AAP MP Gives Notice in RS Demanding Release of ‘The Kashmir Files’ on YouTube, DD

Several leaders have argued that airing the movie on YouTube and DD would only promote a “divisive agenda”, adding that the film does not tell the truth about the exodus of Kashmir Pandits.

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday, March 28 continued with its demand to upload The Kashmir Files on YouTube and Doordarshan, even as several Muslim leaders questioned if spreading the reach of such a ‘divisive’ movie was the right thing to do.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh gave a zero hour notice in Rajya Sabha, demanding the release of the Vivek Agnihotri-directed movie on YouTube and Doordarshan.

During his address in the Delhi assembly, AAP convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal asked the BJP MLAs, who were demanding the movie be made tax-free in Delhi, to upload it on YouTube and make it free for all.

The AAP leader also criticised both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP for using the movie for political gains. “Some people are earning crores in the name of Kashmiri Pandits and you (BJP) have been sticking posters of the film,” he was quoted as saying in the House.

Later, addressing a press conference, he said, “In the last 20-25 years since the Kashmiri Pandits’ exodus, the BJP has been at the Centre for 13 years. For the last eight years, the BJP has been at the Centre. Has even one family been rehabilitated in Kashmir? No one. What the BJP has done is politicise the issue.”

“Over Rs 200 crores have been earned. We have two demands: put this movie on YouTube so that everyone can watch it, and whatever has been earned should be used for the rehabilitation of the Kashmiri Pandits. And second, concrete steps should be taken so that Kashmiri Pandits can go back to their homes,” he said.

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Following Kejriwal’s remarks, some BJP leaders, including Delhi unit president Adesh Gupta, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh accused him of adopting an “anti-Hindu” stance.

Meanwhile, several leaders have argued that airing the movie on YouTube and Doordarshan would only promote a “divisive agenda”, adding that the movie did not depict the truth about the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. Therefore, it would be counter-productive to upload it on platforms with a mass reach.

Several Twitter users have also raised concerns over releasing the movie on YouTube, saying the move would affect the “social harmony of the country”.

Zeeshan Pathan, district president of Nandubar (Maharashtra) unit of AIMIM, said that such a move was aimed at only taking away the votes.