Digvijaya Singh slams Vivek Agnihotri over ‘Bhopali means homosexual’ remark, opposes ‘genocide museum’

Congress Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh on Saturday opposed the proposal moved by Vivek Agnihotri to set up a ‘genocide museum’ for Kashmiri Pandits in Bhopal, for which Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has promised land to the ‘The Kashmir Files’ director.

Singh said the step would disrupt the social harmony of Bhopal which has a large Muslim population.

“I am totally against setting up a genocide museum in Bhopal. We will not let the communal harmony of Bhopal get disturbed,” he said.

Singh’s objection came a day after Agnihotri arrived in Bhopal to participate in a film festival and proposed to Chouhan to establish a ‘genocide museum’ to showcase the sufferings of Kashmiri Pandits. The Chief Minister on his part has promised to provide land and other facilities for the proposed museum.

On Friday, Singh had objected to Agnihotri’s recent “Bhopalis are assumed to be homosexuals” remark.

In a viral video clip of an interview given to an online channel, Agnihotri could be heard saying in Hindi: “I have grown up in Bhopal, but I am not a Bhopali. Because Bhopali has a different connotation. You can ask any Bhopali. I will explain it to you in private. If someone says he is Bhopali, it generally means he is homosexual, a person with ‘Nawabi’ desires.”

Reacting to Agnihotri’s remark, Singh tweeted: “Vivek Agnihotri ji, this could be your experience, but not that of the Bhopal citizens. I am also in contact with Bhopal and Bhopalis since 1977, but I never had this experience. Wherever you stay, there’s always an influence of the company you keep.”