February 21, 2002

Ellen V. Futter
President

Ms. Elaine Charnov
Director, Public Programs and Artistic Director,
Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival

Ms. Melonie Kent
Managing Director
Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival

Ms. Laurel Kendall
Curator of Hinduism Exhibit
Anthropology Department

American Museum of Natural History
79th St. at Central Park West
New York, NY 10024

Re: Disappointment at Rescheduling and Change of Venue of Patwardhan's
films; Request for screening inside AMNH premises at the earliest with
adequete publicity and notice to the public.

Dear Ms. Futter, Ms. Charnov, Ms. Kent & Ms. Kendall,

I am writing on behalf of EKTA, a South Asian nonprofit organization based
in the San Francisco Bay area. We are extremely disappointed about the
decision of the museum to reschedule the screening of Anand Patwardhan's
films "We are Not Your Monkeys" & "In the Name of God" originally scheduled
for Feb 9th in the museum, to a venue outside the museum due to "threats of
violence" and "capacity" issues.

We believe the AMNH's decision to reschedule the screening of Patwardhan's
films to New York University on Sunday, February 24 is unacceptable given
the lack of publicity and notice to the public. The email notice concerning
the rescheduling of Patwardhan's films was only sent today and we believe
that this will give prospective audience members little time to plan and
attend the screening.

We request a well protected screening of the above mentioned films inside
the museum premises, at the earliest with adequete publicity and notice
to the public. We believe that these films serve a valuable function in
fostering public debate and scrutiny regarding important socio-political
issues in India; and therefore deserve to be screened at the AMNH with
adequete publicity and notice to the public.

"In the Name of God" documents the rise of Hindu fundamentalism in India as
reflected by the temple/mosque conflict in Ayodhya which led to nation wide
carnage in 1992. The film won the National Award for Best Documentary in
1992 given by the President of India and was broadcast nationally at prime
time on Doordarshan, the main state controlled television network, after the
Bombay High Court ordered its screening in 1997. The film "We are Not Your
Monkeys" is a legitimate Dalit critique of the caste system. It is based on
a song composed jointly with India's most renowned Dalit poet, the late Daya
Pawar and Sambhaji Bhagat, a Dalit poet and musician.

We believe that a prestigious museum such as the AMNH should not succumb to
"threats of violence" as that would mean giving in to terrorism and
fundamentalism. Rather, the assistance of law enforcement should be sought
so that the screening of Patwardhan's films may be screened at the AMNH
without interruption.

We also believe that the argument of "capacity issues" and "crowd control"
are largely without merit. We believe that the issue should be handled by a
simple "first-come, first-serve" basis rather than pushing the venue outside
the museum. We do not believe that the large number of people sending
petitions and calling the museum in support of these films, being
geographically distributed throughout the US and the world, are necessarily
planning to appear in person for the screenings. The vast majority of these
people have already seen Patwardhan's films and are writing because they
believe that his films deserve to be screened to a wider audience at the
AMNH irrespective of "threats of violence" and "capacity" issues.

Lastly, we believe that the museum's plans to reschedule the screening of
Anand Patwardhan's films to a venue outside the museum would effectively
deter members of the public from viewing the films after learning of
AMNH's failure to provide a well protected screening on museum premises.

We therefore request a well protected screening of the above mentioned films
inside the museum premises, at the earliest with adequete publicity and
notice to the public.

Attached is a petition signed by 1031 individuals who share those sentiments
as well and believe that the films of Anand Patwardhan should be screened at
the AMNH. The petition as well as comments from the signatories have also
been posted online at:
http://www.ektaonline.org/patwardhan/petition/petition2.htm
Please note that this petition is ongoing and we will continue to
collect signatures and send them to you periodically.

We hope that the museum will take a strong stand in support of free speech
and screen these films inside the museum at the earliest and with adequete
publicity and notice to the public.

Sincerely,
Raj Barot on behalf of EKTA

-----------------------------------------
E K T A
-----------------------------------------
email: contactus@ektaonline.org
website: http://www.ektaonline.org

Petition: PROTECT FREE SPEECH: SUPPORT FILM SCREENINGS BY ANAND PATWARDHAN
Location: http://www.thePetitionSite.com/takeaction/783684768
Date: 02/21/2002
Signatures: 1031