On Wednesday, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal appealed to the Central Government to protect the lives of Kashmiri Hindus living in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. This came after a Hindu school teacher Rajni Bala was shot dead by Islamic Terrorists in the Kulgam district’s Gopalpora area on May 31.
Addressing an Important Press Conference | LIVE https://t.co/l7enczjane
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 1, 2022
After insulting the sufferings of Kashmiri Hindus over the successful release of Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’, AAP Supremo Arvind Kejriwal now seems to have taken a u-turn on his position towards the issue of rights of the community.
Kejriwal on Wednesday addressed a press briefing highlighting the issues Kashmiri Hindus face in the region. He said, “The Kashmiri Pandits are disgruntled. They have only one demand from the government – safety and security from terrorists.”
He highlighted that the Kashmiri Pandits went back to the valley and settled there but they are facing the same threats that they went through in the 1990s. “They have been selectively targeted and killed in their homes, and offices. This is inhumane and anti-national. And nobody is doing anything to stop this,” he alleged. “When Kashmiri Pandits oppose this, there are locked into their societies. When they raise a voice, their voices are stifled. Is this Justice?” he asked.
He highlighted that 16 Kashmiri Hindus have been killed so far this year. “The common man of Kashmir wants Hindus and Muslims to live together in peace. But the terrorists do not want this to prevail. To this day, Kashmiri Pandits are being forced to leave Kashmir and flee to Jammu or nearby areas. The era of the 1990s is coming back,” Kejriwal claims with a sceptical grin.
With his address, Kejriwal requested that Kashmiri Hindus should be protected and their voices should not be stifled. “I request the Central Government that we are ready to help you in the process of re-establishing Kashmiri Pandits to their homes in Kashmir. We are together in this,” he said.
Kejriwal’s concerns have come at a time when there has been a continuous rise in the targeted killings of Kashmiri Hindus by Islamic terrorists. Recently, on May 12, a Kashmiri Hindu youth, working for the revenue department, Rahul Bhat was killed by terrorists in Budgam district.
Arvind Kejriwal denied genocide of Kashmiri Pandits, had called ‘The Kashmir Files’ a jhoothi film
However, when Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’ was creating record numbers at the box office and stirred the national consciousness towards the cause of Hindus in Kashmir, Kejriwal did not lose an opportunity to mock the genocide in 1990 in the Delhi assembly.
CM @ArvindKejriwal to BJP:#TheKashmirFiles जैसी झूठी Picture के Poster लगाते हुए अच्छे नहीं लगते, शोभा नहीं देता.. pic.twitter.com/F25DddaZlH
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) March 24, 2022
In response to pleas requesting to make the movie tax-free in Delhi, Kejriwal mockingly asked director Vivek Agnihotri to make the film available for free on YouTube instead for everyone to watch. Further, he insinuated that ‘The Kashmir Files’ is a movie not grounded in reality and that is a “jhoothi” (fake) film. With an intention to lash out at BJP leaders supporting the film, Kejriwal ended up denying the genocide endured by the Kashmiri Hindus in the 1990s.
While Kejriwal has now tried his hand at raising the issue of Kashmiri Hindus lately, his exercises in mocking an independent film that tried to capture the real-life plight of the Kashmiri Hindus will not be forgotten.
