|HT|
With Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections slated soon, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said that ‘The Kashmir Files’ will not provide a political advantage to anyone in the coming polls. Vivek Agnihotri’s film based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits has stirred controversy as critics fear that the film will end up inciting hatred against the Muslim community. “It is not right to do politics on a sensitive issue like Kashmir... 'The Kashmir Files' is just a film, I don't think it will provide any political advantage to anyone in the coming elections. By the time elections come, the film will be gone,” Raut said.
While Congress leaders have accused the filmmaker of twisting facts to whip up anger and promote violence, the film was endorsed by BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Hitting out at the detractors, PM Modi said that "those who carry around the flag of freedom of expression, that whole bunch is rattled for the last few days."
Amid allegations and counter-allegations, Raut had said that the politics of ‘The Kashmir Files’ was not right. Referring to the work done by party founder Bala Saheb Thackeray for Kashmir Pandits, which was also highlighted in the movie, the Rajya Sabha member said that the entire country knows Sena’s sentiments for Kashmir and Kashmiri Pandits. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government earlier rejected the BJP’s demand to waive entertainment tax on Agnihotri’s film. Shiv Sena leader defended the decision saying his party did not demand tax exemption for a film on the life of Bala Saheb Thackrey.
(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)