Bollywood courts Colombo ignoring Tamil sentiments.

As Tamils world over mark one-year of the Indian abetted genocidal war against Eelam Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka, the Hindi film industry known as Bollywood and the major Indian conglomerate of trade unions, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) are joining hands with Rajapaksa regime in Colombo in staging 11th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards weekend during the first week of June in Colombo.

The FICCI, the largest and oldest business conglomerate of India is the flagship organiser of the business event named FICCI-IIFA Global Business Forum, where hundreds of CEOs and business heads from India would be signing various investment contracts and tie-ups in the island on the second day of the celebrity and corporate event.

The announcement of Colombo as the venue was followed by some questionable humanitarian initiatives.

Salman Khan, a prominent Hindi actor, who was invited to be the brand ambassador of the IIFA Charity Initiative, made the announcement of the venue by saying that he was to build 100 houses in Jaffna for Tamil refugees with his ‘Being Human’ foundation and was named as ambassador of change. Hand for Habitat and UNICEF were also mentioned as cooperating humanitarian agencies during the announcement.

Another ‘interesting’ feature announced is the IIFA Foundation Celebrity Cricket Match, to be held between Indian celebrities and ‘Sri Lankan’ cricketers.

The cricket match, to be held on June 4, has been profiled as ‘cricket for change’ to collect funds to rehabilitate former child soldiers. The duo turned foes of Bollywood, Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan, are to play together in the cricket match.

Sri Lanka is today India’s largest trading partner in SAARC.  The Indian Establishment, locked in a corporate race with China, has been pushing Colombo to finalise the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which it wants signed when Mahinda Rajapaksa visits India on June 8, scheduled after the IIFA-Weekend.

Furthermore, India, which backed Sri Lanka's war is keen to show that Sri Lanka is in the process of normalisation following the end of war to avoid its neighbour coming under any war crimes investigation.

It is under these circumstances, the Hindi film industry is being blamed for promoting Indian corporate interests in Colombo.

However, the Indian move has sparked protests from Tamils in Tamil Nadu, Mumbai and the Diaspora.

Tamil film industry in Tamil Nadu has declared non-cooperation with the Bollywood film industry, said activists in Chennai, urging Tamils in the Diaspora to exert pressure on Bollywood market overseas.

A joint statement was issued by the film industries in South India on Friday not to release films of those Indian actors and technicians who attend the India International Film Academy' 2010 event. IIFA 2010 will be held between June 3 to 5.

Apart from jeopardising the South Indian screening of films the order also threatens the release of Tamil films that feature the actors who attend the festival.

The primary demand remains that the venue of the festival be changed, to condemn Sri Lanka for its atrocities against Tamils. An order has also been issued to not shoot South Indian films henceforth in the island country, nor hold cultural events. A 15member team from the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce will be leaving for Mumbai on Saturday to persuade the IIFA team to shift its venue.

All Tamil actors, who received invitation from the event organizers, turned down the request, as an order was passed earlier by the Tamil film industry stating it would completely ignore the event.