Singapore Bans ‘The Kashmir Files’; Know Why

Singapore: Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’, a film on the exodus of Kashmir Pandits from Srinagar in the early 1990s, has been banned in Singapore, PTI reported.

The film, starring Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty and Pallavi Joshi in key roles, has been assessed to be “beyond” the city-state’s film classification guidelines, said Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in a joint statement with Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

“The film will be refused classification for its provocative and one-sided portrayal of Muslims and the depictions of Hindus being persecuted in the on-going conflict in Kashmir,” the authorities told Channel News Asia.

“These 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 added.

Any material that is “denigrating to racial or religious communities in Singapore” is refused under film classification guidelines, the authorities clarified.

The film, which was released in theatres on March 11, will start streaming on OTT later this week.