Film-maker Vivek Agnihotri castigates New York Times, Bloomberg and Al Jazeera

Says Indian media playing in foreign media’s hands

Delhi Crown Bureau

New Delhi, May 5 (Delhi Crown): Vivek Agnihotri, the acclaimed film-maker of THE KASHMIR FILES fame, was at his best in castigating and condemning the foreign media in India, particularly the “New York Times”, “Bloomberg” and the “Al-Jazeera”.

He said that the foreign media in India was “dictating terms” to Indian media, and that a section of Indian media was succumbing to it.

At a press interaction held at a hotel in New Delhi on Thursday (May 5), he particularly attacked the foreign media present in the Indian capital for denying him the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression.

He said the foreign media had “vested interests” in portraying India as anti-Muslims.

All this, Vivek said, because New York Times’ (NYT) India Correspondent Emily Schmall, Bloomberg’s Ruth Pollard and Al-Jazeera’s Elizabeth Divya, as per Munish Gupta, the president of Foreign Correspondents Club of South (FCC of South Asia), had “strongly objected” to Agnihotri holding his press conference at the Club, which Agnihotri had booked weeks in advance.

Agnihotri said he had paid all advances (around Rs. 1 lakh) for booking a slot at the FCC of South Asia for holding his press conference, and even agreed to pay for “alcoholic drinks” for journalists on the “demand of FCC of South Asia President Munish Gupta”.

In his press conference, Agnihotri NAMED three organisations – NEW YORK TIMES, BLOOMBERG and AL JAZEERA, saying these foreign media were bringing a bad name to India as far as “Kashmir is concerned”.

In his own right, being an alumnus of New Delhi-based journalism institute – Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Agnihotri said that the journalists in India were of two types – those who hide the truth, and those who write/publish/expose the truth.

Accompanied by his much-acclaimed actress wife Pallavi Joshi, who also played a key role in THE KASHMIR FILES, at the press conference, he said that what he portrayed in his film THE KASHMIR FILES was the truth about GENOCIDE of Hindus that happened in early-1990s and nothing else.

“I was accompanied by a lot of Muslims in my crew when I shot scenes within Kashmir. Once I invited Kashmiri youths for a dinner, and soon they started getting threats and a fatwa was issued against me,” he told the Delhi media.