These days the film ‘The Kashmir Files’ has become the most talked-about film on social media and elsewhere. The film which unexpectedly got huge attention among the masses has once again brought Kashmir into the limelight. The film which is based on the genocide and exodus of native Kashmiri Hindus or generally known as ‘Pandits’ has opened the eyes of the common man of the country, who was kept in dark about the bloody events that took place in the late 1980s and 1990s. Further due to social media, the dark past of Hindu genocide in the state has made the awakening of Hindus across all ethnicities and castes throughout the world.
The film is not an ordinary film but a cinematic experience that with a simple storyline exposes the state of the Indian establishment and its failure to stop the brutal massacre of native Hindus of Kashmir. Not just the failure of the state but also the true face of Islamic radicalism and terrorism in its brutal form. The film is probably the only film of the Indian film industry which is not at all politically correct and shows the hardcore truth of the genocide of minority Hindus in Muslim majority Kashmir.
The narrative of Kashmiris being oppressed by the Indian state has also been shattered around the globe. The narrative that has been in the mainstream talks about Kashmiri Muslims being oppressed, going through persecution by the Indian government for the last 70 years. It fails to tell the plight of native Hindus who have been residing in Kashmir for more than five thousand years. The narrative created by the film clears the idea of the Kashmir conflict and why the region has been under disturbance for decades.
War of Narratives
The Kashmir Files has done what the Indian government has failed to do for the last seven decades. Kashmir has always been portrayed as a Muslim state under the control of Hindu majority India and its real control lies with neighboring Muslim majority Pakistan. The question is always put who has a greater claim on Kashmir, India, or Pakistan? Even some talk about letting Kashmiris decide their fate and both the countries should leave them alone. Mind you when it is talked about ‘Kashmiris’, it is generally assumed as the Muslim population of the state.
The film now has put an alternate narrative of the glorious past of Kashmir and the contribution of Kashmir in many fields. It talks about Kashmir being a hundred percent Hindu before the arrival of Islamic tyrants in the valley somewhere in the 14th century and the subsequent conversion by Sufis masquerading as peace lovers and tolerant. Soon the same Sufis and converted bodies started persecuting the Pandits and even forcing them to leave the land to make it more pious under Islamic rule.
Viewing Kashmir Conflict
To understand the Kashmir conflict, we have to look at Kashmir from a historical point and when we say historical point, we mean it by looking at the history of Kashmir from the beginning of its existence. The name Kashmir comes from a Hindu sage called Kashyap and Kashmir’s greatest leader is considered to be Hindu King Lalitaditya who once ruled the Indian subcontinent. Kashmir is also known for contributing to arts and culture especially Natyashastra on which modern films and series are based. The popular Panchatantra which is a collection of animal fables was written centuries ago in Kashmir.
Today, art, culture, films do not exist anywhere. For instance, the cinema halls are consistently attacked by Islamic hardliners. Kashmir which is also known as the cradle of civilization is now a death valley where all form of its own human inventions is looked down upon. Its past is always ignored by intellectuals who often have opinions on the Indian rule of Kashmir, talking everything under the cloud but its Hindu past. The Indian liberals have written dozens of books and hundreds of columns explaining ‘Kashmiriyat’ without even considering the native Hindu population and rich past of Kashmir.
The answer to the question of conflict between India and Pakistan is that historically and culturally, Kashmir is an integral part of India. India is known for introducing the world to Yoga, Kashmir is the land of Shiva which is worshipped across India which itself proves why Kashmir is an integral part of India. Just because of the arrival of a foreign religion and subsequent conversion of masses does not change the fact that Kashmir is a Hindu land. The body of converts cannot be allowed to decide their fate without even considering their own past and also ignoring the opinions of native Hindus and other minorities – the real and original inhabitants of the land.
