This time it's PBS that must face the Nepalese wrath over Lord Buddha's issue. David Grubin's 2-hour documentary that premieres on April 7 has ample references that will appropriately pique the Nepalese sentiments for calling Lord Buddha an Indian.
Narrated by Hollywood actor Richard Gere, "The Buddha" chronicles young Siddhartha's journey through artwork and animation. A peek into the documentary shows commentaries from the Dalai Lama, Pulitzer-prize winner poet W.S. Merwin and other prominent scholars and monastics.
John F. Wilson, PBS senior vice president and chief TV programming executive says, "By continuing our exploration of the world's religions, we are delighted to participate in broadening people's understanding of Buddhism today with David Grubin's moving portrait of the life of the Buddha."
Wilson's hope of creating an "understanding" doesn't seem to be reflected in the preview video posted on the Web nor on the description of the DVD put up for online sale. At the beginning of the preview video when the Buddha's birth is described, the narrator says, "The stories say that before his birth, his mother, the queen of a small Indian kingdom, had a dream."
This information is obviously wrong. During the time of the Buddha's birth 2,500 hundred years ago, there was no India or Nepal. But Siddhartha Gautam was born in Lumbini, the present-day Nepal. Archeological findings corroborate this fact that is endorsed by the UNESCO. But there seem to be deliberate efforts to either falsify or hide references of Nepal when it comes to the Buddha's birth.
Even if this documentary was made in collaboration with the Asia Society, the essay on The Origins of Buddhism on the Society's Web site mentioned the Buddha was born in North India. It was only after a reader's correction the reference to North India was removed, but even then the article falls short of mentioning Nepal as the birthplace of the Buddha.
While a long-term publicity and awareness campaign might rectify this error, for now we really need to complain PBS for distorting the historical facts. In fact, The Himalayan Voice wrote to the production company "to correct the information before the documentary is aired." In reply the David Gruber Productions claims that the film "explicitly" mentions that Buddha was born in southern Nepal. This is an exquisitely idiotic explanation. No sane person could accept that. How can one ignore the fact that in the 5-minute video preview Siddhartha's mother is called "the queen of a small Indian kingdom," in the blurb of the DVD version the Buddha is called "the Indian sage," and in the PBS TV schedule listing the Buddha's "northern India" affiliation is highlighted?
Certainly, the sage is beyond all disputes but the controversy is real and getting nastier.
PBS not only needs to purge the erroneous information but also owes a sincere apology with a commitment to participate in a publicity campaign to establish Nepal's position against all propaganda.
Raise your voice by commenting on PBS Facebook page and other social networking sites.
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