After a war of words with Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri on Twitter about "The Kashmir Files" movie, Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said that he never "mocked" or "disparage" the sufferings of Kashmiri Pandits and added that dragging his late wife Sunanda into this matter was "unwarranted" and "contemptible".
The row started after Tharoor shared a media report on the microblogging site stating that the film 'The Kashmir Files' has been banned in Singapore.
"Film promoted by India's ruling party, #KashmirFiles, banned in Singapore," the Congress MP tweeted.
Reacting to Tharoor's tweet, Agnihotri said Singapore is the most regressive censor in the world and asked him to stop making "fun" of the Kashmiri Hindu genocide.
"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," the filmmaker tweeted.
Targeting the Member of Parliament further, Agnihotri asked to him delete the tweet if his wife Sunanda Pushkar was a Kashmiri Hindu.
"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," 'The Kashmir Files' director tweeted.
Veteran actor Anupam Kher, who played a crucial role in 'The Kashmir Files', also joined Agnihotri to attack Tharoor, saying that he should show some sensitivity towards Kashmiri Pandits for Sunanda's sake who was a Kashmiri herself.
"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!" Anupam Kher tweeted.
After her late wife, Sunanda was "dragged" into the controversy, Tharoor said he has never seen the movie and has not made any comment on its contents. He pointed out that he has repeatedly drawn attention to the plight of Kashmiri pandits over the years.
"I tweeted a factual news item this morning, with no comment on its contents or on the film "The Kashmir Files", which I have not seen. At no point did I "mock" or disparage the sufferings of Kashmiri Pandits, of whose plight I am intimately aware, and to which I have repeatedly drawn attention over the years," the Congress MP said in a statement on Twitter.
"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 neighbours and friends, both Muslim and Hindu. One thing I know, unlike those attempting to exploit her when she is not around to speak for herself: She believed in reconciliation, not hate."
Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in New Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014.
'The Kashmir Files,' on the life of Kashmiri pandits during the 1990 Kashmir insurgency, is based on first-generation video interviews of victims of the Kashmiri massacre, making an account of their pain, suffering, struggle and trauma.
( With inputs from ANI )
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