On July 6, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri shared a series of Tweets narrating how a hit-job was run against the ‘Humanity Tour’ that he had organised recently. In his tweet, Agnihotri wrote, “EXPOSÉ ALERT: GENOCIDE-DENIER and HINDUPHOBIC propaganda site The Quint tried to do a sinister HIT-JOB on me but fell flat on their face. Here is an example. We used to ignore these fake FACT-CHECKERS, but true patriotism is to expose and defeat these anti-national #UrbanNaxals FOs.”
EXPOSÉ ALERT:
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) July 6, 2022
GENOCIDE-DENIER & HINDUPHOBIC propaganda site @TheQuint tried to do a sinister HIT-JOB on me but fell flat on their face. Here is an example.
We used to ignore these fake FACT-CHECKERS but true patriotism is to expose & defeat these anti-national #UrbanNaxals FOs. pic.twitter.com/JIU2LLAEwU
In his tweet, Agnihotri shared an email sent by Quint journalist Abhilash Mallick to Global Human Rights Defence in Hague, Netherland, where one of the events of Humanity Tours was scheduled. The Humanity Tour happened between May 28 to June 26 this year.
Quint’s email to GHRD
In his mail, Mallick identified himself as a fact-checker with Quint and added a link to social media post by Agnihotri where the venues of the events of the Humanity Tour were mentioned. Calling the film The Kashmir Files’ islamophobic’, Mallick said, “Agnihotri has recently made a movie called The Kashmir Files, which was about the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley in the 1990s. However, the film has also faced much criticism, with some saying that it ignored facts and is Islamophobic. He has been on a trip titled “Humanity Tour”, where he has visited multiple venues in UK and Germany with his movie. At least two venues have denied inviting him, while another claimed to have no information about the event.”
Mallick claimed that two venues had denied inviting him and one venue denied information about the event, to which Vivek said it was a lie. He also shared a reply to Mallick sent by a GHRD official, where he provided complete information about the event that took place at the said venue.
Reply by GHRD
The letter reads, “GHRD is aware of the criticisms directed at Agnithori and his film The Kashmir Files – we strongly reject these criticisms. It is evident that there is an ongoing mass genocide of Kashmiri Pandits that Indian institutions and media outlets continue to neglect.”
It further added the details of the screening of the film hosted by the European Kashmiri Pandit Community (EKPC), including a panel discussion and reception in The Hague on June 17, 2022. It read, “The event was hosted in collaboration with GHRD and also included contributions from Mr Marco Respinti (a renowned Italian journalist who is Director-In-Charge of the magazine Bitter Winter). A total of 5 Ambassadors to The Netherlands were in attendance. GHRD stands with Kashmiri victims, and resents critiques of Mr Agnithori’s film – the massacre MUST be addressed.”
Furthermore, Vivek also quoted a tweet from June 21, where he had shared a video of the event in the Netherlands, where both Vivek and Pallavi Joshi, along with the team, were well received by the audience.
Fake Fact-checkers and propaganda machines like @TheQuint deliberately ignore evidences in order to label, discredit and harm with malafide intentions all those who stand for Human rights of Hindus. Dangerous GENOCIDE-DENIRES.
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) July 6, 2022
Expose and defeat them. https://t.co/DiDkKa8e3H
He challenged The Quint and demanded answers to two questions. He asked them to point out which part of the film was not based on the fact. He further asked them to prove on what basis they called the film Islamophobic. He said, “If they can’t, I deserve an UNCONDITIONAL APOLOGY. Or they stand exposed.”
I challenge GENOCIDE-DENIER and HINDUPHOBIC
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) July 6, 2022
@TheQuint to:
1. Point out even one shot, dialogue, event in #TheKashmirFiles which is not a FACT.
2. Prove on what basis they call the film ISLAMOPHOBIC.
If they can’t, I deserve an UNCONDITIONAL APOLOGY. Or they stand exposed. pic.twitter.com/w9siOYsd1j
The Kashmir Files and the resistance it faced from the liberals
Even before its release, The Kashmir Files has been facing serious resistance and blunt bad-mouthing by the liberals, Islamists and so-called intellectuals. As the film shows true stories of the exodus and genocide of Hindus from the Kashmir Valley, it became an eyesore for them. Before its release, NDTV called the film ‘propaganda’ which was later edited out when OpIndia published a report about it.
Since its release, film critics who belong to the liberal side of the media have tried their level best to paint a bad image of the film, claiming it is an Islamophobic film and has no facts. Not only the media but the leaders of opposition parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party, Congress, National Conference, and others, mocked and attempted to discredit the film. So much so that they even blamed the film for recent attacks on Hindus in the valley. However, none of them have been able to point out which particular scene or act of violence shown in the movie was not based on facts.
