J&K HC quashes plea seeking stay on release of Shikara; Kashmiri Pandit viewer lashes out at director Vidhu Vinod Chopra

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Friday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a stay on the release of _Shikara_ , a movie on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in 1990. [caption id=“attachment_8010721” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  A still from Shikara. YouTube[/caption] A division bench of the high court comprising Justices A M Magray and D S Thakur dismissed the PIL following assurances by the counsels for the Centre and the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir that the release of the movie will not cause any law and order problem. The petition was filed in the court earlier this week, seeking a stay on the release of Vidhu Vinod Chopra ’s movie Shikara. The petition, filed by three social activists, had sought a stay on the release of the movie on the grounds that besides not being based on facts it was communal in nature. It also sought a review and editing of the objectionable scenes and narrations of the movie which, the petitioners claim, blames the entire Kashmiri population for the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in 1990. The petitioners had claimed that the trailers of the movie that are being shown on television indicate that the movie has the potential of communal polarisation. “….The above-said narration and depiction of events is not only concocted and far away from truth but is also communal in nature,” the plea said. Majid Hyderi, one of the three petitioners, told Press Trust of India that they have not decided yet whether to appeal the high court decision. Meanwhile, A woman belonging to the Kashmiri Pandit community broke down and lashed out at Vidhu Vinod Chopra after watching Shikara at a theatre here where he had come to get a firsthand public review of the film on Friday. The woman alleged that Chopra commercialised the entire issue of Kashmiri Pandit exodus and did not portray the actual suffering of the community including the genocide, mass rapes and mass murders committed by Islamic radical groups in his film. “Ye aapka commercialism aapko mubarakh ho (Congratulations on your commercialism) As a Kashmiri Pandit, I disown your film, I disown it,” said the visibly distraught viewer. She further alleged that Chopra polarised the sufferings faced by the community, to which Chopra replied that he will work on a sequel of the film for the woman. Trying to calm the situation down, the director also said that “truth has two faces” and people have different perspectives on the same issues. “Ab aapke liye sequel two banaengey (Now I will make a sequel for you),” replied Chopra in a lighter vein. (With agency inputs)