The Kashmir Files: Assam CM announces half-day for government officials to watch the film

A handful of Bharatiya Janata Party-ruling states have declared Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri’s latest film ‘The Kashmir Files’ as tax-free. As the movie enters its sixth day, another BJP ruling state has come up with an announcement in regard to the film. The Himanta Biswa Sarma-led Assam government has announced a half-day for all government officials in the state to watch The Kashmir Files.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Tuesday, announced that any government official willing to watch the film, which is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley, will be given a half-day leave.

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All that the employees need to do is inform their superiors and submit the film’s tickets the next day. Making the announcement on Koo, the Indian counterpart of Twitter, the CM wrote: "Glad to announce that our Govt employees will be entitled for half-day special leave to watch #TheKashmirFiles. They will have to only inform their superior officers and submit the tickets the next day." He further clarified that since there is no entertainment tax in Assam, it doesn’t make sense to waive the tax for the film.

The CM and his cabinet of ministers, along with the MLAs of BJP and its allies, had watched the film at a theatre in Guwahati on Tuesday. After watching the film, he called “The Kashmiri Pandit genocide & their exodus are a blot on humanity”.

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The film has been receiving a lot of praise from the audience. In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also praised the film on Tuesday for "bringing the truth in its correct form". He also said that history needs to be presented from time to time in the right context.

More than half a dozen states have declared The Kashmir Files tax-free. These include Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Goa and Uttar Pradesh.

Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri directorial film stars Anupam Kher in the lead. The film also features actors Mithun Chakraborty, Pallavi Joshi and Darshan Kumar among others.