National Award-winning director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri has exposed the ploy of the New York Times to peddle propaganda against his critically acclaimed movie ‘The Kashmiri Files’ and accused them of misquoting him in a recently published report.
Taking to Twitter, the award-winning filmmaker shared a few screenshots of his conversation with New York Times reporter Suhasini Raj. The screenshots came days after New York Times had published a report targeting his blockbuster movie ‘The Kashmir Files’ ahead of its international OTT release and Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘Humanity Tour’.
HATE CAMPAIGN of NYT EXPOSE:
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) May 28, 2022
Since it’s matter of public records now, I am posting few SS of my Q&A with Suhasini Raj of @nytimes on 29 April.
See how I knew about their evil design. Pl judge yourself how malicious Brown Coolies like Suhasini are working to divide India. https://t.co/xYGmlgdDvP pic.twitter.com/zZjI9Fyk2W
According to the director, the interview was taken on April 9, and the report was published first on April 29, which was rehashed a month later ahead of the movie’s international OTT release.
“Since it’s a matter of public records now, I am posting a few SS of my Q&A with Suhasini Raj of NYtimes on April 29. See how I knew about their evil design. Pl judge yourself how malicious Brown Coolies like Suhasini are working to divide India,” Vivek Agnihotri tweeted.
During the conversation, as shared by Agnihotri, the reporter was seen asking about the testimonies of the victims of the Kashmiri Hindus genocide, based upon which the movie ‘The Kashmiri Files’ was made. The reporter asked Agnihotri how many of the 700 testimonies he had mentioned belonged to Hindus and how many those were of Muslims.
Angered by the communal overtones of the question, Vivek Agnihotri can be seen criticizing the New York Times reporter for looking at a human tragedy from a communal angle.
“Can’t it think beyond Hindu Muslim? Sikhs, Buddhists, Dalits, Gujjars and even Christians were killed… don’t they matter to you. I find your question very objectionable, an attempt to lead to a communal narrative and therefore, I refuse to participate in such a divisive narrative,” Agnihotri responds, adding that for him, anyone who is killed in terrorism is a victim, irrespective of religion, region, caste or creed.
He further schooled the reporter saying that the New York Times had already damaged India’s image with its biased reporting and begged her to refrain from it for Humanity’s sake.
“I am surprised that despite being an Indian, you are promoting NYT’s vicious agenda against India. Shame,” Agnihotri responded.
The reporter, however, unrelentingly asks whether Vivek Agnihotri can provide more details on how many Muslim testimonies he had heard before making the movie. She says it is totally fine if he did not reply to that question.
In response, Vivek Agnihotri refuses to answer, saying that her question is linked to a communal agenda. He adds that his response will be converted in ratios of Hindus and Muslims to prove NYT’s vicious communal point.
“You don’t have a word to say against terrorism. No EMPATHY for the dead and victims. All you are interested in is Hindu vs Muslim. I am smart enough to know your agenda, which is to lead it to ‘ISLAMOPHOBIC’. If you have the guts then please publish my reply Which is as above. If there is any conflict, it’s because of media like yours,” Vivek Agnihotri says in his conversation with NYT reporter Suhasini Raj dated April 9.
Almost 20 days later, as per Agnihotri, the purported interview with Vivek Agnihotri was published on April 29. However, a month later, again on May 26, the same article titled ‘Film on Expulsion of Kashmir’s Hindus Is Polarizing and Popular in India’ is published to claim that the movie has been used by the BJP as a tool to advance its alleged narrative of Hindu persecution in India.
Interestingly, Suhasini Raj, in her report, for which she had interviewed Vivek Agnihotri, has clipped his response, although the director had explicitly asked her to include his entire response. Rather than reporting Agnihotri’s opinion, Raj has edited his response to concoct the quotes to misinform the readers.
Here is the clipped version of Vivek Agnihotri’s response that NYT carried in its report refusing to share Agnihotri’s entire response as requested by him.
Reacting to the full report, the filmmaker said that Karma will haunt Suhasini Raj for backstabbing victims of the Kashmir genocide and for selling India’s interests for a few dollars.
‘You aren’t a journalist, you are a slave of India’s enemies,” he said slamming the journalist.
I have nothing against @nytimes because it’s their job to damage Bharat.
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) May 28, 2022
But Suhasini Raj Et Tu? Karma will haunt you for backstabbing victims of Kashmir Genocide and for selling India’s interests for a few dollars. You aren’t a journalist, you are a slave of India’s enemies.
He also questioned why an interview which was taken on April 9 and then published on April 29 is again re-published one month later when the film is released internationally on OTT and exactly when his Humanity Tour began.
The continuous attack on ‘The Kashmir Files’
The Kashmir Files by Vivek Agnihotri is the top-rated Hindi film of 2022. Based on the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in the 1990s, the film has been under continuous attack from the left-liberal section of the media and society.
The film portrayed the brutal atrocities on Kashmiri Hindus and their eventual exodus from the valley brought about by Islamic jihadis. Agnihotri has repeatedly stated that every incident of brutality shown in the movie is based on hard facts and the actual testimony of victims.
Earlier, before the release of the much-awaited movie, Vivek Agnihotri had accused Film critic Anupama Chopra of trying to ‘sabotage’ his movie. The movie faced attacks from several other sections as well, with NDTV calling it a propaganda movie even before the trailer of the film was released.
The film stars Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Pallavi Joshi, Darshan Kumar, Chinmay Mandlekar, and Mrinal Kulkarni in lead roles and had released in the cinemas on March 11, 2021.
