Vivek Agnihotri alleges 'international political conspiracy' against The Kashmir Files

After having the organised press conference cancelled on him twice by the Foreign Correspondent’s Club and Press Club of India, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri held a press conference in New Delhi on May 6, 2022, which was streamed live on YouTube. The presser was held to touch upon the topics depicted in his latest controversial film The Kashmir Files starring several notable actors like Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty and more.

From addressing the film being called 'fictional' to dealing with the allegations of being called Islamophobic, the director presented his thoughts. During the press conference, the director reacted to people billing his film as 'Islamophobic' and presented several questions to them concerning the topic. 

Vivek Agnihotri reacts to The Kashmir Files being billed as Islamophobic

Before responding to the claims, the 48-year-old director welcomed questions regarding his opinions on the same. Agnihotri began by strongly asserting, ''Islamaphobic or Islamaphobia is being used as a political weapon against my film under an international political conspiracy,'' and added, ''The film is actually anti-terrorism. The film does not, even once, use the word Muslim. The film does not use the word Pakistan or Pakistani."

He went on to question the accusations levelled against him in regards to the gory depictions of the Kashmiri Pandits' killing in The Kashmir Files, calling the film 'terrorphobic' as it only talked against terrorism. Agnihotri further made an example of other Bollywood films like Fiza in 2000, Fanaa in 2006 and Haider in 2014, which were based on the themes of terrorism, and questioned why they were not billed as 'Islamophobic' as well.

''That means if there is an unwritten law that if you justify terrorist, you are the messiah of humanity, but if you talk against terrorism, you are Islamophobic," he continued.

The director also presented a scene showcasing strong brotherhood between Hindus and Muslims in the film to question the nature of the claims and added, ''In fact, the most important producer of the film is a Muslim. Is he Islamophobic?”

As mentioned earlier, Vivek Agnihotri's press conference was cancelled twice. In a video message, the director also levelled allegations against a group of foreign journalists.

Image: Instagram/@VivekAgnihotri