On Thursday, September 5, the Kashmir Files director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri informed that he has declined the invitation of the Oxford Union Society who wanted to allegedly debate on Kashmir using an anti-India stance. In an X post, Agnihotri said, “I was invited by the prestigious Oxford Union to debate on Kashmir. I found the theme offensive, anti-India, and anti-Kashmir. On principle, I have declined the offer. PFA my decline letter.”
The Oxford Union had organized a debate advocating the formation of an independent state of Kashmir. Agnihotri stated that organizing such a debate was a direct challenge to India’s sovereignty. “I find it not just obnoxious but offensive- not just to 1.4 billion Indians but also as a humiliation of hundreds of thousands of displaced Indigenous Hindu victims of the Kashmir genocide of 1990. Framing it as a debate feels like turning a tragedy into a parlor game where the stakes are human lives and the cost is in the blood, not just ink,” Agnihotri stated in the letter to Oxford Union.
IMPORTANT:
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) September 5, 2024
I was invited by the prestigious Oxford Union to debate on Kashmir. I found the theme offensive, anti-India, and anti-Kashmir. On principle, I have declined the offer. PFA my decline letter.@OxfordUnion pic.twitter.com/sXSO7UGUlx
“As long as Kashmiri Hindus remain displaced from their homeland unable to return due to threats of Islamic terrorists, there cannot be any debate on Kashmir’s sovereignty,” the director said in a letter to the Oxford Union Society.
The Society in its invitation letter stated that it believed in an independent state of Kashmir. It also called ‘The Kashmir Files’ a controversial film.
The Oxford Union Society invited Vivek Agnihotri to talk on the debate titled “This House Believes in an independent state of Kashmir”. It further stated, “As the director of the controversial but necessary Kashmir Files, you are one of the most well-equipped individuals to talk on this challenging topic in today’s highly pressing climate.”
The letter stated that the debates will take place during the union’s Michaelmas Term on the dates 24th October, 31st October, 7th November, 14th November, 21st November, 28th November and 5th December. They asked Agnihotri to inform which dates would be convenient for him. However, the film director has refused to attend the event, objecting to the topic of the debate.
It is crucial to note that this is the same Society that had canceled Agnihotri’s Humanity Tour event at Oxford University in the year 2022. Agnihotri then had stated that the then-elected President of the Oxford Union Society was a Pakistani and that he favored the anti-India stance. “They have canceled me. In reality, they canceled Hindu Genocide & Hindu students who are a minority at Oxford Univ. The president-elect is a Pakistani. Please share & support me in this most difficult fight,” the director had posted on X.
IMPORTANT:
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) May 31, 2022
Yet another Hindu voice is curbed at HINDUPHOBIC @OxfordUnion.
They have cancelled me. In reality, they cancelled Hindu Genocide & Hindu students who are a minority at Oxford Univ. The president elect is a Paksitani.
Pl share & support me in this most difficult fight. pic.twitter.com/4mGqwjNmoB
Agnihotri said his event at Oxford was canceled at the last minute. He said, “I was supposed to speak at Oxford University because Oxford Union invited me a long time ago. It was all confirmed via emails, but just a few hours before that, they said sorry we made a mistake. There was a double booking, and therefore we cannot host you, without even asking me, they postponed the date to when no student would be there, and there would be no point doing an event.”
The Kashmir Files
Vivek Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files is based on the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in the 1990s. The film has been a major success at the box office. Several states have made it tax-free. From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Home Minister Amit Shah and UP, CM Yogi Adityanath has praised the film.
Though the film has been received with open hearts by the majority of the viewers, a section of society, especially the liberals and Islamists, have opposed the film, claiming it hurts the sentiments of the minority. A full-fledged agenda to discredit the film has been running since before the launch of the film in the theatres. However, the film received a massive response in the theatres worldwide.
