The Kashmir Files, based on the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from the Valley in the 1990s, will be banned in Singapore as the movie has been assessed to be beyond the city-state’s film classification guidelines.

According to the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in a joint statement with the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) it stated that the authorities have assessed the Hindi-language film to be beyond Singapore’s film classification guidelines. The film will be refused classification for its provocative and one-sided portrayal of Muslims and the depictions of Hindus being persecuted in the ongoing conflict in Kashmir.

It further added that these representations have the potential to cause enmity between different communities, and disrupt social cohesion and religious harmony in our multiracial and multi-religious society.

Meanwhile, Vivek Agnihotri, during a recent press conference, alleged that a section of foreign media was attempting to run an international political campaign “The Kashmir Files”. He said “Every major player, who maligns India’s image internationally without checking the truth, started calling me and their line of the question was only Hindu-Muslim. Nobody, not even one bothered to ask me about all those victims who I interviewed for this movie. Not even one tried to ask me about the facts I’ve shown in the movie and whether they are right or wrong. There is an international political campaign against the film. They blame us for Islamophobia. I categorically put on record that Islamophobia is being used as a political weapon against my film under an international political conspiracy. The film is actually anti-terrorism. The film does not use even once the word ‘Muslim’. The film does not use the word Pakistan or Pakistani. It’s an anti-terrorism film.”

The film, written and directed by Agnihotri, stars Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, and Pallavi Joshi in lead roles.