MovieChat Forums > Général Idi Amin Dada: Autoportrait (1976) Discussion > Intriguing detail

Intriguing detail

posted 17 years ago by graziafitg
4 replies | jump to latest

In the beginning, while the commentator is talking about the expelled Asians there's a shot of a Hinduist temple and in the railing in front of that temple we can see the Nazi cross used as a pattern.
Now I wondered, is that simply an asian religious symbol that belongs to the temple or in fact a product of Amin's notorious admiration for Hitler? Because that would mean he actually adorned Kampala with that spirit and gave it a touch of Germany in the 30's. It's a strange world...:)

[–] tornadovision 17 years ago

No the swastika is an ancient Hindu symbol of peace

[–] graziafitg 17 years ago

Thank you, I had something like this in mind but I wasn't sure about the name. Btw: I don't expect that it will ever be accepted as a peace symbol again. Unfortunately, because it is in fact quite stylish in my opinion and deserves to serve a better cause than just representing nazism.

[–] dheeraj-jagadev 17 years ago

Almost a billion Hindus and worshipers at hundreds of thousands of Hindu shrines around the world would disagree with you on that one. After all, the Hindu Swastika has existed 1000s of years before the Nazi one and will probably continue to exist for the foreseeable future. Another point of distinction is that the Nazi one is the reverse of the Hindu Swastika.

[–] graziafitg 17 years ago

Yes, I believe you're right that the abuse of the symbol hasn't had the same impact in India as it had in the "West".

About the distinction: In this specific case it still depends on wich side of the railing you're standing ;)