The 1984 anti-Sikh riots are rumoured to be featured in the filmmaker's forthcoming film "The Delhi Files," although the plot details are yet to be confirmed by the director.
Digital Desk: 'The Kashmir Files' director Vivek Agnihotri was slammed by the Maharashtra Sikh Association days after he announced his next film, "The Delhi Files."
Agnihotri, whose film "The Kashmir Files" was one of the year's biggest box office hits, unveiled his next project just a few weeks ago.
The 1984 anti-Sikh riots are rumoured to be featured in the filmmaker's forthcoming film "The Delhi Files," although the plot details are yet to be confirmed by the director.
The Maharashtra Sikh Association, in a news release, stated that it expresses "serious reservations about people exploiting and commercializing of regrettable tragic chapters of human history like the Sikh riots in the name of artistic expression and personal profiteering."
When called for a response, Agnihotri stated that as a director, he had the freedom to express himself and make the movie that his "ethics" directed him to. He also stated that except for the title, he had not revealed the subject of his film.
"I'm not sure what organization this is. I'm an Indian who lives in a sovereign state where I have the freedom to express myself in whatever way I desire. I'll make what I need to make based on my morals. I am not a slave to the demands of anyone or any organization," Agnihotri added.
"I haven't even said what I'm making or why I'm making it yet. People are making assumptions, and they will continue to do so. But, in the end, it is up to the CBFC to decide what kind of picture I make and whether or not it should be released," he said.
Agnihotri said that the association, which calls itself a nodal body actively involved in social, cultural, education, sports, and religious activities in the state, is related to its close-knit Sikh community.
"There is already division in society and hatred among many populations, and graphic depictions of extremely tragic events in history in a commercial style will only exacerbate ill feelings and undermine the fragile peace," it said.
"India is a place of unity in diversity, where people of many religions have attempted to live in harmony and peace with one another, and the Sikh community is attempting to erase the tragic chapter in its history," the Sikh Association statement stated.
"The riots and deaths were publicly criticized, with several videos and books produced, but these sagas of planned pogroms against the Sikh community were never commercialized," the association added.
Further, the Sikh association said that the scars are slowly healing and the Sikh community is trying to forget the past and go forward.
"Many of the perpetrators have died or are imprisoned. It took a long time for justice to arrive, but it did. Even the then-Government apologized for the rioting in the House of Commons," it noted.
"Extending earnings by presenting fatalities in graphic detail will poison the minds of the next generation, who may have heard about it but will now see it on film, causing their blood to boil and hatred to spread... It would be a calculated attempt to reopen old wounds and sabotage society's delicate harmony. This is neither ethical nor correct," it said.
The association also stated that if a film must be created, it should focus on fostering peace, harmony, brotherhood, and national integration.
"Creative endeavours depicting our beloved Gurus' teachings will send a beneficial message to society. The Maharashtra Sikh Association joins the global Indian diaspora and the Sikh community in requesting that the makers of "The Kashmir Files" abstain from disrupting the society's uneasy calm," the statement concluded.
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