Asian Press Follows Salem-News Article Criticizing 'Dbangg 2' by William Gomes

Mr. Gomes believes that the film risks encouraging public support of torture and ill treatment of prisoners.

(SACRAMENTO, CA) - Dabangg 2 goes a long way toward reversing the progress made by people like William Gomes, our Human Rights Ambassador, who continues to make headlines in Asia for his unwavering support of the people on this earth who are victims of sometimes unspeakable abuse.

Hindustan Times, one of Asia's biggest newspapers, is following William Gomes' Salem-News.com report published yesterday, 'Dabangg 2 Promotes Torture and Ill Treatment', about the societal danger posed by the new Bollywood release, 'Dabangg 2' starring Salman Khan, one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of Indian cinema.

In Dabangg 2, Khan plays the role of a police officer named “Chul Bul Pandee” who abuses suspects while interrogating them.

Mr. Gomes believes that the film risks encouraging public support of torture and ill treatment of prisoners in custody.

The government approval of this film is a significant problem in both India and Pakistan, where abusive treatment of suspects in police custody is routine.

This completely flies in the face of India's projected moral structure, as a signatory in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT).

A nation has an obligation to live up to such agreements instead of simply soaking up a few headlines for an opportunity to appear sensitive toward human rights.

Making the situation even worse, is the fact that torture is not criminalised in law as a separate or special offense in India.

Mr. Gomes explains that even if an act of torture is duly proved, that proof does not require the perpetrator to pay compensation to the victim.

Moreover, the fundamental “Right against torture” is not a right according to India's law, and there also is no specific law concerning witness protection in India.

These facts greatly reduce the hope of honest people who wish to expose officials and reign in government corruption.

The writings of William Nicholas Gomes published by Salem-News.com have helped free two activists from torture in Pakistan, brought clarity to rumors about an affair involving one of the top politicians in Bangladesh, and more recently, brought attention to the plight of poor farmers in India whose family homes and agricultural land is being covered by rising waters.

Without his voice, the world would be all the more hopeless. Instead his efforts bring results and increase faith.

Tim King has more than twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. Tim is Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. His background includes covering the war in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007, and reporting from the Iraq war in 2008. Tim is a former U.S. Marine who follows stories of Marines and Marine Veterans; he's covered British Royal Marines and in Iraq, Tim embedded with the same unit he served with in the 1980's.

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing from traditional mainstream news agencies like The Associated Press and Electronic Media Association; he also holds awards from the National Coalition of Motorcyclists, the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs; and was presented with a 'Good Neighbor Award' for his reporting, by the The Red Cross.

Tim's years as a Human Rights reporter have taken on many dimensions; he has rallied for a long list of cultures and populations and continues to every day, with a strong and direct concentration on the 2009 Genocide of Tamil Hindus and Christians in Sri Lanka. As a result of his long list of reports exposing war crimes against Tamil people, Tim was invited to be the keynote speaker at the FeTNA (Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America) Conference in Baltimore, in July 2012. This is the largest annual gathering of North American Tamils; Tim addressed more than 3000 people and was presented with a traditional Sri Lanka ‘blessed garland’ and a shawl as per the tradition and custom of Tamil Nadu

In a personal capacity, Tim has written 2,026 articles as of March 2012 for Salem-News.com since the new format designed by Matt Lintz was launched in December, 2005. Serving readers with news from all over the globe, Tim's life is literally encircled by the endless news flow published by Salem-News.com, where more than 100 writers contribute stories from 23+ countries and regions.

Tim specializes in writing about political and military developments worldwide; and maintains that the label 'terrorist' is ill placed in many cases; specifically with the LTTE Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, where it was used as an excuse to slaughter people by the tens of thousands; and in Gaza, where a trapped population lives at the mercy of Israel's destructive military war crime grinder. At the center of all of this, Tim pays extremely close attention to the safety and welfare of journalists worldwide. You can write to Tim at this address: tim@salem-news.com. Visit Tim's Facebook page (facebook.com/TimKing.Reporter)