The Kashmir Files: Instead of reviewing facts, a campaign being run to discredit it, says PM

Tribune News Service

Vibha Sharma

New Delhi, March 15

Praising director Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’, based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in 1990, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that instead of reviewing the film on basis of facts and its art form, attempts are being made to discredit it by those afraid of the truth coming out in open.

Meanwhile, amid the complete endorsement for the film by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sources now say the elections to Jammu and Kashmir may be held along with the two states—Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh—due later this year, “or maybe even earlier”.

A day after theDelimitation Commission, mandated to redraw the assembly and parliamentary constituencies in J and K put its report in the public domain and invited objections and suggestions from people, senior BJP leaders said PMModi is “committed” to elections in the union territory once the process is complete.

“He promised early elections in J&K in his Independence Day speech last year.It is possible that some announcement is made to coincide with August 15 celebrations this year,” they said on a day the PM praised the film in the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting, slamming those involved in the “conspiracy” to “discredit” it.

Such films “reveal the truth” and more efforts are made in the medium to touch upon other important events, the Prime Minister said. Taking a swipe at its critics, he said, “They are upset because the film tells the truth that was deliberately kept hidden.”

“The entire‘jamaat’(gang) that raised the flag of freedom of expression has been furious for the past five-six days. Instead of reviewing the film on the basis of facts and its art form, there is a conspiracyto discredit it,” he said.

Truth should be brought out in a proper manner, he said, adding that his concern is not just the film. “I believe it is beneficial for the nation to bring out the truth in the right way. Those who think that the film is not right should make their own film, who is stopping them?” PM Modi said.

“History should be presented before the people at the correct time in the correct perspective. Films are an important medium like books and poems. The entire world talks of Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela but not so much about Mahatma Gandhi. If someone had made the effort to make a film on his life, we could have also done messaging about him. Only after a film was made about Mahatma Gandhi by a foreign film maker did the World learn how great he was.

“People talk about freedom of expression but no one was able to make a film on Emergency because efforts were made to suppress it. Likewise, there was no attempt to document an important event like Partition,” he said.

Several BJP ruled states have exempted the film from entertainment tax. ThePrime Minister also told the party lawmakers to watch it.

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