On Wednesday, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya led a group of workers to protest outside Kejriwal’s residence over his statement, in which he allegedly expressed the massacre of Kashmiri Pandits in the film as fabricated.
The BJP’s Yuva Morcha has demanded an apology from Kejriwal. The Yuva Morcha has decided to continue its protest till the CM’s apology. It has been the policy of the Aam Aadmi Party to make fun of Ram Mandir, to joke about Hindu deities, to question Batla House, to question surgical strikes, “Tejasvi Surya said.
Meanwhile, the AAP government rejected the proposal of BJP MLAs to make the Kashmir Files tax free in Delhi, as done by several BJP-ruled state governments. In his answer, Arvind Kejriwal questioned why they were fixing posters of a jhoothi film (which is based on lies).
The Delhi CM said the BJP should ask the film director, Vivek Agnihotri, to upload ‘The Kashmir Files‘ on YouTube so that everyone can watch it for free.
Kejriwal also said that in the last 20–25 years, since the Kashmiri Pandits’ exodus, the BJP had been in power at the Centre for 13 years, but nothing was done for the Kashmiri Pandits.
Kejriwal’s speech creates problems
The speech of the Delhi CM pinched his political opponents. After that, the film’s director and actors, the BJP workers, and the right-wing in general pounced on Arvind Kejriwal.
But the most hurtful attack came because Arvind Kejriwal was laughing while calling ‘the Kashmir Files’ a movie that told lies. The opposition alleged that he was made a laughing stock of by the plight of Kashmiri Pandits.
He has now said, in real meaning, that he was laughing at the BJP’s nautanki (drama) and not Kashmiri Pandits, “who need rehabilitation, and not a movie, 32 years after the great tragedy and injustice that happened in the Valley.”
On the other hand, critics have said the problem with the film is that it is based on anti-Muslim sentiments and wants to make the minority community an escape goat outside Kashmir. That is why it lacks context. And when you miss the context, everything is split between black and white, good and bad, allies and enemies, perpetrators and victims. Context is important for bringing shades that make sense to what we know of our past, present, and future.
However, Delhi police don’t like to leave any stone unturned in catching the culprits responsible for creating violence in front of Arvind Kejriwal’s house. It is a positive step on the part of the police.
