Kashmir Files Movie

 

It is a Tearful Reminder on Persecution and Plight of Kashmiri Pandits, totally Abandoned in 1990 by the Indian Nation the "Kashmir Files" is a Hindi-language film-a true story written by Agnihotri and produced by Zee Studios. The film depicts the genocide and eventual exodus of Kashmiri Pandits during the Kashmir Jehadi insurgency in 1990. The Film stars Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty and Agnihotri's celebrated actress wife Pallavi Joshi.

The Kashmir Files' script was reportedly well researched for years, brought more closer to actual reality and based on video interviews of the first generation victims of the Genocide of Kashmiri Pandit Community in 1990. The film is bold and a first real attempt to portray the persecution, murder, looting & and burning of properties, a genocide that eventually led to mass exodus of the Kashmiri Pandit community from Kashmir.

The film brings to light and exposes after a torturous lapse of 32 years how a small community of Kashmiri Pandits the original inhabitants of Kashmir and a peace-loving people was totally abandoned & failed by the Government of the J&K State as well as the Central Government, the Judiciary, the press & the people of India & made to live as refugees in their own country. All the four pillars of a functional democracy in India chose to turn their. blind eye & remain mute witnesses or spectators to the persecution, genocide & mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits

The murderers of Kashmiri Pandits were never tried for their heinous crimes in the courts of law (courts, which normally take suo motto cognisance of such crimes against humanity, had surprisingly gone into hibernation) & these criminals were instead allowed to freely roam around in the same Kashmiri Society & lionized by the State Government and the fundamentalist Kashmiri Jihadi groups.

Kashmiriyat is a word which has been used extensively both in the national & international media over the last few decades to refer to the communal amity & religious tolerance between the two religious communities in Kashmir. I had sometime back read a Study Paper issued by - European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS), Amsterdam, in December, 2017, titled "Kashmir's Composite Culture: Sufism & Communal Harmony-Kashmiriyat", which was quite balanced & informative study about Kashmir's composite culture. I have hereunder reproduced certain excerpts from the paper for the benefit of my readers. I hereby acknowledge the authors for their excellent study & also for including certain portions of their work in my write up.

The origin of the Rishi order, is traced to pre Islamic times, when during Vedic period, hermits renouncing the worldly pleasures retired to caves in forests and mountains to meditate subjecting themselves to severities.

However, in Kashmir the Muslim Rishi movement was started by, Nuruddin Nurani (1377-1440), by moulding the pre-existing Rishi tradition for the spread of Islam, using local institutions to make Islam more comprehensible to the people of Kashmir.

The Hindu followers remember him as Nund Resht or Sahaza-nand (The blissful one). Nund Rishi alias Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Wali was greatly influenced by Lal Ded, a female rebel Hindu Saint; a revolutionary woman mystic of the 14th century Kashmir, who is known through her poetic verses referred to as 'Lal Vaakh'.

Lal Ded or Laleshwari was known as Lala Arifa by her Muslim followers. She used Kashmiri language to spread the message of brotherhood through her sayings (Lal-Vaakh), which made Nund Rishi quote that she is, "The Divine Manifestation for us", which makes her the undisputed founder of contemporary Kashmiri literature. "That Lalla of Padmanpore, who had drunk to her full the nectar. She was an avatar of ours, Oh God, grant me the same spiritual power" Nund-Rishi.

The people of Kashmir chose not to project their distinct spiritual identity which is neither absolutely Hindu nor Muslim. This culture and spirit of singular identity, irrespective of individual religious beliefs, sometimes confuses people outside of Kashmir, but Kashmiris would refer to it as 'Kashmiriyat', in simple words 'Kashmiri-ness'.

History has simultaneously also recorded the demographic changes in the Valley brought about by the foreign Muslim invaders most of the times accompanied with persecution, loot, plunder, killings & conversion of Hindus for over 500 years. Many authors both of the foreign & Indian origins have written on this subject.

The Kashmiri Pandit community had survived its continued persecution & forced exoduses under the Muslim rule with a lot of grit & determination. The Hindus of Kashmir were hounded out & forced to migrate many a times over these centuries, to other parts of the country, for safety & survival, against heavy odds. As stated, the Kashmiri Pandits. have historically left Kashmir on numerous occasions in the past, when confronted with despotic Muslim rulers, but the last exodus of 1990 has no comparable precedent.

The resultant pain & suffering of having to leave behind our currently held ancestral land, losing our homes & physical assets, seeing loot, plunder & burning of our properties, cold blooded killing of our brothers & sisters, is however still fresh in our minds & shall continue to haunt all of us forever including our children.

My parents had a very disturbed life after our migration in 1990 & were always haunted by their sweet & sour memories of Kashmir, till their demise in the year 2003. I could always see deep anguish & pain reflect in their eyes whenever they spoke about their life in Kashmir. Let me also confess that even after 30 years I still continue to wake up, many a times at night, haunted by my horrid & traumatic experiences of Kashmir.

During the current times, when Kashmiris are going through ineffable yet palpable miseries, both inside and outside Kashmir, the magnificent metaphysical and mystical ethnicities enriched by our Reshi & Sufi saints do bring solace, though they are facing their greatest challenge due to the Wahhabil brand of Islam designed to destroy Kashmir and its centuries' old ethos.

Kashmiriyat received a major blow since the outbreak of Pakistan sponsored Jihadi terrorism in 1989 & its adherents in the Valley. There was mass violence, destruction of property and massacre of innocents by the Kashmiri youth armed and trained by Pakistan, leading to genocide, the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and thereby rupturing the secular soul of Kashmiri society by using religion as a catalyst.

The Islamic terrorist organisations worked in line with Pakistan's objectives of destroying the secular and pluralistic fabric of Kashmiri society, and thereby inducing religious extremism.

Today's Kashmiri youth are a product of turmoil while the Pandit-Muslim dissonance has engulfed the Valley and a major trust deficit, emotional upsets and grudges are felt by both the communities..

Quarrying on the History of Kashmiris - Religion always had a strong presence in the Valley but people from different faiths were bound together by their mutual and unique 'culture'. With the rise of fundamentalist Pan-Islamism and almost three decades of violence, religious extremism, uncertainty and instability, the national ethos of Kashmir has been altered and one wonders whether the same culture will ever prove to be a binding force for the people of Kashmir again and thereby, perhaps, be the stimulus for the resurrection of Kashmiriyat.

Strangely even after committing the most heinous & gruesome murder of their centuries' old co-inhabitants, the majority of Kashmiri Muslims still continue to be in state of denial of their tacit involvement & instead pretend to be the victims.

The intellectual Kashmiri mafia within & outside the state, with the tacit support of their Pakistani masters, continue to spread misinformation. Terrorist violence cannot be justified on political and ideological motivations. Nobody in Kashmir or in the rest of India has till date publicly apologised or offered regret for the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits.

The Hindus are always required to adhere to the requirements of Secularism in India while other religious communities are free to dance in glee on the corpses of us innocent Hindus.

The Kashmiri Muslim Jihadi terrorist lobby took great advantage of this paradox in our Indian society.

It had become customary in Kashmir to subject Pandits to hate speech, disgusting taunts and even genocide. If we as a community ever tried to retaliate through our legitimate token protests we were promptly labelled as intolerant communalists, fascists and Nazis.

Kashmiri Muslims as a rule never propagate or adhere to secular values. They are free to shout their secessionist or religious slogans like 'Hinduon se Azadi' & 'La ilaha illallah' but if we ever dared raise our voice or resent these religious, secessionist & anti national slogans we were targeted & accused of bigotry. The genocide of Kashmiri Hindus and the consequent treatment meted out to us was a testament to the fact that no matter how hard we try, we will never ever be considered to be rational & Secular enough.

Indians & the world at large is for the first time over the last 32 years through the medium of this movie "Kashmir Files" being presented with the true facts & happenings of the tumultuous period of 1990's which rendered Kashmiri Pandits as refugees in their own country. It is now imperative for the Government of India and the nation as a whole to do some deep Soul searching and provide immediate succour, justice & dignity to the community. The Kashmiri Pandits need to get back their community pride & a safe & secure place for their urgent resettlement and rehabilitation.

In conclusion I sincerely hope & believe that the stakeholders in the Kashmir conflict will at some point of time, sooner than later, learn from our past history & work towards the principles of mutual coexistence & inter-dependence based on the core values of "Kashmiriyat". Healing the battered & the bruised souls of Kashmiri Pandits & all shades of Kashmiris should now be the priority.

(Sushil Kumar Kaul, Arazbegi, the writer of this piece has written the Book "Kashmiriyat Healing The Soul" His summarised account of Kashmir's ancient, mediaeval & contemporary history & his personal life experiences of living in Kashmir during the tumultuous years gives a proper perspective for our understanding of the Kashmir situation in its entirety. Further, his views on the current conflict, mistrust & divide in Kashmiri society & a possible way-forward are interesting & worth a read. His Book is available on Amazon In both in the Kindle format and paperback versions).

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The views expressed in the Article above are  Sushil Kumar Kaul personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."

Courtesy:   Sushil Kumar Kaul and Koshur Samachar 2022, April