Rahul Pandita slams Kangana Ranaut for comparing herself to Kashmiri Pandits after demolition of office: ‘Do not belittle our tragedy’

Rahul Pandita, journalist and writer of the film Shikara: The Untold Story Of Kashmiri Pandits, has lashed out at Kangana Ranaut after she likened herself to Kashmiri Pandits. He wrote that she could not comprehend their pain ‘from the demolition of a wall’ in her office.

“I am sorry, but from the demolition of a wall you cannot understand the pain of Kashmiri Pandits. You do not know how it is when all your hair turns white in three days; you do not know how it is when old people die in exile, crying about their inability to see home one last time,” he wrote on Twitter.

“For God’s sake, stop taking our name in vain. We refuse to be pawns in your battles of puny egos. Do not belittle our tragedy. Tomorrow your finger might get hurt somewhere. What will you say? I understand pain of Kashmiri Pandits? Pleaseeeee!,” he added in another tweet.

Rahul is the writer of Shikara: The Untold Story Of Kashmiri Pandits, directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, which hit the theatres earlier this year. The film is about the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in early 1990, in the wake of violent insurgency.

Kangana said that she could now understand how Kashmiri Pandits felt when they were forced to leave their homes in 1990, after officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) partially demolished her office for alleged structural violations, on Wednesday. She also announced a film on Kashmir to create awareness in other Indians.

In a video message addressed to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, Kangana said, “I think you have done me a huge favour. I knew what Kashmiri Pandits must have gone through, but today, I have experienced it. I vow that I will make a film, not just on Ayodhya, but also on Kashmir. I will rouse my fellow countrymen.”

Also read | Kangana Ranaut hits out at Uddhav Thackeray: ‘My home was demolished today, your pride will crumble tomorrow’

Kangana shared videos of the destruction in her office and called it the ‘death of democracy’. She challenged Uddhav and the ‘Karan Johar gang’ to go ahead and ‘break my house, then break my face and body’. She also vowed to expose them.

In another tweet, Kangana compared her situation to ‘being burned at the stake’. She wrote, “Today they have demolished my house tomorrow it will be yours, governments come and go when you normalise violent suppression of a voice it becomes the norm, today one person being burned at the stake tomorrow it will be jowhar of thousands,wake up now.”

The BMC action comes days after Kangana criticised the Mumbai Police and likened Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

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