By Fakir Hassen, IANS,
Macau: Terrorism in an unnamed but well-developed country was now being defined in terms of pre and post the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards being hosted there, according to IIFA director Sabbas Joseph.
Speaking at the launch of IIFA here Thursday, Joseph did not name the country, but it could easily be deduced that he was referring to Britain, where the IIFA Awards have been held twice.
“There was a time when we were invited by the office of a Prime Minister of a particular country, a developed country, to host the IIFA awards there,” Joseph told IANS afterwards, refusing to divulge the name of the country.
“We looked at why they wanted the IIFA hosted there, and the real reason was that every time there was a bombing in that country, it was always done by an Asian or a person of Asian origin. This country believed that it would take an IIFA in that country to be able to reach the ethnic Asian community in that country to build bridges and build bonds.
“They launched a community-building programme which has had far-reaching consequences in terms of its success. Today, you have everyone in the country referring to a pre-IIFA and a post-IIFA, and there has not been a bombing there again after the IIFA Awards,” he added.
Joseph also highlighted the role of the IIFA Awards in developing Indian tourism in the host countries as was evidenced by the large number of Indian nationals who were in Macau for the three-day event that ends with a finale of film awards here Saturday evening. Some 500 Indian film industry people are expected to attend it.
Also at the launch, the managing director of Panasonic Asia Pacific, Ikuo Miyamoto, pinned the first copy of a new lapel badge on screen legend Amitabh Bachchan, signalling the launch of the company’s IIFA Green Badge project.
“Panasonic is proud to be able to support the Bollywood stars who have committed themselves to saving the earth,” Miyamoto said, after watching a video in which stars such as Priyanka Chopra and Abhishek Bachchan made the plea.