SMART: PBS Producer Recognizes Error in Bharati Mukherjee's Comments
Posted by Balvinder Singh S Bal on Wednesday, 8/20/2003 7:46 PM MDT

http://www.sikhmediawatch.org/press/pressdetail.asp?pressid=51 Press Release PBS Producer Recognizes Error in Bharati Mukherjee''s Comments 8/11/2003 SMART Community Advisory For Immediate Release - 8/11/2003 Contact: Preetmohan Singh 202-393-2700 ext 27 [email protected] Encouraged by Response, SMART Pushes for Sikh Speaker Washington, DC – The producers of a PBS program recently acknowledged the egregious error of novelist Bharati Mukherjee’s comments linking Sikhs to the 9/11 terrorists. Following demands by the Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force (SMART), a national Sikh civil rights organization, the web site of the “NOW with Bill Moyers” show displays a clarification regretting the false assertion made by Ms. Mukherjee. During the May 2 broadcast of the PBS program, Ms. Mukherjee stated that terrorists were “…people of Sikh religion, who used militant tactics, terrorist tactics, in order to establish in Punjab, the state of Punjab in India, religious theocratic state for the pure Sikhs, the re-baptized Sikhs.” She also said, “Khalistanis…were able to, in temples, Gurdwaras, or later on with 9/11, I realized, in mosques, do fundraising at an enormous scale. Terrifying scale.” In a letter to SMART, program host and producer Bill Moyers recognized the mistake, stating that an error “unfortunately created the impression that Bharati Mukherjee was implying members of the Sikh religion were involved in the terrorism of September 11th.” The clarification posted on the show’s web site reads: “Note: It has come to NOW's attention that an editing error in our interview with Ms. Mukherjee has resulted in some misunderstanding and confusion. A statement edited inaccurately in NOW's interview with Ms. Mukherjee implies that she believes that Sikhs were involved in fundraising activities in support of the terrorism activities of 9/11. This statement is not only untrue, but it is not one that Ms. Mukherjee made or meant to suggest. NOW regrets this error and has corrected it in the transcript below.” While SMART is encouraged by this statement, it continues to push for a Sikh speaker on the program to further clarify the public record. SMART’s follow-up letter to Mr. Moyers reads, in part, “Ms. Mukherjee has made several baseless assertions that portray the Sikh religion and its adherents in a false light. We hope our concerns and this debate will receive a free and open hearing on public television, and will not be relegated to the exchange of private letters.” (Read SMART’s follow-up letter to Bill Moyers at: http://www.sikhmediawatch.org/mediawatch/mediadetail.asp?mediaid=10) SMART will continue to keep the community informed about this issue. To view SMART’s previous Community Advisory on this issue, click here: http://www.sikhmediawatch.org/press/pressdetail.asp?pressid=33 See SMART’s first letter to Bill Moyers at: http://www.sikhmediawatch.org/mediawatch/mediadetail.asp?mediaid=9 A Transcript of the interview is available at: http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_mukherjee.html ### END ### About SMART: SMART, founded in 1996, is the oldest national Sikh American advocacy group. Its mission is to protect the rights of Sikh Americans through legislative advocacy, public education, legal assistance and ensuring accurate portrayal of the Sikh religion.

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