids
a
chance
to
lead
a
decent
life?
Our
remand
homes
don't
allow
them
to
grow.
We
need
to
change
that."
Story first published: Thursday, July 21, 2011, 10:35 [IST]