“Hitler Was Great”: Israeli Envoy Flags Hate After ‘The Kashmir Files’ Row

Israel’s ambassador to India Naor Gilon on Saturday posted a screenshot of a message he said he had received on Twitter, justifying the holocaust and praising Hitler, days after he intervened in a controversy surrounding the movie ‘The Kashmir Files’.

Mr Gilon said he was withholding the identity of the person who sent him the message to protect him.

The message came days after the Israeli envoy publicly denounced a filmmaker from his country who called ‘The Kashmir Files’ a “propaganda” and “vulgar movie” at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.

Mr Gilon also apologized to India in an “open letter” on Twitter, on Tuesday, a day after filmmaker Nadav Lapid, who is heading the festival jury, slammed the movie at the closing ceremony of the festival yesterday.

‘The Kashmir Files’, directed by Vivek Agnihotri, revolves around the exodus and killing of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley in 1990. It has been mired in controversy since its release in March, with many calling it a poignant depiction of a tragic period and critics alleging it is loose with facts.

Mr Gilon said Nadav Lapid abused the Indian invitation to the judges’ panel in the “worst way”.

“In Indian culture, they say that a guest is like God. You have abused in the worst way the Indian invitation to chair the panel of judges at @IFFIGoa as well as the trust, respect, and warm hospitality they have bestowed on you,” he added.

Nadav Lapid had said the jurors at the film festival were “disturbed and shocked” by ‘The Kashmir Files’. Two days later, he offered a “total apology” if his remarks had been misinterpreted and said his aim was not to insult the Kashmiri Pandit community or those who had suffered.

“But at the same time, whatever I said, and I said clearly that for me and my fellow jury members, it was, and it is a vulgar propaganda movie that didn’t have a place and was inappropriate for such a prestigious competitive section. I can repeat it again and again,” he told news channel CNN-News18.