Movie halls in Kashmir to reopen three decades after they were forced to be shut

Just a couple of weeks ago, one of the world’s most conservative countries, Saudi Arabia had announced its plan to open cinema halls in the kingdom.

Now, the government in Jammu and Kashmir is taking a cue from Riyadh and has proposed to re-open the movie halls in the state.

Cinemas across Jammu and Kashmir were forced to shut in the 90’s during the peak of insurgency in the valley after threats from extremists called ‘Allah Tigers’.

Since then, they have remained shut and efforts to bring them back have always been faced with resistance from hardline groups.

This has resulted in a generation of Kashmiris who have watched films only on TV or DVDs.

“The youngsters living in Srinagar today do not know about the joys of watching films in cinema halls because of bans by militants on cinema halls. I feel Jammu and Kashmir students are deprived of something so joyful,” Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said.

“It is high time that movie theatres reopened in Kashmir,” Mufti’s coalition partner BJP’s general secretary Ashok Koul said.

As expected, the government’s move hasn’t gone down well with various faction in the Muslim majority state.

The main opposition, the National Conference said the government should focus on more important things.

Unsurprisingly, the All Party Hurriyat Conference has opposed the move. Separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani had even criticised the Saudi Arabian decision calling it Un-Islamic.