Singapore bans 'The Kashmir Files' for its 'one-sided' portrayal of Muslims

Singapore has banned the Bollywood movie 'The Kashmir Files', assessing it to be "beyond" the city-state's film classification guidelines. 

According to reports, the Singaporean authorities refused classification of the Hindi-language film for "its provocative and one-sided portrayal of Muslims and the depictions of Hindus being persecuted in the on-going conflict in Kashmir".

A joint statement was issued in Singapore by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

The film's representations "have the potential to cause enmity between different communities, and disrupt social cohesion and religious harmony in our multiracial and multi-religious society," they said.

Under the film classification guidelines, "any material that is denigrating to racial or religious communities in Singapore" will be refused classification.