Kannada actor Prakash Belawadi says he was shocked to read the script of The Kashmir Files sent by writer-director Vivek Agnihotri.
Actor Prakash Belawadi, who is part of the movie 'The Kashmir Files', has apologized for his silence on the plight of Kashmiri Pandits. He appreciated writer-director Vivek Agnihotri for giving him the part in the film which was released on Friday and stated that despite being a journalist in 1990s during the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, he chose to be indifferent to the fate meted out to them. Belawadi has put out a video in this regard and appealed to people to watch the movie.
“I am privileged to be part of ‘The Kashmir Files’. When I was sent the script for reading by Vivek Agnihotri, I was shocked because until then I did not have details of the horrors and exodus of Kashmiri pandits from the state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1990s," he said.
Expressing his guilt for keeping silent on the issue, he said: “I feel mortified, I also feel guilty as I was a journalist at that time and prided myself as someone equipped with the contemporary events, but I see it was not the case. I feel it’s correct for me to apologise to the community for being a part of this indifference for a long period.
“I want to congratulate and express my gratitude to Vivek Agnihotri for the research on the subject and having the courage and commitment to bring this story to the world. I urge every Indian to watch this film to know what happened in our own backyard. We must say that they have right to justice and the land rightly belongs to them," he stated.
He also thanked his friend and fellow journalist R.K. Mattu for urging him to put out the video.