Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut said on Sunday that Vivek Agnihotri’s movie, The Kashmir Files, will not give any political party an edge in the upcoming polls, reported NDTV. Mumbai civic body polls are to be held soon but dates for the elections are yet to be announced.

“It is not right to do politics on a sensitive issue like Kashmir,” Raut told reporters. “The Kashmir Files is just a film. I don’t think it will provide any political advantage to anyone in the coming elections.”

The Kashmir Files is based on the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits from the erstwhile state in the late 1980s and early 1990s due to militancy. Upon its release on March 11, the movie has met with polarising responses.

On one hand, the movie has been endorsed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and many other senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders. Several BJP-ruled states, including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat, have also exempted the movie from entertainment tax.

On the other hand, Opposition parties have questioned the factual accuracy of the film and the communal tone of the discussion around it. They have said that the Congress was not in power at the Centre when the displacement happened and claimed that the governor of the state who facilitated the flight of the community had been approved by the BJP.

On Sunday, Raut said that the controversy surrounding the film will be over by the time elections are held. He also said questions have been raised on many aspects of the film as not being true.

“Many people are also saying that there are many facts that were supposed to be shown, but are not shown,” the spokesperson said. “Muslims were also among those who died at that time. There were many officers whose lives were saved by Muslims. These are all such things that could be in the film but are not there.”

Raut predicted that the film would get a national award and its makers will be given civilian awards such as Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.

“All these things keep happening, Y category security has also been received, we have seen,” he added. Raut was referring to Agnihotri getting the third-highest level of personal security a week after the film’s release.

Some BJP-ruled states have even offered government employees leave from work to watch the film. But, National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah had said on Friday that the film was “far from the truth”.

“Kashmir has seen too much suffering and bloodshed for some to use it as a political playground,” Abdullah said. “Instead of bridging the gaps some are determined to widen them. We must not let them succeed.”

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami said that while migration of Kashmiri Hindus was tragic, “showcasing bloodshed for political gains” was dangerous for India.

“I only have one thing to ask to those elements who are trading in the Kashmiri blood by selling it in various markets, that please stop,” Tarigami said. “Whoever was killed, whichever religion he belonged to, but he was a Kashmiri.”

Also read: Here are five things ‘The Kashmir Files’ gets wrong about Kashmir