Kashmiri woman lashes out at Shikara filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra for not showing genocide of Kashmiri Pandits
New Delhi: Kashmiri woman lashed out at filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra Vidhu Vinod Chopra over his film ‘Shikara’ and said that the ‘genocide’ of Kashmiri Pandits ‘was not shown’ in the film which depicts the plight of the community during the era that witnessed an exodus of Kashmir Pandits from the Kashmir Valley. A video of the woman, Divya Razdan, slamming Chopra during the screening of the film, went viral on social media.
“The genocide was not shown. My entire community burnt (inaudible),” she was heard saying in the video. Later, talking to Times Now, Razdan said, “I couldn’t find a single scene related to genocide of Kashmiri Hindus. Moreover, there were scenes which indicated that Hindus were wrong and Muslims were completely right.”
Responding to the allegations, Rahul Pandita, the co-writer for the film said, “Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits gave a standing ovation after watching the movie. We never wanted to make a movie that stirred communal riots. The plight of Kashmiri Pandits was not compromised.” Justifying Razdan’s outrage, filmmaker Ashok Pandit said that the director, while taking creative freedom in depicting a story, should not make a ‘mockery of the tragedy’. “The outcry of this woman is not biased. This is a very genuine reaction. Moreover, the tagline of the movie has been changed,” Pandit said.