NEW DELHI: Delhi BJP MLA Vijender Gupta on Thursday demanded that "The Kashmir Files" film be made tax-free in Delhi and Punjab, saying people from economically weaker sections are unable to afford tickets for the movie.
Both Delhi and Punjab have AAP governments, with Arvind Kejriwal heading the government in the national capital and Bhagwant Mann in that state. In a statement, Gupta warned that if his demand is not met, he would stage a sit-in outside the Delhi Chief Minister’s Office.
The new release, which is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in the 1990s, has been made tax-free by several states like UP and Haryana. The MLA said that the film has brought the issue of "genocide and ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus to the forefront".
"People from economically weaker sections of society are unable to afford such an exorbitant (ticket) price. The movie has already been declared tax-free by Haryan a CM Manohar Lal Khattar and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi. The people of Delhi are being forced to go and watch the movie in Haryana and UP," Gupta said.
He said that if Kejriwal fails to declare the movie tax-free in the AAP-ruled states, he would sit on a dharna at the Delhi CM Office. "For years, the plight of Kashmiri Hindus was kept hidden by continuous whitewashing of facts. But the movie in discussion has put forth facets of the dark days faced by the Pandits," he said.