Dispur: All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) president Badruddin Ajmal said he will request Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Assam CM Sarma to ban the film immediately as it has led to a "Hindu-Muslim divide and is likely to lead to communal tension".
"These incidents (of Kashmir) happened over three decades ago and such a situation does not exist now. If the film is not banned, it will lead to unnecessary violence," the Dhubri MP said. Thousands of Muslims were killed in the Nellie massacre in 1983 in Assam but nobody has made a film on that incident, he said.
At least 1,800 Muslims (unofficial figure runs higher) were killed in six hours in Assam's Nagaon district on February 18, 1983, by a mob as a fallout of a controversial Assembly election in the state. This is known as the Nellie massacre.
"We must not raise such issues now but must maintain peace at any cost," Ajmal added. He admitted that he has not watched 'The Kashmir Files' but said, "I have noticed the hype created around the film on social media which reflects the Hindutva agenda of the BJP and RSS". The movie has earned praise from the prime minister and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states.
Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday announced a half-day special leave for employees in the state to watch The Kashmir Files. While making the announcement, he added that the employees will only have to inform their superior officers and submit the tickets the next day to avail themselves of the half-day leave. The announcement came after the CM himself enjoyed the movie along with all his cabinet colleagues and BJP legislators at a theatre in Guwahati on Tuesday.