Govt's Bollywood bouquet to counter J&K brickbats

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government is planning to up the entertainment quotient in its engagement with the restless and angry youth of Jammu and Kashmir in the hope that this will wean then away from disruptive activities like stone-pelting.

The Union information and broadcasting ministry, along with the human resource development ministry, has decided to organise over 200 shows of Bollywood films in schools across the state’s militancy affected areas, targeting about 40,000 students.

Government agencies believe that youngsters constitute the majority of stone-pelters in the Valley and that this effort will help reduce, and check, radicalisation among them.

Sources said that the proposal to use Bollywood films to reach out to the young population in extremist affected areas was put forth with the belief that it would help them overcome their apprehensions and increase their connect with the country.

A selection of national and international award winning films, commericial entertainers, comedies, patriotic and children’s films are likely to be shown in schools or rented premises through the centrally-funded Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan scheme.

Organising the movie shows will be a tough task as extremists have banned cinemas in the Valley. In fact, all cinema halls in the Valley have been under a lock down after repeated threats by terror outfits.  

That is perhaps why the government has decided to take charge of the initiative and use its own agencies to organise the film shows, which in other parts of the country are usually organised through NGOs.

The militancy affected districts being targtted are Rajouri, Samba, Anantnag, Reasi, Poonch, Kathua, Badgam, Kulgam, Kishtewar, Kulgam, Budgam, Ramban, Udhampur, Shopian, Pulwama, Doda, Ganderbal, Srinagar, Baramulla, Nadipore and Kupwara.

The Children’s Film Society of India, an autonomous body under the I&B ministry, is expected to play a leading role in the effort.