On Friday, March 18, a ruckus ensued at a movie theatre in Telangana’s Adilabad district after two persons reportedly raised pro-Pakistan slogans during the screening of The Kashmir Files. The act infuriated the audience, who thrashed the two after they raised anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans in the Nataraj theatre in Adilabad, Hyderabad, Telangana.
Pakistan zindabad slogans in Natraj theatre in #Adilabad..!!!
— Prafful Babbu (@Prafful4BJP) March 18, 2022
Peace loving community ppl showing love towards their Nation. #Porkistan@vivekagnihotri #TheKashmirFiles @AnupamPKher pic.twitter.com/uMWNeZ3Gei
In a viral video of the incident, the audience in the auditorium can be seen exchanging heated arguments while the film The Kashmir Files plays in the background. Then someone in the audience starts beating up another viewer. Though the audio of the viral video is unclear, reports suggest that the incident occurred after two people began chanting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans while watching the film.
Two people thrashed by crowd for chanting #PakistanZindabad during screening of #TheKashmirFiles at Natraj Theatre in #Adilabad, #Telangana.
— Siddhu Manchikanti (@SiDManchikanti) March 18, 2022
No complaint lodged. Those two are absconding. pic.twitter.com/aJLjwOimkn
Following the incident, the cinema staff called the police to help control the situation, but the perpetrators managed to flee the scene. The police are attempting to determine the identities of the accused. They have also gathered evidence from CCTV footage, but nothing concrete has yet been discovered.
“We are verifying the matter. No formal complaint has been filed yet. It looks like few are intentionally trying to spoil the atmosphere and escalate tension,” local Police officials were quoted by Republic as saying.
According to Superintendent of Police D Uday Kumar, the two were inebriated when they raised pro-Pakistani slogans, causing the ruckus. However, he stated that the situation had been brought under control and the police are investigating the matter.
Screening of ‘The Kashmir Files’ stopped briefly at a theatre in Kolkata
In another incident reported from Kolkata, West Bengal, on Wednesday (March 16), the screening of the movie ‘The Kashmir Files’ was stopped midway after a brawl broke out at the iconic Navina Cinema Hall in Tollygunge in Kolkata. However, there are several different versions of the story on the reasons for the same. While some reports say some Muslims protested against the movie, the theatre owners deny that and claim the incident was over two men talking loudly on the phone.
Sirf News had reported, “The staff of the Navina theatre said some Muslims protested inside the hall during the screening of The Kashmir Files. Police said they raised slogans saying the plot of the film was based on falsehood. This led to a quarrel and fisticuffs between the members of the two communities. The staff of the theatre stopped the film for 15 min.”
Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’ is inspired by the true stories of Kashmiri Pandits. It takes viewers back to 1989, when conflict erupted in Kashmir due to rising Islamic Jihad, forcing the great majority of Hindus to flee the valley. The movie based on video interviews with first-generation Kashmiri Pandit victims of the Kashmir Genocide was released in India on March 11 and is open to watch in theatres.
According to estimates, roughly 100,000 of the valley’s total 140,000 Kashmiri Pandit inhabitants migrated between February and March 1990. More of them fled in the years that followed until just about 3,000 families remained in the valley by 2011.
