Vivek Agnihotri’s The Delhi Files Faces Roadblock As The Maharashtra Sikh Association Opposes The Film ( Photo Credit – Vivek Agnihotri / Facebook )
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Vivek Agnihotri is riding high on the success of his last release The Kashmir Files. Although the film faced controversies, but the citizens supported it and made it one of the highest-grossing films of the year. Most recently, the filmmaker announced his next, The Delhi Files. Although the official plotline of the film hasn’t been shared yet, however, the Maharashtra Sikh Association are already opposing the film.
The film which was released last month revolves around the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus in Kashmir. The movie featured, Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, and Pallavi Joshi.
It is speculated that The Delhi Files will be based on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, but The Kashmir Files director Vivek Agnihotri hasn’t confirmed anything yet. As per PTI, the Maharashtra Sikh Association released a statement in which they expresses “strong reservation against the exploitation and commercialisation of unfortunate tragic chapters of human mankind like Sikh riots by people in the name of creative expression and personal profiteering.”
When the news portal reached out to Vivek Agnihotri to know his views on the Maharashtra Sikh Association opposing The Delhi Files, the filmmaker said, “I have no idea which organisation is this. I’m an Indian; I live in a sovereign state which gives me the full right to express myself in whichever manner I want. I will make what I need to make, what my conscience tells me to make. I am not a servant to anybody’s demands or organisations.”
“I have not even announced what I’m making, why I am making it. People are making assumptions, which they can keep making. But ultimately it is only for the CBFC to decide what kind of film I make and if it should be allowed to release or not,” he added.
In the statement, the Sikh community also stated that, encouraged by the controversy and hype created by The Kashmir Files, Vivek Agnihotri is aiming to “commercialize tragedy of human mankind like the 1984 riots.” The statement further reads that their people are trying to forget the dark past and although there are documents related to the history but “these sagas of organized programmes against Sikh community were never commercialized.”
“Many of the culprits have either died or are behind the bars. Justice has come with delay, but it has come. Even the then Government had apologized for these riots in the Parliament. By extracting profits by depicting deaths in gory details will only result in poisoning the minds of the new generation, who might have heard about it but now seeing them on-screen will boil their blood, and fume hatred against others… It would be a deliberate attempt to reopen the wounds of the old and vitiate the fragile peace in society. This is neither correct nor ethical.”
In the statement, the Maharashtra Sikh Association has asked Vivek Agnihotri to immediately stop making the film, “The creative pursuits depicting the teachings of our revered Gurus will send a positive message in the society. Maharashtra Sikh Association joins the voice of Indian diaspora worldwide and the Sikh community in particular in asking the makers of ‘Kashmir Files’ to desist from disturbing the uneasy calm in the society.”
