カシミールに映画館復活、反政府暴動で閉鎖から数十年　インド

【スリナガルＡＦＰ＝時事】インドがパキスタンと領有権を争う北部カシミール地方の都市スリナガルで２０日、映画館がオープンした。反政府武装勢力が映画館を閉鎖してから数十年を経て、銀幕が復活した。（写真はインド北部カシミール地方スリナガルに開設された映画館の記念式典で、演説をするマノジ・シンハ副知事＜壇上左＞）
　カシミールのほとんどの映画館は、インドによる統治に反対する大規模な暴動が発生した１９８９年、反政府勢力により閉鎖された。ボリウッドの大ヒット作品は文化的帝国主義に通じるというのが理由だった。
　その後、治安部隊に占拠され、拘束・尋問施設として使われた映画館も多かった。一部は、今でも兵士の中継拠点となっている。
　９０年代には、カシミールに映画館を復活させようという試みが定期的に起こったが、厳重な警備態勢が敷かれたため、客は戻ってこなかった。
　当局は、中央政府がカシミールの管理を強化し、治安状況が改善された結果だとして、シネコン開設を歓迎している。
　インド側カシミールの行政トップ、マノジ・シンハ副知事は記念式典で、映画館の開設は当地に「平和を構築する」という政府の取り組みを象徴するものだと述べた。
　「われわれは、失われた時代を取り戻している」「この映画館のオープンは、変わりゆくカシミールを反映している」
　式典には主に政府と治安当局の関係者が出席した。
　映画館は来週、一般に公開される。シンハ氏は、カシミールにさらに１０軒の映画館を開設する支援を約束している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/09/22-13:31）

Silver screens lit up in Indian-administered Kashmir for the first time in a generation at the opening of a new cinema on Tuesday, decades after an armed rebellion shuttered local movie halls.
India has been fortifying its control over the strife-torn Muslim-majority region after a grinding conflict between security forces and insurgents fighting for independence or a merger with neighbouring Pakistan.
Most cinemas were shut down by rebel groups in 1989, the year of a huge uprising against Indian rule, with the insurgents saying their Bollywood blockbuster screenings were avenues for cultural imperialism.
The theatres were later mostly occupied by security forces, who used them as detention and interrogation centres, with some still used by soldiers as staging posts.
Periodic attempts to revive cinema halls in Kashmir in the 1990s and later failed, with a heavy security presence deterring ordinary patrons.
Authorities have feted the new multiplex as the consequence of an improved security situation since New Delhi took steps to bolster its control of the territory.
Its opening was a symbol of a government commitment to establishing peace in the region, said Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, India's top administrator in Kashmir.
We are bringing back a lost era, he said at a ceremony and screening marking the movie house's opening in the city of Srinagar. It was attended mostly by government and security officials.
The opening of this cinema reflects the changing picture of Kashmir.
The new multiplex opens to the public next week and Sinha's administration has pledged to support the opening of 10 more cinemas around the region.
At least half a million Indian troops are permanently stationed in Kashmir, which is also claimed and partly controlled by Pakistan.
India regularly blames Pakistan for backing the long-running rebellion against its rule, an allegation Islamabad denies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government has tightened its chokehold on Indian-administered Kashmir since 2019, when it revoked the limited autonomy constitutionally guaranteed to the region.
Thousands of people were taken into preventive detention to forestall expected protests against the sudden decision, while authorities severed communications links in what became the world's longest-ever internet shutdown.
Clashes between militants and Indian troops are still a regular occurrence and protests and civic life have been severely curbed.
Foreign journalists are barred from the territory while local reporters are regularly harassed by police and security forces for their coverage.