Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge has termed 'The Kashmir Files', which has triggered a political debate in the country over the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from their home state', as a one-sided movie that is misleading the youths. He even alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trying to polarise the society by promoting the film.
"The Kashmir is a one-sided movie and misleading youths of the country. Even our prime minister himself is promoting this film and is trying to polarise the society,” Kharge told news agency ANI.
Kharge, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, also accused Vivek Agnihotri, the director of the film, of trying to spoil the atmosphere of the society.
"His (Vivek Agnihotri) intentions are one-sided. He has made an attempt to spoil the atmosphere of society through this film. Efforts are being made to divide the country again on the basis of religion," he added.
Written and directed by Agnihotri and produced by Zee Studios, the film depicts the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in the 1990s. It stars Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty and Pallavi Joshi among others.
Kharge's comments came even as several states including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Karnataka, Tripura and Goa have exempted the film from entertainment tax.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah described the film as a "bold" representation of truth, and said it will help make the society aware that such "historical mistakes" are not repeated.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi had also praised the movie, saying it has rattled the ecosystem which wanted to bury the truth.
PDP president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has accused the Centre of “weaponising” the pain of Kashmiri Pandits by aggressively promoting the film, The Kashmir Files. She further said instead of healing old wounds and creating a conducive atmosphere between the two communities, the Centre is 'deliberately tearing them apart'.
