Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri and Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday engaged in a war of words on Twitter after the former union minister posted that the Kashmir Files film had been banned in Singapore for being “provocative” and “one-sided”.
Earlier in the day, the Thiruvananthapuram MP took to Twitter to share a news report and wrote, “Film promoted by India’s ruling party, #KashmirFiles, banned in Singapore.”
Responding to Tharoor’s tweet, Agnihotri, who directed the film, shared a list of popular movies which have been banned in Singapore but hailed worldwide, calling Singapore the “most regressive censor in the world.”
“Dear fopdoodle, gnashnab @ShashiTharoor, FYI, Singapore is most regressive censor in the world” Agnihotri tweeted tagging Tharoor.
“It even banned The Last Temptations of Jesus Christ (ask your madam). Even a romantic film called #TheLeelaHotelFiles will be banned. Pl stop making fun of Kashmiri Hindu Genocide,” Agnihotri added.
Film promoted by India’s ruling party, #KashmirFiles, banned in Singapore: https://t.co/S6TBjglele pic.twitter.com/RuaoTReuAH
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) May 10, 2022
Dear fopdoodle, gnashnab @ShashiTharoor,
FYI, Singapore is most regressive censor in the world. It even banned The Last Temptations of Jesus Christ (ask your madam)
Even a romantic film called #TheLeelaHotelFiles will be banned.
Pl stop making fun of Kashmiri Hindu Genocide. https://t.co/QIxFjJW86U pic.twitter.com/kzodpI1CtL
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) May 10, 2022
In another tweet, the director asked whether Sunanda Pushkar was a Kashmiri Hindu and that the Congress MP should delete his tweet and apologize to Sunanda’s soul.
“Hey @ShashiTharoor, Is this true that Late Sunanda Pushkar was a Kashmiri Hindu? Is the enclosed SS true? If yes, then in Hindu tradition, to respect the dead, you must delete your tweet and apologize to her soul,” Agnihotri wrote.
Hey @ShashiTharoor,
Is this true that Late Sunanda Pushkar was a Kashmiri Hindu?
Is the enclosed SS true?
If yes, then in Hindu tradition, to respect the dead, you must delete your tweet and apologise to her soul. https://t.co/3wgJQnkhVZ pic.twitter.com/98DPB4Gnj7
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) May 10, 2022
Bollywood actor Anupam Kher too waded into the spat by sharing a screenshot of a Twitter thread of the late Sunanda Pushkar and asking Tharoor to “show some sensitivity towards Kashmiri Pandits for Sunanda’s sake.”
Dear @ShashiTharoor! Your callousness towards #KashmiriHindus genocide is tragic.If nothing else at least for #Sunanda’s sake who was a Kashmiri herself you should show some sensitivity towards #KashmiriPandits & not feel victorious about a country banning #TheKashmirFiles! 💔 https://t.co/YwEsgYWgc4 pic.twitter.com/b7XRL46tIG
— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPKher) May 10, 2022
“Dear @ShashiTharoor! Your callousness towards #KashmiriHindus genocide is tragic. If nothing else at least for #Sunanda’s sake who was a Kashmiri herself you should show some sensitivity towards #KashmiriPandits & not feel victorious about a country banning #TheKashmirFiles!,” Kher tweeted.
“Dragging my late wife Sunanda into this matter was unwarranted and contemptible. No one is more aware of her views than I am. I have accompanied her to the destroyed ruins of her ancestral home in Bomai„ near Sopore„ and joined her in conversations with her Kashmiri neighbors and friends, both Muslim and Hindu. Pile thing I know, unlike those attempting to exploit her when she is not around to speak for herself: She believed in reconciliation, not hate,” Tharoor’s statement read.
My statement in response to assorted comments on my tweet: https://t.co/7jlJDu6ZSc pic.twitter.com/ouZEQWoGS4
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) May 10, 2022