• ‘The Kashmir Files’ director Vivek Agnihotri lands into legal troubles after his ‘Bhopali means Homo

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    ‘The Kashmir Files’ director Vivek Agnihotri lands into legal troubles after his ‘Bhopali means Homo

    Reportedly, the case was filed by Rohit Pandey, a 27-year-old public relations manager from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.


    Digital Desk: A complaint was lodged at Mumbai’s Versova Police Station against Vivek Agnihotri, the director of ‘The Kashmir Files,’ over his statements that “Bhopalis are believed to be homosexual.”

    Reportedly, the case was filed by Rohit Pandey, a 27-year-old public relations manager from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

    The complainant has requested an urgent FIR to be registered against the filmmaker under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 153A, 153B, 295A, 298, 500, and 505(2) for “insulting” and “disrespecting his native place.”

    “My client states that he recently got acquainted with the said video and found it extremely shameful and embarrassing as he hails from Bhopal and that he completely vehemently denies and reject the said malicious slander committed by the accused not just against his native city being BHOPAL but has also defamed the whole state of Madhya Pradesh and India,” the petitioner’s advocate Ali Kaashif Khan Deshmukh stated in the complaint letter to the senior police inspector of Versova Police Station.

    As per the petitioner’s lawyer, “The accused has tarnished the reputation of the city, state, and country by referring to Bhopalis as homosexuals and has even ashamed the homosexual community by making fun of them.”

    Earlier in the day, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh slammed the filmmaker for his comments.

    The Congress leader stated that it must be Agnihotri’s personal observation and not that of any ordinary Bhopali.

    Vivek Agnihotri ji, this may be your personal observation, but it is not that of the average Bhopal resident. I’ve known Bhopal and its inhabitants since 1977, but I’ve never had this encounter. Wherever you go, the company you keep has an impact,” he tweeted in Hindi.

    Digvijaya Singh’s counterargument came after a video of Agnihotri’s remarks hit the internet just days before the filmmaker’s visit to Bhopal.

    In the video, Agnihotri says that people frequently mistake ‘Bhopalis’ for homosexuals due to their nawabi desires.”

    “I was raised in Bhopal, but I am not a Bhopali. The term Bhopali has a different meaning. I’ll tell you privately, or you can ask a Bhopali. When you refer to someone as a Bhopali, you are referring to a homosexual with nawabi desires,” Agnihotri said.

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