Akhilesh Yadav and other ‘seculars’ outrage over Atiq Ahmed’s Pakistani link shown in Dhurandhar 2: Read how the Left-Liberal ecosystem hails and hates movies based on their politics

Aditya Dhar’s “Dhurandhar: The Revenge,” in addition to setting box-office on fire, appears to be shattering the meticulously crafted image and dismantling the false narratives peddled by the opposition and its Islamo-leftist ecosystem. As a result, potshots being taken by them to discredit the events depicted in the film, either as fiction or as a calculated endeavour to defame a specific community or a political party. A controversy has currently arisen concerning the portrayal of late mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, who has been shown participating in a plot to establish a Pakistan-backed government in Uttar Pradesh with the backing of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’ has a character named Atif Ahmed who resembles the late mafia turned politician in looks as well as in criminal activities. Ahmed became a member of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) during the later years of his life, having previously held significant influence within the Samajwadi Party for an extended duration, and was even elected to the Lok Sabha on its ticket. Consequently, his representation in the film has angered the party and its chief Akhilesh Yadav, who asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is investing in propaganda that tarnish the reputation of other political entities. “I believe they possess substantial financial resources, as they are also allocating funds for movie releases,” he accused during a party event in Lucknow. सपा प्रमुख अखिलेश यादव ने फिल्मों को लेकर बीजेपी पर निशाना साधते हुए कहा कि पैसा देकर फिल्में बनवाई जा रही हैं और उनके जरिए दूसरे राजनीतिक दलों को बदनाम करने की कोशिश की जा रही है। उन्होंने ‘धुरंधर 2’ में ‘आतिफ अहमद’ के किरदार पर भी नाराजगी जताई और कहा कि फिल्मों का इस तरह… pic.twitter.com/LxonuL2CW8— NBT Hindi News (@NavbharatTimes) March 23, 2026 “The Bharatiya Janata Party operates a mechanism that generates films based on its invented tales. Through these cinematic works, there is an effort to forge a particular image among the citizens,” argued Rajeev Rai, a member of the parliament from SP. Former MP and another party leader, ST Hasan, stated that no Indian investigation agency reported such a relation between Ahmed and ISI. The Islamo-leftist rapidly mobilised to contest the plot lines in the spy-thriller. “According to Dhurandhar 2, Atiq Ahmed was a Pakistani agent and a terrorist. Then why tributes were offered to him in the Parliament by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister,” a Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supporter asked. Dhurandhar 2 फ़िल्म के अनुसार जब अतीक अहमद पाकिस्तानी एजेंट था, वो आतंकवादी था, तब देश के संसद भवन में उन्हें प्रधानमंत्री और गृह मंत्री के द्वारा श्रद्धांजलि क्यों दिया जा रहा था..?– @NewsHunterssss pic.twitter.com/Nt0WJc0BtN— Pratik Patel (@PratikVoiceObc) March 20, 2026 Another member of this faction alleged the same, adding that only the filmmaker seemed to be cognisant of the links between Ahmed and Pakistan. Aditya Dhar showed Atiq Ahmed as a Pakistan-linked terrorist in Dhurandhar 2But after his assassination in UP, our Parliament paid tributes to him, including PM Modi, Amit Shah & othersIt seems only Aditya Dhar knew about Atiq Ahmed #Dhurandhar2‌ pic.twitter.com/Sq2AA2hjBA— Veena Jain (@Vtxt21) March 20, 2026 The claim was reiterated once more when a Muslim account charged that Dhar does not want to conceal his motives as he openly “slapped the ISI on Ahmed link with dramatic music” for his propaganda. Aditya Dhar : Atiq Ahmed’s direct connection to ISI in the movie Dhurandhar2 he isn’t even trying to hide it anymore, just slap ISI link, add some dramatic music & boom…Dhurandhar 2 is nothing but a propaganda.Meanwhile the Indian Parliament gave Tribute to Atiq Ahmed. pic.twitter.com/NDy7O4gMeV— محمد سلمان ‏فارسی (@AlFarsi1201) March 21, 2026 It is noteworthy that Atiq was named alongside other deceased parliamentarians by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla because he was a former member of the house. This is merely a part of the democratic tradition that neither absolved him of his crimes nor disregarded them. Was there a relationship between the notorious mobster and the Islamic Republic A First Information Report (FIR) indicated that Ahmed himself confessed to having associations with India’s hostile neighbour. “The ISI, using drones, used to drop weapons in Punjab, and someone linked to the ISI used to collect these arms and send some of them to LeT, some to Khalistan separatist organisations and some weapons like .45 bore pistol, AK-47 and RDX were made available to me and I paid for the same,” he disclosed to the authorities. He unveiled, “People belonging to these groups came to my place and information gathered from their conversations suggested that they wanted to cause a major incident in the country.” Police expressed that the statement was documented on court orders. Ahmed further accepted that he was familiar with the locations of some of these people affiliated with LeT and ISI while his brother knew details of others. He even admitted to the killing of Umesh Pal and the two officers with the weapons procured from across the border. “I know the sites where the weapons have been kept. They do not have house numbers. If you take me and my brother together, we can identify these places,” he mentioned. “There should be no doubt about this. When Atiq Ahmed was alive, his gang was listed as IS-277 (Interstate-277). In his confessional statements, he admitted that weapons, including .45 calibre pistols, AK-47s and RDX, were brought to him via drones from Pakistan and reached Punjab. Through his contacts, he also had connections with Lashkar-e-Taiba and the ISI,” outlined, former Director General of Police (DGP) Uttar Pradesh, Vikram Singh. “The truth is harsh. When movies were made with Dawood Ibrahim’s money, it was ok, now that movies are being made about him, people are feeling pain, because truth is always bitter. On the question of Atiq Ahmed, he was a gangster. He was an MP but was also a gangster. The whole world knows that he received illegal weapons, and his links with Pakistan are known to the world. What has been shown is based on the truth. Our own leaders were involved in fake currency racket,” former Jammu and Kashmir DGP, Shesh Paul Vaid, provided a similar response. Atiq Ahmed’s criminal empire and the political patronage The gangster who was shot dead in 2003 had been instilling fear in the state for many years, even during his incarceration, until the Yogi government eventually terminated his reign of terror and ended the patronage he enjoyed under the previous administrations. He was the first person in Uttar Pradesh to be charged under the “Gangster Act.” He had an extensive criminal past. He was charged of murder at the age of 17. Afterwards, he rose to such prominence in the underworld that his fame even eclipsed that of Mumbai’s dons. He was booked for 102 offences, including kidnapping, murder and threats. The Gangster Act was brought up three times against. Ahmed, the primary accused in the Raju Pal and Umesh Pal murder cases, even made an attempt on the life of Kumari Mayawati, the head of the Bahujan Samaj Party and former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, during the infamous “Guest House” scandal of 1995. According to OP Singh, the former DGP of the Uttar Pradesh, he had the opportunity to obliterate Ahmed’s tyranny long ago, but political pressure prevented him. The top cop conveyed that as the Superintendent of Police (SP) City of Prayagraj (then Allahabad) he and a group of police officers raided his lair in 1989 and 1990 in response to a formal complaint against him. Thousands of Ahmed’s supporters had surrounded the police squad. Singh stated that the mob was prepared to open fire had he not warned them that they, alongside their leader, would be gunned down if even one bullet was released from their side. He emphasised that political pressure forced his team to return without making any arrests, despite his desire to nab Ahmed and his group there. He noted that things would not have escalated to such a mess if the latter had been captured that day. Interestingly, late Mulayam Singh Yadav was the chief minister of the state at the time. However, the prison bars did not pose a barrier for the mobster, as he managed his criminal empire even while incarcerated as illustrated in the movie, continuing to torment those who dared to oppose him and his atrocities. Ahmed’s criminal empire was finally dismantled under the Yogi rule. When the actual disinformation was hailed as truth: Article 15 In 2019, Director Anubhav Sinha released “Article 15” featuring Ayushmann Khurrana. The film garnered rave reviews from the liberal cabal for its storyline and its portrait of a “Casteist” Hindu society. However, the Bollywood venture, which was purported to be based on the actual events of the Badaun case, took significant liberties with the truth to paint the upper caste as villains, ignoring the fact that all 5 arrested accused in the case were Yadavs. The tragedy had received extensive coverage in both domestic and foreign media, which embarrassed the Akhilesh Yadav government and was perceived as an instance of upper-caste brutality against Dalits. However, Pappu Yadav, Avadhesh Yadav, Urvesh Yadav, Chhatrapal Yadav and Sarvesh Yadav were found to be the accused. Moreover, the police department was slammed for being lenient with the guilty, due to pressure from the ruling party, which backed the Yadavs, leading to demands for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry. In 2014, the CBI too concluded that the sisters in Badaun had committed suicide and gave a clean chit to the accused. In 2015, a special POCSO court rejected the CBI’s report. On the other hand, Sinha, rather than adhering to the facts, exploited the case to transform it into a movie that aligns with his political agenda. The unseen Brahmin “Mahantji,” possibly a jab at Yogi Adityanath was described as the all-powerful source of evil in the movie which predominantly stressed that “upper castes,” and the aforementioned community are the exclusive originators of all violent actions. The opposition and their left-liberal endorsers are only interested in distorting the truth to achieve their aims. The so-called artistic expressions, including the films they have supported, have been delivering misinformation and fabrications to the public under the pretence of “true events.” It is a platform for them to advance their agenda and gloss over the dreadful history of their beloved figures. Thus, when Dhurandhar exposed the irrefutable reality that they labour so hard to obscure, it is hardly surprising that they choose to reject it. However, unfortunately for them, facts do not care about their offended feelings.