Singapore City: After finding it "beyond" the city-state's film classification guidelines in its assessment, Singapore has said it will not allow The Kashmir Files to be released in the multi-racial country.
The Kashmir Files, a Bollywood film on the exodus of Hindus from the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley, will be banned in Singapore, a media report said on Monday.
The authorities have assessed the Hindi-language film to be "beyond" Singapore's film classification guidelines, said 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).
"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 authorities told Channel News Asia.
"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," they said.
The Vivek Agnihotri-directed film, being screened in India since March to mixed reviews, is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley in the 1990s due to terrorism.
The film, written and directed by Agnihotri, stars Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty and Pallavi Joshi in lead roles.
PTI Inputs