The film The Kashmir Files, based on the massacre of Kashmiri Pandits, has been banned by Malaysia as provocative. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor made fun of it, while the directors of the film Vivek Agnihotri and Anupam Kher made a scathing remark on him. Both had also named Tharoor’s late wife Sunanda Pushkar. Now Tharoor has expressed his displeasure over dragging his wife’s name in this matter and retaliated.
Replying to Vivek Agnihotri and Anupam Kher, Shashi Tharoor wrote, ‘Bringing my late wife Sunanda in this matter is despicable and condemnable. No one knows more about Sunanda’s thoughts than me. I had also accompanied him to see the remains of his ancestral home in Bomai village near Sopore. There I talked to people and friends living in his neighborhood, including people from both Hindu and Muslim religions. My wife did not believe in hatred but in reconciliation and unity.”
Where did the case start? Actually, the Malaysian government banned The Kashmir Files. The reasoning behind banning the film was that it showed one-sided truth. Muslims have only one side and the film is provocative. This may create disharmony in the society. After the ban on the film, Thiruvananthapuram MP and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor took a jibe at the BJP and Vivek Agnihotri by tweeting. He wrote, ‘The film which was being promoted by the ruling party of India has been banned in Singapore.’
Director Vivek Agnihotri and Anupam Kher, who played the lead role in the film, made a scathing comment on this. Vivek Agnihotri had asked whether your late wife Sunanda Pushkar was also a Kashmiri? At the same time, Anupam Kher said, ‘Your brutality towards the genocide of Kashmir Hindus is very sad. At least you should have shown sensitivity towards Kashmiri Pandits for Sunanda’s sake. Wouldn’t have been happy if the film was banned.
The film has earned more than 300 crores: Shashi Tharoor later, without naming Kher and Agnihotri, said that he had only tweeted factual news and had not commented on ‘The Kashmir Files’. Later when his wife’s name was taken, he retaliated.
Let us tell you that The Kashmir Files has earned a lot at the box office. The film, which grossed 337 crores worldwide, has been a topic of discussion all over the world since the first day of its release. While one section is praising the film, the other is calling it propaganda.