An IAS officer in Madhya Pradesh has courted controversy with the state government over a tweet from the makers of The Kashmir Files asking them to make films on “murders of large numbers of Muslims in several states”.
Niyaz Khan, who is currently deputy secretary in the state’s Public Works Department (PWD), tweeted last week, “The Kashmir file shows the pain of Brahmins. They should be allowed to stay safe in Kashmir with all due respect. The producer should also make a film to show the killings of a large number of Muslims in many states…”
In a second tweet on Sunday, the IAS officer congratulated the makers of the film for touching the Rs 150-crore revenue figure, and said that since people “have a lot of respect for the sentiments of Kashmiri Brahmins”, the film’s film’s makers have been released. The makers should give the proceeds from the film to the education of Brahmin children and to build houses for them in Kashmir.
Vivek Agnihotri’s reply to Niaz Khan
In response, Vivek Agnihotri, director of The Kashmir Files, asked Khan to meet him in Bhopal on March 25. Agnihotri tweeted on Sunday, “We can meet and exchange ideas on how we can help and how you can help with the royalty of your books and your power as an IAS officer. “
Khan, who has written eight books so far, has also said that he is thinking of writing a book on the “genocide of Muslims on different occasions” to “bring the suffering of minorities to Indians. “
Minister accuses IAS of ‘Firka Parasti’
Taking a jibe at the IAS officer’s statements, State Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang accused him of “firka parsti (sectarianism)” and demanded his removal from the PWD.
The minister told reporters that Khan violated the IAS service conduct rules by making the remarks and said that he would file a complaint against him in the personnel department.
“They have no authority… the way they have started issuing statements and starting a Twitter war, it is against the service rules,” Sarang said.
Tax free film in Madhya Pradesh
The Madhya Pradesh government has made The Kashmir Files tax-free and given police personnel a day off to watch the film with their families. Last week, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan watched the film along with ministers from his government and BJP MLAs at a special screening in Bhopal.
Vivek Agnihotri and actor Akshay Kumar are set to participate in the three-day long Chitra Bharati Film Festival (CBFF), which will begin on March 25 at the new campus of Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication.
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