Movies won’t create congenial atmosphere for return of Kashmiri Pandits: Omar Abdullah
Without naming the film ‘The Kashmir Files’, vice-president of National Conference and former Chief Minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state Omar Abdullah Thursday said that such films do not create an atmosphere congenial for the return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits in the Kashmir Valley.
Defending a recent statement by his party president and former Chief Minister of the erstwhile state Dr Farooq Abdullah that films are being used to spread hatred, Omar asked “is it not true?”.
“I will tell you that the film about which Farooq Sahib was talking, that film has been used to defame one entire Kashmiri community and to spread hatred here,” he told mediapersons at Kalakote at the conclusion of his five-day tour of the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri. “Farooq Sahib did not say anything wrong,” he added.
Pointing out that the situation today is such that people are scared of telling the truth, Omar said, “But I will say that there have been some Kashmiri Pandits who met me and said that the film has become a hurdle in their return to Kashmir. I am not saying this, this is what they have told me.”
The National Conference leader also said, “We want brotherhood to be established and such a situation in Kashmir that these people do not stay in camps but return safely to their homes. This is also true that such atmospheres are not created through such films.”
Farooq Abdullah had on Monday said that films like ‘The Kashmir Files’ should be stopped as they are spreading hatred across the nation. His statement had followed the killing of migrant Kashmiri Pandit Rahul Bhat by militants in Budgam district’s Chadoora area last week.
Referring to the meeting of PAGD leaders, including himself, with J&K’s Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, the NC leader had said in Srinagar, “I told him that the film, ‘The Kashmir Files’, has created hatred in the country. Is it possible that a Muslim killed a Hindu, put his blood in rice and asked his wife to eat it? Such things should be stopped,” he had said, adding, “The atmosphere of hatred against Muslims in the country is giving rise to anger among Muslim youth in Kashmir.”
