Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Jan 13: Supreme Court has expressed serious concern over one-sided movies and documentaries on Kashmir and said it has become fashionable to talk about human rights in biased manner.
“Whether it has become fashionable to depict only one side of the story in movies”, Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Vikramjit Sen and Justice C Nagappan asked in the open court while hearing a petition filed by filmmaker Panjak Butalia, who complained about the Censor Board’s refusal to clear his documentary on Kashmir—Textures of Loss.
The documentary features interviews of people, who lost their kin because of the conflict and violence in Kashmir. Some of them condemned the country and the Army, while others spoke about Jihad.
The Censor Board sought some cuts in the documentary, but Butalia maintained he was merely depicting opinions. He challenged the Board’s decision before the appellate body but when that did not work, he moved the Apex Court.
“Why is it one-sided? Where is the alternate picture? We don’t know why it has become fashionable and a question of human rights to talk about one side of a story. Rights are always conferred on two parties and not only on one of them… This is what is happening with activists”, the Bench said.
“If you have not taken the view of the other side, then it becomes the views of the producer or director. It is not the people’s view as you want to project it. Which people are you talking about when you haven’t spoken to others? When a filmmaker goes on to show only his point of view, it remains his view,” said the Apex Court Bench while expressing serious concern over one sided version of documentary.
With these observations and remarks, Supreme Court dismissed the petition.
Follow our WhatsApp channel