After two successive disruptions in the last five days, the Kashmir film festival ‘Kashmir – Before our Eyes’ successfully saw through all its screenings in the city on Wednesday. In the morning, screenings were held at the Annapurna International Institute of Film and Media and later at the English and Foreign Languages University and the University of Hyderabad.
Vandalised
An earlier screening at the LV Prasad Preview Theatre on Saturday was disrupted when activists of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of BJP, vandalised the screening venue damaging the equipment, furniture and even thrashing a projection assistant.
Protection denied
Screenings at Lamakaan, a cultural centre at Banjaara Hills in the city on Tuesday were called off at the behest of the Banjara Hills police, who denied protection for the festival.
In fact, they had cited the deployment of personnel for the ongoing Ganesh festival as a reason for their inability to offer protection.
Screenings today
Day-long screenings and discussions are scheduled at the Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication in the University of Hyderabad on Thursday, the final day of the event, organisers said.
Attack condemned
Meanwhile, Panun Kashmir, an organisation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits, has condemned Saturday’s attack on LV Prasad Preview Theatre. In a press note, its chairman Kashmir Agnishekhar had stressed upon his organisation’s commitment to peaceful and democratic values even in protests.
Protest screenings
Earlier, the Ambedkar Students’ Association of the UoH, had organised a ‘protest screening’ of the film Jashn-e-Azadi by Sanjay Kak, together with another short film The Valley of Innocence by students from SN School of Arts and Communication.
