In the latest episode of ‘Checks and Balance’, Saahil Murli Menghani looks at the role of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – which is now promoting The Kashmir Files – in providing justice to the forcibly displaced community of Kashmiri Pandits over the past three decades.
He also fact checks Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that anyone is free to make their own films if they disagree with the portrayal of the ‘truth’ in The Kashmir Files. In fact, filmmakers who take a critical view of the establishment on different topics have to run the gauntlet of not just the censor board but also the new filmmaking policy of the J&K government as well as unofficial bans. When Modi was chief minister of Gujarat, two films on the Gujarat riots of 2002 – Parzania and Firaaq – could not be shown in the state despite having a clearance by the CBFC.