Movies like Kashmir Files necessary to spread social awareness, teach history: Tripura CM Biplab Deb

Deb recently made the movie tax-free in the north-eastern state.

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BJP leader Biplab Kumar Deb (File)

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb Tuesday lauded Vivek Agnihotri-directed Kashmir Files, saying such movies were necessary to spread social awareness. He, however, added that such films should have been made much earlier.

While speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Agartala, Deb said: “I spoke with Agnihotri ji and thanked him. His wife Pallavi ji was also on the phone. They said they want to visit our state. I told them that they are welcome in Tripura… People need to know history. They need to know what happened due to Article 370 and Article 35A. They need to know how Kashmiri Pandits were oppressed in their own country, how they had to leave behind everything…”

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The chief minister told media persons that he made many Kashmiri Pandit friends during his stay in Delhi. Sharing the experience of a Kashmiri female colleague of his wife, Deb said that their friend’s three-storied house in the Valley has been occupied by another family.

“They have still got their house there. They brought back roses for me… such a beautiful house. But they had to stand there, click some photos and come back… Such stories are there in Kashmir Files,” Deb said.

Stating that citizens, especially those from the younger generation, must know history, the CM said, “Like we know about the history of Jallianwala Bagh, the young generation should also know history, my son should also know… The reality of Kashmir has come out through this (Kashmir Files).”

He expressed hope that more films would be made on such issues. “The truth of Kashmir has come out in this way and it is necessary for social awareness… Everyone should know about it to make sure that whatever happened in Kashmir, doesn’t get repeated again,” he said.

A senior official of the state government told indianexpress.com that Deb along with the rest of his cabinet, MLAs from ruling BJP and alliance partner Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT), and Agartala Municipal Corporation Mayor Dipak Majumder, among others, is scheduled to watch the movie at a cinema hall in the state capital on Wednesday.

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Notably, Deb recently made the movie tax-free in the north-eastern state.