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| Kabir
Bedi asks "Why just Africa?" in BBC's Heaven and Earth show |
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| Kabir fought
the corner of Asian countries Sunday (June 12, 2005), asking
why world leaders agreed to forgive 40 billion dollars (33 billion
euros) worth of African debt as struggling developing nations
like India continue to repay their creditors. Speaking in the Heaven & Earth Show, a religious affairs programme on BBC1 television, Kabir asked: "Why is African debt more sacred than any other debt? Why isn't Bangladesh's debt, for instance, more important?" Appearing as the show's news commentator, Kabir reflected on this weekend's decision by the world's richest countries to write off the debts of 18 mainly African countries. He said debt forgiveness was a good thing but added: "What kind of example does it set to countries like India and Pakistan who are making major sacrifices in their development budgets to take money out and repay their debts honourably?" Asked by presenter Anita Anand if he thought the Band Aid initiative of Sir Bob Geldof was misguided, Kabir said "It is certainly well-meaning, but the fact is that Africa as a continent has received over a trillion dollars worth of aid since the 1960s... They have made a mess of it basically, and putting more money in and forgiving more debt doesn't guarantee they won't end up in the same place." Kabir, dressed casually in a beige, open-necked shirt and a light brown jacket, began his appearance in the show with an enthusiastic plug for his West End musical, The Far Pavilions. Presenter Anita Anand also looked at his acting achievements so far as a James Bond villain, an American soap star and a Bollywood veteran - although she made no mention of the Sandokan series, which is barely known in the UK. "Being a villain of course gives you some of the most interesting roles to play... It's hard to make a good character interesting," Kabir said. "But having been an international actor, in Bollywood, in Europe, in America, and now of course in The Far Pavilions in London, I played a whole variety of roles and I've been very lucky in the variety that I've been given to play." In his news review, Kabir also spoke out of behalf of Cherie Blair, the wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has been criticised for her generous earnings on the US lecture circuit - she reportedly made £30,000 (60.000 dollars/50.000 euros) for giving a speech in Washington on life at "Number Ten". Kabir argued that Mrs. Blair, already a top-earning lawyer, has a right to speak in public just as any other member of the PM's family would have. "She is an independent woman, she has a mind of her own, and she has wriiten a book called 'The Goldfish Bowl at Number Ten' and she is speaking in a foreign country. It's not as though she's speaking before some British group that is lobbying the government for some favours," Kabir said. Kabir, who was given very little time to develop his thoughts, also noted a report that the closest aide to the late Pope John Paul II has announced he will ignore instructions in the pontiff's will to burn all his private papers. "As a practicing Catholic, he has also to believe in the doctrine of papal infallibility," a grinning Kabir said. "How would he reconcile the Pope's infallibility with disobeying the Pope's orders?" The final story discussed by Kabir was about the super-rich megastars living in Malibu, California, having giant heaps of sand bulldozed onto the beaches outside their homes to protect their privacy. "I lived in California for about 12 years, in Santa Monica, where Baywatch was filmed, and Malibu is about 10 miles up the road," Kabir said. "It is a very exclusive colony," with people like Steven Spielberg, Danny DeVito, Dustin Hoffman. "There are even those who say Goldie Hawn (lives there) I don't think Goldie is there anymore. She told me she lives in Vancouver." Kabir went on to say that "because they are celebrities there are all kinds of people who sneak onto the beach, to see them, to photograph them, to get close to them etcetera," and the artificial sand dunes are put in place to discourage such activity. Also on the show was British actress Joanna Lumley - the Bond girl to George Lazenby's 007 in the 1969 movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service - who spoke about her visit as a charity ambassador to an eye hospital in Bangladesh. She accompanied a little boy through his cataract operation, right up to peeling away the child's eye patch so he could see his mother for the first time. Despite their common James Bond past, Kabir and Joanna did not meet as Kabir's appearance was broadcast live from Manchester and Joanna's contribution was taped in London. Additional information about the TV show: BBC.co.uk (including video-clips showing a few previous celebrity guests) |
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