Director Vivek Agnihotri and his actor wife Pallavi Joshi spoke at the UK Parliament on Wednesday evening, addressing issues related to freedom of expression and human rights of minorities. Director of the acclaimed movie The Kashmir Files, Agnihotri interacted with a diverse range of British MPs as well as Councillors.
Agnihotri and his wife are currently on the Humanity Tour to spread the message of peace across the world. The duo is speaking at notable venues like the British Parliament, the Nehru Centre and various universities. After the UK, they plan to visit Germany and the Netherlands.
Actor Pallavi Joshi speaks at the British Parliament (Photo: Vivek Agnihotri/Twitter)
Tweeting about his experience at the British Parliament, Agnihotri said: "Last night was historical. As for the first time ever so many ideologically diverse MPs, Lords, Baronesses, Mayors & Councillors stood up in support of Kashmiri Hindus and pledged to take the cause of GENOCIDE further at the UK Parliament".
Interacting at the British Parliament has come as a shot in the arm for the couple after controversy at the Oxford University, where their event was cancelled at the last minute. Making his displeasure public at the turn of events at the university, Agnihotri had termed the incident "Hinduphobic" and even threatened to drag the university to the court for "cancelling" him and Hindu genocide voices.
Last night was historical
as for the first time ever so many ideologically diverse MPs, Lords, Baronesses, Mayors & Councillors stood up in support of Kashmiri Hindus and pledged to take the cause of GENOCIDE further at the @UKParliament.#TKFAtBritishParliament#HumanityTour pic.twitter.com/AFGidkjjQq— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) June 9, 2022
In effusive thanks to the British politicians, Agnihotri said: "I sincerely thank Gagan Mohindra MP (Conservative), Baroness Sandip Verma (Conservative), Virendra Sharma MP (Labour), Jonathan Lord (Conservative), Navendu Mishra MP (Labour), Lord Navnit Dholakia (Liberal Democrat), Sam Terry MP (Labour), Theresa Villiers MP (Conservative), Sir Robert James Buckland KBE QC MP (Conservative)".
The director of The Kashmir Files said that parliamentarians in the UK are beginning to recognise the Kashmiri Hindu genocide. He emphasised that “Injustice to Kashmiri Hindus is a collective failure of Humanity. The power of an honest film".
The UK-based Indian group, Friends of India Society International (FISIUK) said: "Commendable efforts by Vivek Agnihotri in creating awareness about the most heinous crimes committed against the aboriginal people of Kashmir – the Kashmiri Pandits – a sad saga that had been stifled in the discussion of Kashmir worldwide. Time to rise for humanity!"
Thank you all the Members of the @UKParliament who gave this signed souvenir to us to express their unconditional support to #TheKashmirFiles and the HINDU victims of Kashmir GENOCIDE. #TKFAtBritishParliament#HumanityTour pic.twitter.com/GgYGo8MAWA
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) June 9, 2022
Agnihotri's movie, The Kashmir Files, is based on real life instances of violence and gruesome killings witnessed by the Kashmiri Hindus in 1990 after Pakistani militants forced them to flee the valley. The film which documented real life stories of nearly 700 victims of the unspoken and unacknowledged genocide shows the pain and the struggle of the Hindus who were displaced from their ancestral homes by Islamist militancy.
The film has opened a can of worms with Muslim groups opposing film screenings and issuing threats to Hindus across the globe.
In one such latest incident reported from Australia, Muslims have threatened "actions are not gonna be lovely" against Hindu students who plan to hold screenings of the film in the country.
Indians in neighbouring New Zealand also had to put up a fight to ensure that the movie was allowed to be screened in the country's theatres after stiff resistence and motivated representations were put up before the authorities by Muslim groups.
