'The Kashmir Files' creating situation that may harm country: CPI(M) leader Yechury

Pic courtesy: Mid-day archives

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Monday said the recently-released film 'The Kashmir Files' was creating a situation that could cause great harm to the country's social unity and integrity.

The film, which depicts atrocities on Kashmir Pandits and their displacement due to Pakistan-backed terrorists, has become a huge box office success, though opponents have accused the makers of exhibiting communalism in the way the narrative is framed.

Speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the 23rd CPI(M) Maharashtra State Conference here, Yechury said his party was the first to speak out on the plight of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990, with its MLA raising the issue at the time in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.

He said people of Kashmir had preserved the properties of Kashmiri Pandits and, citing an RTI reply given by Srinagar police, informed that 89 Kashmiri Pandits have been killed by terrorists since 1990, while the figure was 1,635 for people of other faiths.

"The Kashmir Files is trying to create a situation that can cause great harm to the country's social unity and integrity," he said.

Asked about an anti-BJP alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the senior CPI(M) leader said efforts will take place to consolidate votes against the saffron party.

"There will be coordination between regional parties so that there is less division of anti BJP votes like it was done in Tamil Nadu recently under the leadership of DMK. Likewise it may take place in Bihar under the leadership of RJD, Samajwadi Party in UP, under (Chief Minister) Hemant Soren in Jharkhand or MVA in Maharashtra," he said.

It was necessary to isolate and defeat the BJP to save the Constitution and the economy, Yechury added.

He also attacked the probe agencies for the alleged delay in framing a complete charge sheet against the activists arrested in the Elgar Parishad Maoists Links case.

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