"The Kashmir Files" is technically well made and deals with the horrendous exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. However this film was NOT made with the simple intent of telling a powerful story. It is a politically driven film, made with the intent to scratch the wounds of the past, furthering a divide at present while alienating/promoting discrimination against one community across India.
Here are a few FACTS to keep in mind while BJP tries to extract political mileage from this unfortunate episode in independent India's history:
1. During the exodus, BJP supported Janta Dal was in power, NOT Congress(Yet the film manages to blame Congress.).
2. Vishwanath Pratap Singh was the Prime minister of the BJP supported govt.
3. BJP leader Jagmohan was the governor of J&K at the time.
4. Consider how the film does not even mention the above 3 factors while blaming the entire Kashmiri Pandits tragedy on everyone else, such as student groups, activists, journalists, liberals, secularists, leftists, and ironically all groups that are critical of Hindutva/BJP ideology. Clearly the film is political propaganda.
5. During that period the seeds of Hindu-Muslim divide was being planted in the country by BJP. Ram Mandir issue was also heating up. They were lighting the fire, Muslim fanatics spread the fire, and since then the Kashmiri Pandits have been used as a vote bank for BJP (Film obviously ignore this.).
6. The BJP formed govt at the centre 4 times since 1990, yet they haven't done anything to rehabilitate the Kashmiri Pandits. Why? To add insult to injury, the BJP formed a gov with PDP, a Kashmir based political party that has support from separatist elements, a party who's official stance was denial of Kashmiri Pandits rehabilitation.
7. How do you decide which lives matter the most and which massacre is the worst? Google the 1947 Jammu Massacres. 100,000 Muslims were killed by extremist Sikhs and Hindus….. Meanwhile the number of Kashmiri Pandits killed during the exodus is 399. Over 15,000 Kashmiri Muslims were also killed by terrorists in that same period. Sikhs were also minorities in Kashmir, and they were also targeted in the valley by the militants, same as Kashmiri Pandits (google Chattisinghpora massacre), yet the Sikhs did not flee from the valley like Kashmiri Pandits. Why don't these stories matter? Films have been made on Kashmiri Pandits, books have been written on the Kashmiri Pandits exodus. Therefore, this may sound harsh, but at this time it is pure privilege for the Kashmiri Pandits to claim neglect when literally nobody talks of the other communities that have been killed. (ofcourse, this movie also ONLY talks of the Kashmiri Pandits. No other community.)
8. In response to a recent RTI question, District Police headquarters of Srinagar has informed that Kashmiri militants had killed 1,724 people in Jammu and Kashmir since inception of militancy in 1990, of which, 89 were Kashmiri Pandits, and 1,635 of other faiths! If this is true, why do we only hear of the Kashmiri Pandits?
9. The film maligns phrases like "intellectuals" and demonises "leftists", making it even more obvious that the film has a clear cut political agenda for a particular party. It reeks of anti-intellectualism and the film attacks a particular university (JNU). Only one political party benefits from such smearing tactics.
10. Vivek Agnihotri, the director, is often on television debates defending BJP and spinning narratives for BJP. Actor Anupam Kher is also very vocal and his wife is in BJP. Actor Mithoon Chakraborty is a BJP politician himself. They are NOT going to make a balanced film. They are all modern versions of Goebbels. Google "Goebbels."
11. Many politicians of the ruling gov, including the PM, congratulated the makers of the film. That barely ever happens. Hopefully Vivek Agnihotri will finally get his Rajya Sabha seat.
In short, the purpose is to ignite fire. Keep it burning while spinning narratives for the current folks in power(The usual "hindus are in danger" nonsense and "All liberals/leftists are enemies".). Using cinema as a tool for propaganda can have disastrous consequences.
YV Rao
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