On Tuesday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma went to watch Vivek Agnihotri바카라s film The Kashmir Files at a theatre with his cabinet colleagues. Thereafter, he announced a half-day special leave for all government employees wanting to watch this film. The leave would be granted after they inform their superior and submit the movie tickets in office the next day.
Assam is not the only state to show its solidarity for the movie. Other BJP-ruled states are also following the suit. Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra announced special leave for policemen who want to watch the movie. The state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan watched the film on Wednesday along with other legislators and his cabinet colleagues. Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar watched the movie on Sunday. While announcing exemption of entertainment tax for the movie, CM Chouhan tweeted: 바카라Movie #TheKashmirFiles is a heart-wrenching narration of the pain, suffering, struggle, and trauma faced by Kashmiri Hindus in the 90s. This needs to be watched by maximum people hence we have decided to make it a tax-free in the state of Madhya Pradesh.바카라 State governments that have waived off the state tax include Karnataka, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Tripura, and Uttar Pradesh. Prior to The Kashmir Files, Bollywood films Padman, Toilet:EK Prem Katha, Tanhaji, Dangal and Neerja had received tax exemption. But the Anupam Kher-Mithun Chakraborty starrer has received phenomenal response in political circles.
The Kashmir Files, a small budget film of Rs 20 crore based on the 1990 exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the Kashmir insurgency, had a delayed release due to the pandemic. However, within three days of its release on March 11, its box office collection crossed the 50-crore mark. On Holi, it recorded the highest single-day total of Rs 19.15 crore, crossing the 100-crore mark, and is veering towards the 150-crore mark.
Earlier, PM Modi praised the movie for bringing forth 바카라the truth that has been suppressed for a long time.바카라 He also attacked those who 바카라raise flag of freedom of expression바카라 but 바카라run campaigns to discredit바카라 without acknowledging facts. The film바카라s director Vivek Agnihotri, via the movie and his statements on social media, has shown he aligns with the ideology of the ruling party. No opposition leader therefore showed willingness to watch this film. Thus, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel바카라s announcement that he was going to watch The Kashmir Files came as a surprise. Baghel was the first among Congress stalwarts to publicly show willingness to watch this movie. After watching it, he pointed towards administrative failure and blamed BJP for that, 바카라The film shows that the government run with the help of the BJP did nothing to stop the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, rather they were asked to leave. The Army wasn바카라t sent,바카라 Baghel told the media.
However, after several videos of communal slogans being raised in movie theatres screening The Kashmir Files went viral, the film also faced several allegations of distorting facts to support 바카라one kind of narrative바카라 and promoting 바카라enmity바카라 towards Muslims. While BJP leaders have openly declared that the movie 바카라empathetically presents the reality of Kashmiri Pandits, Congress leaders have claimed that the incumbent party failed to provide justice for Kashmiri Pandits, and 바카라merely used them for politics.바카라 Congress Communications in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, in response to PM Modi바카라s tweet, tweeted, 바카라India is not a film but a reality바카라, he asked since BJP is in power, 바카라when Kashmiri Pandits will be rehabilitated?바카라 Badruddin Ajmal, chief of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), demanded a ban on the film fearing 바카라communal tensions바카라 and incidents like the ghastly Nellie massacre of 1983 in central Assam.
With the movie, an old debate has resurfaced over the role of the then VP Singh government backed by BJP in the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. Kashmiri Muslims feel that the then Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, Jagmohan, had encouraged Kashmiri Pandits to leave. But Kashmiri Pandits disagree with this logic, saying the Muslims with whom they had been living amicably, had made the situation very hostile for them to stay back. Advocate and social activist Vineet Jindal has written to President Ram Nath Kovind has sought direction to reopen all cases and constitution of a Special Investigative Team (SIT) to probe cases related to the "massacre" of Kashmiri Pandits.
However, several Kashmiri Pandits, while praising the makers for mainstreaming the horrors of their past, they cautioned the public against falling prey to an 바카라anti-Muslim바카라 propaganda. Comedian Samay Raina tweeted on March 13: 바카라I just watched #TheKashmirFiles last night and I was in tears. As a Kashmiri Pandit kid who grew up safely in a different city like many of my fellow KP 90s kids, the movie really shows how brutal the genocide really was and the horrors our parents and families faced바카라 and I just hope this movie doesn't polarise people further or fill them with hate towards other communities.바카라 Journalist Sagrika Kissu tweeted: 바카라I cried while watching the movie and I bow down to Anupam Kher for this excellent acting and for translating the pain of KPs into acting almost correctly바카라 Not every Muslim is a terrorist/militant or a terrorist sympathiser. We should be very sensitive when we paint all of them in one colour. This movie sets in a very bitter emotion for Kashmiri Muslims as a whole.바카라
