Singapore bans Modi favourite ‘The Kashmir Files’ for stirring racial hate

Singapore’s government said the Bollywood film’s ‘one-sided portrayal’ and depictions ‘have the potential to cause enmity between different communities’

The box-office hit has been praised by Indian PM Narendra Modi and his right-wing Hindu nationalist followers, but critics say it fans anti-Muslim sentiment

Reading Time:1 minute

A girl walks past a poster for ‘The Kashmir Files’ inside a cinema in Mumbai earlier this year. Singapore refused to screen the film for its ‘provocative and one-sided portrayal of Muslims and the depictions of Hindus being persecuted’. Photo: Reuters

Reutersin Singapore

Published: 2:02pm, 10 May 2022

Singapore has banned a controversial Indian film about the exodus of Hindus from Muslim-majority Kashmir, citing concerns over its “potential to cause enmity between different communities”.

The Kashmir Files has been praised by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his right-wing Hindu nationalist followers, and has proved a box office hit, but critics say it is loose with facts and fans anti-Muslim sentiment.

“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,” the Singapore government said in a statement on Monday in response to media queries.

Pedestrians walk through Singapore’s central business district. The city state’s population is made up mainly of ethnic Chinese, Malays and Indians. Photo: Bloomberg

“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,” the statement added.

Singapore’s 5.5 million population is made up mainly of ethnic Chinese, Malays and Indians. The Southeast Asian city state has strict laws that punish any attempts to disrupt interracial and religious harmony.

Hundreds of thousands of people, many of them Hindus, fled from Kashmir after a violent uprising against Indian rule began in 1989.