The Bihar Assembly on Monday witnessed pandemonium, with Opposition MLAs tearing up tickets of The Kashmir Files , distributed free to them by the government.
Earlier, after making the film tax-free in the State, senior BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad on March 17 had invited all legislators to watch the film made on the exodus of Kashmiri pandits from Kashmir in the 1990s.
Protesting against the movie, Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) MLAs trooped into the well of the House and tore up the tickets of the film, while Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha kept urging them to take their seats and make any comment on it after watching the movie.
‘Ticket of hatred’
“This is a ticket of hatred. The film targets Muslims”, observed CPI(M-L) MLA Mehboob Alam. RJD legislators Rakesh Roshan and Rampreet Sada said, “What kind of message the government wants to give to society through such films? Had there been a film on unemployment, illiteracy or malnutrition, it would have been better for us to watch. Atrocities cannot be seen in terms of religion”.
Amid the pandemonium, the Speaker adjourned the House for half-an hour but the protesting MLAs continued venting their ire against the film outside the House. “This is a shrewd attempt by the BJP to further its communal agenda. Never before have we seen such efforts by the government to promote a film”, CPI(M-L) MLA Ajit Kushwaha told mediamen.
However, Mr. Prasad urged the protesting MLAs “not to have any preconceived notions of a well-intentioned movie”. “It is my humble request to fellow legislators to have no misgivings about the movie, as it has been cleared by the Censor Board and has been in movie theatres for many days. But, even if after watching the movie, you don’t like, you’re free to criticise it”, he stated.
‘Backlash may happen’
Fellow Ministers and BJP leaders Jibesh Kumar and Pramod Kumar said the film has “depicted the bitter truth and the Opposition members have been opposing it as part of an agenda”. “Their [Opposition parties] protest of the film may invite a backlash from common patriotic citizens”, Mr. Pramod Kumar remarked.
Earlier, some BJP leaders and workers had gone to a theatre to watch the film and slogans like ‘Jai Shri Ram’ were heard inside at regular intervals.
