JK Govt To Screen Films For Free In Each District In Kashmir

In a significant move, the Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to make its own arrangement for screening films free of cost to people in various districts of the Kashmir region, where cinema theatres have been stayed shut since the outbreak of militancy.

Kashmir Divisional Commissioner Baseer Ahmad Khan on Tuesday said the government will very soon start screening a variety of films in each district for the public. The people can visit various film screening centers and watch movies free of cost, he added. “Movies based on children, sports, culture, and other documentaries will be screened in selected auditoriums in each district of Kashmir division. The general public can watch films in their districts free of cost,” Khan said. A Srinagar resident said there is absolutely no film theatre operating in any district of the Kashmir division today, except one Neelam theatre operating in Srinagar.

The movie theatres have stayed shut since 1989 under militants’ diktats. We have to visit theatres run by Army for their personnel to watch movies, he said. The government should have taken this step much earlier to ensure people’s entertainment, he said, lauding the government’s initiative to provide wholesome entertainment to people. The divisional commissioner directed all deputy commissioners to make adequate arrangements for screening films that include those for heating, seating, shops and deployment of magistracy for the hassle-free screening of films in their districts. Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) will be the nodal agency for film screenings across the Valley and create mass awareness among the people regarding screening of the film in each district, he added.
The decision was taken in a meeting, chaired by Kashmir’s divisional commissioner and attended among others by deputy commissioners of militancy-hit four districts of Srinagar, Pulwama, Ganderbal and Bandipora and a host of other police and civil administration officials.