Vivek Agnihotri threatens to sue Oxford Union for canceling event
What's the story
The Kashmir Files director Vivek Agnihotri on Tuesday said that the Oxford Union had canceled his event; he threatened to file a lawsuit against it. The filmmaker accused the Union of "Hinduphobia." Agnihotri, who is touring Europe on a "humanity tour," alleged that the president-elect of the Union is a Pakistani and requested everyone to "share and support him in this most difficult fight."
Context
Why does this story matter?
Ever since its release, The Kashmir Files has received a lot of attention. While the movie-going crowd has embraced the film on the plight of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley, many have criticized Agnihotri as well. He has been quite vocal online against those opposing the film. Earlier, the filmmaker took offense to a Wikipedia page tagging the film to be "fictional."
Canceled
Agnihotri was scheduled to address an event on Tuesday
Agnihotri, via a video, said that he was invited by Oxford University for an address on Tuesday. However, a few hours before the event, he was told that his event had been rescheduled. Agnihotri wrote: "Yet another Hindu voice is curbed at HINDUPHOBIC @OxfordUnion. They have canceled me. In reality, they canceled Hindu Genocide & Hindu students who are a minority at Oxford Univ."
Mistake
Event rescheduled to July 1 without his knowledge
He alleged that the event was rescheduled to July 1 without anyone asking him. However, there was no point in the event on that day as there would be no students. "It was all confirmed on email but a few hours back, they said there was a mistake, there was a double booking and they wouldn't be able to host me today," Agnihotri said.
Humanity tour
'Prestigious places' in Europe had invited him for events
Talking about the "humanity tour," the filmmaker said that it was planned because a lot of "prestigious places" had invited him such as the Cambridge University, Oxford University, the British Parliament, Germany and the Netherlands. However, at Cambridge, he claimed that he was informed at the last minute that he would not be allowed to video record the event.
'Genocide deniers'
Freedom of expression was curbed: Agnihotri
Citing protests by a few Pakistani and Kashmiri Muslim students, Agnihotri claimed that his freedom of expression was being curbed. "These are genocide deniers, they are fascists. This is perhaps because I support a democratically elected Government of India," he said. He also said that on Subhash Chandra Bose's 150th birth anniversary, an event at Cambridge was canceled and they called Bose a fascist.
Twitter Post
You can watch the complete video here
IMPORTANT:
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) May 31, 2022
Yet another Hindu voice is curbed at HINDUPHOBIC @OxfordUnion.
They have cancelled me. In reality, they cancelled Hindu Genocide Hindu students who are a minority at Oxford Univ. The president elect is a Paksitani.
Pl share support me in this most difficult fight. pic.twitter.com/4mGqwjNmoB
'Hinduphobic'
Oxford Union wanted to cancel Indian government: Agnihotri
Calling the Hindus a minority at Oxford University, Agnihotri alleged that the institution wanted to cancel the democratically elected Indian government. He asserted that the Union wanted to label "us as fascists and Islamophobic. As if killing thousands of Kashmiri Hindus was not Hinduphobic, but the film on the truth is Islamophobic. They are not canceling me, they are canceling the genocide and Hindus."