As the chief minister Mehbooba Mufti today praised Saudi Arabia for lifting the ban on cinemas, separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani has expressed dismay over the decision.
“I welcome the decision by Saudi Arabia to lift a decade-long ban on cinemas as part of a series of social reforms by the crown prince. Introspection & self-reform are marks of a progressive society”, Mehbooba tweeted.
While as Geelani expressed his dismay over allowing movie theatres in Saudi Arabia. Geelani said rulers in Saudi Arabia being the custodian of Holy places like Madeena and Mecca, need to be careful on this account. He said it is quite unfortunate that present ruling elite is allowing and “promoting obscene culture, which Islam has prohibited.”
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Cinema halls in Kashmir are closed for past three decades. They were doing good business in before the onset of armed insurgency backed by the mass uprising against Indian rule in 1989. There were nine halls in Srinagar before 1989 but after the eruption of the armed insurgency, separatists called for their closure while describing them as “un-Islamic.”
