New Delhi: The Jewish Museum in Berlin has dismissed filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri’s claim that it planned an event to “raise awareness of the problems of genocide and terrorism and how Indian principles of humanity can solve them”.
Agnihotri who is the director of The Kashmir Filestweeted on May 26 about a month-long “humanity tour” that would take him and his producer and actress Pallavi Joshi to several locations abroad, including the museum.
Off for up to a month #HumanityTour of Europe to spread awareness of the problems of genocide and terrorism and how Indian principles of humanity can solve this greatest threat to the modern world. pic.twitter.com/dluKQbi99f
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) May 26, 2022
However when The cable Asked to confirm the event, the press office of the Jewish Museum (Jewish Museum Berlin Foundation) said they had no plans to host an event with the filmmaker.
“We have no plans for an event with Mr. Agnihotri, nor are we aware of an official visit to the museum,” it said in an email.
According to Agnihotri’s tweet, the “Humanity Tour” was scheduled to take place from May 28th to June 26th, 2022. It was set to take place across the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, including at Nehru Center London, Fitzwilliam College Cambridge University, Oxford University, Leicester University, Birmingham Community, Parliament Of UK, Babylon Theater Berlin, Community Meet Berlin, Salzachlieder Frankfurt and Global Human Rights Defence.
This is the second event on Agnihotri’s tour not to have taken place, the first being at the Oxford Union at Oxford University.
On May 31, the event was “postponed” by the Oxford Union – the student-run debate society at Oxford University. Agnihotri then sent a video message threatening to file a lawsuit against the Union. The event has been postponed to July 1.
“It was all confirmed via email but only a few hours before they said ‘sorry we made a mistake, there was a double booking and we can’t accommodate you today.’ And without asking me, they moved the date to July 1 when there would be no student and there would be no point in doing an event,” he said in a video, calling the action “hinduphobic” and hitting it University to for “minority oppression” of Hindus.
IMPORTANT:
Another Hindu voice is reined in at HINDUPHOBIC @OxfordUnion.you canceled me In reality they canceled Hindu genocide and Hindu students attending Oxford Univ. The elected president is a Pakistani.
Please share and support me in this most difficult fight. pic.twitter.com/4mGqwjNmoB— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) May 31, 2022
While announcing his tour, Agnihotri also issued a statement saying he had been invited to speak at Cambridge University’s Fitzwilliam College, a claim the college has since denied, saying the event, which took place was a “commercial booking” and one not organized by Fitzwilliam College or Cambridge University.
This is a commercial booking and is not hosted by Fitzwilliam College or the University of Cambridge.
— Fitzwilliam College (@FitzwilliamColl) May 30, 2022
The cable sent a text to Agnihotri on Saturday, June 18, requesting comment on the Jewish Museum’s rejection. The story will be updated if/when he replies.
A press conference planned for the run-up to the tour at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) in Delhi was also abruptly cancelled.
The film was banned in Singapore, with Singaporean authorities saying, “The film is denied rating because it presents provocative and one-sided portrayals of Muslims and portrayals of Hindus who are being persecuted in the ongoing conflict in Kashmir.”
The city-state said that under its film classification guidelines, “any material that denigrates racial or religious communities in Singapore” would be denied classification.
The Kashmir Files was briefly banned in the United Arab Emirates. However, UAE authorities reversed their ban decision at the end of March and the film was released on April 7 without any cuts. New Zealand had to raise the film’s age rating from R16 to R18 after concerns were raised by the Muslim community. The time of India reported.
Agnihotri has accused it of an “international political conspiracy” and has taken issue with Wikipedia, a free Internet-based encyclopedia, for presenting the film as “…a fictional story centered around an exodus of Kashmiri Hindus” and “the represents early days”. Exodus of the 1990s as genocide, a notion widely believed to be inaccurate and associated with conspiracy theories.”
The film has grossed over Rs 300 crore at the international box office and has received a tax subsidy in several Indian states such as Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It was also actively promoted by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself backing the film. At least two states, Madhya Pradesh and Assam, announced time off work for government employees to see the film.
The BJP’s Amit Malviya, who is in charge of the information and technology cell, also tweeted in her favor, urging people to watch the broadcast.
That’s the kind of raw emotion that The Kashmir Files evokes. Those who suffered the terrible genocide need healing. This film is her story. It must be heard. Go out and see the film as it is released in theaters today. best regards to@vivkagnihotriand crew… pic.twitter.com/DFB72VRPJh
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) March 11, 2022
During the screening of the film in cinemas, many young men made hate speech against Muslims and incited violence.
the wires Investigations found that several of these “spontaneous” calls for violence came from individuals with a history of inciting anti-Muslim violence. Some had previously been arrested in connection with the August 2021 Jantar Mantar hate speech case, an event organized by BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay.
A leader of the far-right Hindu army, Sushil Tiwari, who was arrested in the Jantar Mantar hate speech case, is seen in video warning Hindus after watching the film in Lucknow. “If Hindus don’t wake up now, 15 years later what happened in Kashmir 30 years ago will be repeated across the country,” he says.
Another man, Deepak Singh Hindu, also had an altercation with police following hate speech held at the cinema after the film – Hindu had not only been previously arrested in connection with the Jantar Mantar case but had also been involved in a “religious war”. called the first day of riots in Delhi in 2020 at their epicenter.