Singapore bans ‘The Kashmir Files’ for its ‘one-sided’ portrayal of Muslims

Singapore has banned the Bollywood movie ‘The Kashmir Files’, assessing it to be “beyond” the city-state’s film classification guidelines.

According to reports, the Singaporean authorities refused classification of the Hindi-language film for “its provocative and one-sided portrayal of Muslims and the depictions of Hindus being persecuted in the on-going conflict in Kashmir”.

‘The Kashmir Files’, being screened in India since March to mixed reviews, is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Muslim-majority Valley in the 1990s due to terrorism.

A joint statement was issued in Singapore by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

The film’s representations “have the potential to cause enmity between different communities, and disrupt social cohesion and religious harmony in our multiracial and multi-religious society,” they said.

Under the film classification guidelines, “any material that is denigrating to racial or religious communities in Singapore” will be refused classification.

The Vivek Agnihotri-directed film stars Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty and Pallavi Joshi in lead roles.

In India, the movie has been lauded by the ruling camp, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah coming forward to shower praise on the performances and the content. The film has been declared tax-free in most of the BJP-ruled states.