National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah on Friday said that the film The Kashmir Files was “far from the truth”, PTI reported.
Abdullah added while the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus was a “stain on Kashmiriyat”, the movie ignored the sacrifices of the Muslims and Sikhs in the state at the time.
“The pain and suffering of 1990 and after cannot be undone,” Abdullah said in a tweet. “The way Kashmiri Pandits had their sense of security snatched from them and had to leave the valley is a stain on our culture of Kashmiriyat.”
The Kashmir Files, directed by Vivek Agnihotri, is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from the erstwhile state in the late 1980s and early 1990s due to militancy.
Upon its release on March 11, the movie has met with polarising responses.
On one hand, the movie was endorsed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and many other senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Several BJP-ruled states have exempted the movie from entertainment tax.
On the other hand, Opposition parties have questioned the factual accuracy of the film and the communal tone of the discussion around it. They have pointed out that the Congress was not in power at the Centre when the Pandit exodus occurred and claimed that the governor of the state who facilitated the flight of the community had been approved by the BJP.
On Friday, Abdullah alleged that the facts shown in the movie were “other way round”.
“When the unfortunate incident of Kashmiri Pandit migration took place, Farooq Abdullah was not the chief minister,” he told reporters, according to PTI. “Jagmohan was the governor. It was VP Singh’s government at the Centre which was supported by the BJP from outside.”
Abdullah further said that there was a need to create an atmosphere to bring back those who left their homes and not create a communal divide.
“But I do not think that those people who have made this movie, want them [Kashmiri Hindus] to return,” he said, according to PTI. “Through this picture, they want Pandits to remain outside always.”
Also read: ‘The Kashmir Files’ director Vivek Agnihotri gets Y category security
‘Showcasing bloodshed for political gains’
Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami said that while migration of Kashmiri Hindus was tragic, “showcasing bloodshed for political gains” was dangerous for India, according to PTI.
“I only have one thing to ask to those elements who are trading in the Kashmiri blood by selling it in various markets, that please stop,” Tarigami said. “Whoever was killed, whichever religion he belonged to, but he was a Kashmiri.”
He also called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to set up a truth and reconciliation commission, PTI reported.
“I want the PM [Modi] to show boldness and constitute a truth and reconciliation commission like after apartheid in Africa to know who was killed and by whom,” he said. “While those killed will not return, but accountability will be established. Their families will come to know who killed them.”
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