Produced for Channel 4 Television by Steel Bank Films Co-op, Bradford born filmmaker Simon Reynell returns to his hometown to speak with members of the Pakistani community about the effects the Salman Rushdie affair has had. The documentary looks at how this affair has widened the divide between the Pakistani and White British communities. During these discussions’ issues of identity, racism and the importance of the Muslim faith within the discussed. Filmmaker Simon Reynell introduces the...

Produced for Channel 4 Television by Steel Bank Films Co-op, Bradford born filmmaker Simon Reynell returns to his hometown to speak with members of the Pakistani community about the effects the Salman Rushdie affair has had. The documentary looks at how this affair has widened the divide between the Pakistani and White British communities. During these discussions’ issues of identity, racism and the importance of the Muslim faith within the discussed. Filmmaker Simon Reynell introduces the film by explaining that he has returned home to Bradford to speaks with British Asian people and go beyond a stereotype of Muslims as fanatics following the Salman Rushdie affair. Title: Home from Home Gentle waves on water change to a noise factory floor inside a wool mill where Pakistani men working to spin wool into yarn. In his home Hamayum Mirza speaks with Simon Reynell who sits in a chair across from him. The film changes to Mahommed Ayyaz who talks about feeling strange when he first arrived in Bradford. A montage of various South-Asian families living on terraced streets in Bradford changes to an exterior and interior views of a derelict and empty cotton mill. Hamayum Mirza continues to speak with Simon Reynell at his home intercut with boys playing cricket on a piece of grass between rows of terraced houses and members of the Pakistani community going about their business ending on an aerial view of the area focusing on a mosque. Mahommed Ali sits at a computer changing to him at home talking about his home and work life. He goes on to talk about the experience of some former classmates who after wishing to and trying to incorporate themselves into British White society, had returned to that of the Pakistani and Muslim community in Bradford when they realised, they had never truly been accepted by White British society. A montage of South-Asian women walking along a street or shopping in a fabric shop. In voiceover Simon Reynell explains that Pakistani culture is now deeply rooted in Bradford, but that British and South-Asian communities are now more separate and isolated from each other than ever. A montage of various older people living in Bradford’s Pakistani community including an older couple who stare at the camera as they walk down a back alley of a terraced street and a man with a walking stick walking past the building site for the Jamia Masjid Hanafia Bradford Muslim Community centre. Mahommed Ayyaz explains that if integration means giving up everything then this won’t happen as even if they adopted majority culture, they still wouldn’t full be accepted because they would still be seen as Asian. As he compares their situation to that of African Americans another montage of South-Asians going about their business. As she makes bread in her kitchen, Gulshan Malik talks about her experience of moving to Britain from Pakistan in the 1960s and about her early experiences and her love/hate relation with England. She doesn’t consider herself to be British and feels rejected by white people. In the living room Gulshan helps her children learn Urdu, she explains why this is important for them. As her children watch cartoons on television, Gulshan hopes that they will want to continue learning about their own culture as well as English. Sitting along the banks of the Bradford Canal a group of young Pakistani women talk about the changing image of South-Asian women and how they are becoming more assertive. They go onto discuss trying to live in a multi-cultural society and the barriers they have to overcome as well as a desire by some to return to their religion of Islam. As they talk the film intercuts them on the canal travelling on the barge Youth Reach and working together to open locks. A protest gathering featuring men, women and children listening to a local Imam reciting a pray in Arabic. One woman carries a banner reading ‘ISLAM’ and an effigy on a figure is held by others in the crowd. Another banner in the crowd reads ‘SATANIC VERSES is an insult to the Islamic World’. As White-British passengers on a double decker bus parked nearby watches the protest, Simon Reynell explains how the Salman Rushdie affair has deepened the divisions between the two communities. Liaqat Hussain from the Bradford Council for Mosques arrives at his offices with a colleague. Inside he speaks with Simon Reynell and states that Muslims have come to realise they are a powerful force, and through better organisation nationally their voices can he heard more politically. Back at the protest another pray is said, one older man in the crowd wipes tears from his eyes. Gulshan Malik states that damage has been done with regards real issues, she sees with the Rushdie affair the media has painted Muslim’s as ‘barbaric and violent’. Back at the protest the crowd join in the pray with the Imam on the stage. Watching the crowd Mahommed Siddique from the Bradford Council for Mosques who says that they have no control over the views of the younger generation and fears things may get out of hand. As he speaks the police arrest a number of young Pakistani men, some of whom throw bollards at the police. Simon Reynell asks where this anger comes from, Mahommed explains it comes from issues of unemployment as much as with regards the Salman Rushdie affair. More violent clashes between police and young South-Asian men at the protest. Mahommed Ayyaz says that people from his community need to be careful. The ‘power’ is with the white community, and they need to show restraint in order to get those in power behind them. Sitting at his desk Azar Khan states that he has seen support for Pakistani communities being questioned and is critical of the Council for Mosques whom he sees as not truly representing the whole of the Pakistani community. As he speaks, on a platform at the Salman Rushdie protest a man making a speech to the crowd. Azar Khan sees the real issues in the Pakistani community being housing as well as social and health problems. In the street a Pakistani woman cleans a rug or carpet using a water hose, around her several young girls helping. In a field a group of South-Asian children make and fly a kite made from a black plastic bag and bamboo sticks. A crowd gathers around them. On a busy Bradford city centre street Ishtiaq Ahmed asks how far should the Muslim community compromise, accepting abuse for the sake of being accepted. He believes they’ve compromised enough in their dress, language and eating habits and would like to keep some cultural values to pass onto the next generation. [Blank] The second part of the programme begins with the skyline of Bradford featuring terraced houses and a chimney, an image of drab northern mediocrity which has changed to be seen as a centre of Islamic fundamentalism explains Simon Reynell in his introduction. The film changes to a busy street a short distance away from the local mosque. Title: Home from Home Part Two: Faith and Doubt A Pakistani man, possibly an actor, sits in shadowy profile of a window looking out onto a Bradford street. Over a montage of Pakistani mountains and rivers, the man in the window talks about the conflict inside himself over his Muslim faith and sexual desires. He goes onto explain how on arriving in Britain he learned of the possibility that any religion, including Islam, was ‘untrue’. Mahommed Ayyaz and Mahommed Ali both talks about their Islamic faith and why they think it is a good religion. As the two men talk men remove their shoes before entering the Prayer hall. Sitting in the floor men of all ages sit listening to the Imam sitting in a raised chair at the front. Simon Reynell asks Mahommed Ayyaz if he ever doubts his faith, as he replies a man performs a ritual washing of himself known as Wudhu. In the Prayer hall the Imam leads his congregation in pray. Sitting in a park Dr Munir Ahmed from Bradford Young Muslims explains the has never had any conflict between scientific facts and his faith as many scientific facts tally with statements made in the Koran. As he goes into detail about this statement the men continue to pray insider the Prayer Hall. Still sitting in the window the man seen previously talks about trying to speak with friend about their faith which he now sees as an ‘irrational view’. As he talks about attending mosque as a non-believer, two men walk past a Christian church making their way to mosque. Inside men at pray. Another montage of Pakistani women and children walking in the street or outside their home with Simon Reynell explains that to many the Muslim faith it is way of life with its own social codes and laws that often clash with the assumptions of secular liberal society. As Mahommed Ayyaz talks about restrictions in Islamic life. Simon Reynell comments that some of these restrictions have caused problems especially with regards issues of sexuality. A Muslim woman, her face hidden, talks about the pressures and tensions of children growing up in Britain compared to those of their parents who grew up in rural Pakistan. Over a montage of boys in a youth club she continues to talk about how they inhabit a different world from their parents and issues such as homosexuality is not only taboo, but also a subject parent is reluctance to believe even exists. Liaqat Hussain from the Bradford Council for Mosques talks about homosexuality which is prohibited in Islam and explains from a Muslim point of view why it is wrong. Dr Munir Ahmed sees homosexuality as if people have steered away from God and live a life of trial-and-error. Still in his window the actor talks about the Islamic holy book the Koran, as he continues Muslim boys sit at low-tables reciting scriptures from it as part of an after-school lesson watched over by a teacher. Liaqat Hussain states it is the duty of the parents to teach their children their faith, Simon Reynell asks if children are be taught to read the Koran ‘parrot-fashion’ that this leads to blind faith. He doesn’t believe so as these are sacred scriptures that does allow for understanding of God and Islam, he provides more details. Mahommed Ali explains children growing up in Bradford need a very different approach to religion education than those who grew up in Pakistan. As he talks another religion class with both boys and girls sitting in rows reading from the Koran. At a busy road intersection pedestrians cross to-and-fro with Simon Reynell explaining in voiceover that many of Bradford’s Muslims feel despised, powerless and without a voice. He explains that for some Islam give a sense of identity and purpose in an alien secular society, but has the Salman Rushdie affair exaggerated the influence of Islam on everyday Pakistanis? Azar Khan doesn’t believe many Pakistanis are as devout as the stereotype suggests, he explains why. He wonders if in 10-15 years if people become wealthier and more independent, they will become more secular. Returning to the man in the window, he talks about how deeply intact a Muslim’s faith is and about being a disappointment to his parents back in Pakistan. He is critical of Salman Rushdie for not seeing the depth of feelings and underestimating the strength of Islam. Back at the Salman Rushdie protest seen earlier in the film a man carrying a placard saying ‘Hang The Devil’ beside an image of Rushdie. As the man in the window concludes by saying that in the Rushdie affair he has seen an element of fanaticism, the film changes to Gulshan Malik who believes the matter has made it fashionable for people to dislike Muslims and ridicule the without understanding. As she talks about women being ridiculed because of what she wears, a mother walking past with her two small children wearing a full burqa. At the Salman Rushdie protest a father with his son on his shoulders, around him other men and women. The film ends on the hidden woman who believes that Pakistani Muslims feel their communities are under threat and they need an identity to protect their values. She is concerned that if people feel defensive, they will turn inward which creates more problems. She also doesn’t think Western society and racism is totally to blame for the issues in their society and that practical ways of dealing with these problems need to be found. She concludes by saying that the community needs to open up and learn to be critical of itself. Credit: Literary quotations Abdur Salique Voiceover Harmage Singh Kalirai Camera Jimmy Dibling, David Rea, Dinah Ward Camera Assistants Carl Bake, Gary Wraith, Mark Parkin Sound Cath Patton, Noemie Mendelle Trainee Caroline Fryer Production Assistant Susie Field Editors Simon Reynell, Peter Taylor V.T. Editor David I. Smith Facilities Sheffield Independent Films, The Image Company Library footage Granada T.V., Sky T.V. News, Penumbra Productions / Channel Four Music Steve Beresford Performed by Steve Beresford and Tony Coe (Courtesy of Nato Records) Producer/Director Simon Reynell End title: A Steel Bank Film Co-op Production made under the terms of the A.C.T.T. Workshop Declaration. With funding from Channel Four Television. © Steel Bank Films Co-op 1989