Debate on The Kashmir Files unwarranted, says Rajasthan CM Gehlot

BJP leaders and one Congress MLA want the film to be shown tax-free in Rajasthan

Upset over the demand for showing the film The Kashmir Files tax-free, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday said any debate on the movie was unwarranted as it would spoil the atmosphere of brotherhood and harmony. The media should avoid such an argumentation, he said.

Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and one Congress MLA have raised the demand for making the film tax-free, saying it would let the public know the “reality of Kashmir”. BJP MLA and Deputy Leader of the Opposition Rajendra Rathore said the decision would give succour to Kashmiri Pandits, many of whom are residing in Rajasthan.

Mr. Gehlot said the exodus of Pandits from Kashmir in the 1990s had caused pain to all countrymen, irrespective of religion, but a discussion on the situation in the Valley at that time could not be termed appropriate at the present juncture.

“The atmosphere being created in the name of the film will further increase the gulf between different religious communities, including Hindus and Muslims, which is not in any way in the interest of the country,” Mr. Gehlot tweeted.

Bhanwar Lal Sharma, Congress MLA from Sardarshahar, who had joined the rebellion led by Sachin Pilot in July 2020, has supported the BJP’s demand for making the movie tax-free. He said the film had shown how Pandits were subjected to atrocities in Kashmir and making it tax-free would encourage people to watch it.

BJP State president Satish Poonia took the party’s leaders, office-bearers and workers to a cinema theatre in Jaipur on Thursday for watching The Kashmir Files. While BJP workers raised slogans inside the cinema hall, Mr. Poonia said the movie had exposed the “politics of appeasement” practised by the Congress.