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Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri reacts after a fatwa gets issued against him in Kashmir for 'vegetarian wazwan' tweet

Jan 19, 2021, 12:00PM ISTSource: etimes.in

Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri's recent tweet about 'vegetarian wazwan' has stirred up some unwanted trouble for him. While the filmmaker clarifies that his tweet was in 'good faith', netizens are yet to let him off the hook. Along with massive online trolling, a fatwa has also been issued against him. It began when Vivek, who was shooting in Srinagar for 'The Kashmir Files', shared two images on social media followed by a caption that seems to have irked the locals of the state. As he shared pictures of what looked like a veg thali, he captioned the post as, 'Nobody knows how to make a vegetarian wazwan in Kashmir. But I am here to bring about a change. #TheKashmirFiles.' Soon enough, he was called out for trying to find a vegetarian alternative for a dish that apparently didn't seem to have one. While one netizen tweeted, 'Wazwan has a distinct place in kashmiri Muslim cuisine. It cant be replaced with any veg food.If you want to enjoy pure veg food,you should try Kashmiri Pandit veg cuisine which is entirely different, without onion and garlic.Our Non Veg food is also without onion garlic.', another wrote, 'how do vegetarian and wazwan go together.' The filmmaker was shocked at the amount of hatred that came his way and issued a clarification citing the reason why he is deleting his previous tweet. It read, 'With deep pain I am deleting this tweet because ever since I posted it, my local guests have come under intense threat, abuse & trolling from evil minds. I had learnt that people who eat together stay together but some people don’t want anyone to stay together. May God bless all.' He further added, 'I don’t want anyone’s life threatened or made miserable just because of one tweet. I hope you understand.' A part of the statement he released read as, 'I was in Kashmir to shoot my film 'The Kashmir Files'. A lot of local people, young artists, creative people, actors, RJs always want to meet me wherever I go. So, I invited people for dinner and I requested my hotel to make Wazwan for everybody. Since I am a vegetarian, I requested to make a vegetarian thali but they said in Kashmir it is not possible but I enquired with some locals and found out that while it's true that Wazwan is always non - vegetarian, getting a vegetarian thali is possible too. Finally, the hotel made the vegetarian thali for me which was amazing..' For the unversed, 'The Kashmir Films' is a film that is based on 'unreported story of the gut-wrenching genocide of Kashmiri Hindus'.