Jagshemash. I’ve seen Borat twice and I’m enchanted; I’m also aware that many of you aren’t. Some of you worry that Kazakhstan is being exploited and humiliated in a huge way, since the movie is so popular. I understand, especially since the movie is depicting a country that is more fictional than real– the “village” scenes were filmed in Romania and neither Russian nor Kazakh are ever spoken (Borat speaks Hebrew mingled with a few other things to Azamat, who replies back in Armenian).
Anyway, since “Borat” isn’t about the real Kazakhstan, I thought I’d find out more about the quondam Soviet republic:
Kazakhstan is the largest and one of the wealthiest of the countries in the Central Asian region. Although it was considered a liberal society, there have been allegations of harassment of religious minorities like protestant Christians, non-state-controlled Muslims and Hindu sects.
Kazakhstan is not a signatory to the UN’s International covenant on Civil and Political Rights or to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.[link]
Well that just proves that Borat has nothing to do with the Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan– he picks on Jews and Gypsies but says nothing regarding Hindus. Meanwhile, in the land he was supposedly acquiring cultural learnings for…
The Hindu Forum of Britain alleged that 60 riot police and bulldozers assembled inside a Hindu temple in Kazakhstan and allegedly demolished five Hindu houses…[link]
When Tony Blair met with Kazakhstan’s President, Nursultan Nazarbayev in London, he rightly expressed concern about such disturbing events, which are apparently targeting ISKCON devotees and their temple. But it’s not just about a temple:
…Kazakh Hindus who applied for ownership of their houses were asked to declare that they were not Hindus, while non-Hindus who made similar applications were immediately granted ownership rights[link]
Hmmm. The government of Kazakhstan maintains that the temple was built illegally, but that doesn’t explain why the homes of Hindus are also being destroyed.
Predictably, ISKCON coordinated a protest outside Kazakhstan’s embassy:
ISKON devotees, protesting the incident, went on a rampage outside the Kazakhstan Embassy in Delhi.
While the Kazhakh authorities claim the temple was built illegally, devotees call it a religious persecution.
…10 dozen ISKON devotees were pushed out of their homes in the winter chill as authorities knocked down their houses into rubble.[link]
Now I’m going to be as ignorant as the character I find so hilarious and ask my mutineers a question: does it matter to you that this is about an ISKCON temple? Does it lessen your potential outrage? I don’t know a ton about this group, I just remember seeing them at airports and that my parents had nothing to say about them, when asked. Combine this memory with some of the comments a few of you have made about ISKCON and I think we have an explanation for my confusion. Was I wrong about your ambivalence? Enlighten me, why don’t you… 🙂
Borat’s latest victims.
ANNA, et al: I frequent all the posts, comments, etc., and seldom contribute. As late as I probably am to this particular post, I’d like to harp a bit on my thoughts on Kazakhstan. I spent a couple of weeks there last year to monitor the Presidential elections. I’m no expert, and would have had to look for it on a map for a couple of seconds before I went. Before I get any, “you went there for two weeks, and you think you know the country inside out?!” comments, a pre-emptive blahhh…I’m just pointing out what I saw.
So, my two cents:
TRUE: Human rights abuses: frequent; based on my observation, the bulk of the abuses seem to be centered around speech, politics, etc.
FALSE (or not so TRUE): Constant religious strife. Ummm, not where I was. I spent some time in Almaty and then flew up north to Petropavlsk (sp?) in Siberia. It was stunning to see Mosques next to Orthodox Churches and Synagogues. During our time there, I mildly (looking back, maybe a bit annoyingly) inquired with my translator and interpreter about any possible tensions between the faiths. They rolled their eyes and laughed. Both of them were Muslim and attended a wedding at the Church the weekend prior. He then said something around, “…what is it with all of your news stations, hysteria, etc…?”
TRUE: Based on GRAPENUT’s comment, the people of Kazakhstan are by no means a homogenous looking group – the ethnic diversity (based on traditional classifications of Asian, European, etc.) is astounding. Remember, it borders China, Russia and several ‘Stans.
Finally, FALSE: Backwords., etc. Borat’s great, and I’ve been a fan of Sasha for about 4 years now, but I’m pretty sure even he realizes that his caricatures of the Kazakhs are so over the top, he created a new mold. I have to admit, I laughed when I saw it but wasn’t pleased about the use of poor, Romanian villagers in the film. Because I don’t want to be disappointed, I’m going to chalk it up to a production company decision, not Cohen’s. That being said, the Kazakhs were some of the friendliest, most outgoing, inquisitive, engaged and caring people I have ever met. I’ll leave at that.
Jay, I’m so glad you commented– what fascinating information! I mentioned to someone at the last meetup that no matter what or whom we blog about, no matter how random, ONE of our readers is bound to know about it, been there, done that…or they’re the cousin of our “topic”, etc. Love it. 😀
If anyone is interested in the ongoing plight of the Hare Krishna devotees in Kazakhstan, a new website has been set up with updates, etc.
http://www.kazakhkrishna.com./en-main/
Not so fast, it’s not that simple. ISKCON gets cult status not merely because they’re runned primarily by whitefolks, BUT, they have a history of abuse, insularism, and downright arrogance towards those that do not adhere to their way. There are many other Hindu organizations that do not get labelled cults and they have their fare share of the pale-faces: Self Realization Fellowship, Sivananda Ashrams, Vedanta Society (in the US), Raja Rajeshwari Peetham, and many others.
I know it’s easy to lambast our predecessors as anti-white, closed minded
kramersracists that want to continue burning babies – but let’s not do that.Kazakhstan greatest country in the world all other countries are run by little girls Kazakhstan number one exporter of potassium other countries have inferior potassium!!!!