Mumbai: Conflict has arisen in New Zealand regarding Vivek Agnihotri’s film ‘The Kashmir Files’. The country’s censor chief is reviewing the film’s certificate, which has been criticized by the former deputy prime minister. The Kashmir Files, written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri, depicts the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from the Kashmir Valley in the 1990s. The country’s censor chief David Shanks is reviewing the film’s R16 certificate, after a New Zealand news agency reported on Saturday that the Muslim community has raised concerns about the film, which is set to release on March 24.
According to the New Zealand Classification Office, the R16 certificate mandates that children under the age of 16 cannot watch a film without adult supervision. Shanks told the media outlet that the certification office’s move does not mean the film is being banned in the country. He said that members of the Muslim community have contacted him to express concern that the film “might increase anti-Muslim sentiment and hatred.” Regarding the reaction.
He said the concerns were genuine and serious. Hence there is a need to review. Shanks said the film was issued a preliminary certificate without knowing these concerns. The move by the censor chief has been criticized by the country’s former deputy prime minister and leader of the political party New Zealand First, Winston Peters. He wrote on Facebook, ‘Another attack on the freedom of New Zealanders. Censoring this film is tantamount to censoring information and photographs of the atrocities on March 15 in New Zealand or photographs or information of the 9/11 attacks.’ Peters refers to the March 15, 2019 attack on a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, in which 51 people were killed and 40 people were injured in the firing of a gunman.
