I have watched the movie, The Kashmir Files. I already knew about the 1990 exodus as it was termed then, to make it palatable to ordinary Indians and I don’t like watching movies with such sad endings and therefore would have skipped watching it entirely. But one day I was listening to J. Sai Deepak’s interview to a news channel urging Indians to watch the movie once and one should not be afraid to watch a movie just because they can’t take the truth. It had an impact on me and therefore I went and watched the movie.
I don’t need to go into the merits of the movie as there are many eminent people than me, who have talked about it. The impact of the movie, has seriously made this generation of Indians understand the true nature of the beast that we are up against and the repurcussions of brushing Islamic fundentalism under the carpet.
What I would like to focus on, is the glee in certain members of the community in our country, when an Israeli Jury member at a Goa Festival chose to term the movie vulgar and filled with propaganda. One of the posts that has, to put it mildly, irritated me was by my college mate from Chennai. He clearly stated that he did not watch the full movie and thought that the acting was terrible and then heckled the movie saying how funny it was that others found it the same way posting the speech of the aforementioned Israeli gentleman.
I won’t be naming the friend of mine but I still realized that there is a serious disconnect in the South especially Tamilnadu with the way things are perceived. Tamilnadu politics has always been based on Dravidian superiority considering that both the power sharing parties are named DMK and AIADMK.
But that disconnect has translated into something more worse, when as an individual you cannot empathise with the plight of fellow Indians, who were not only forced to flee their homes but also had to suffer targeted brutalities, which included gang rape, torture and murder of people based on their religious identity by Pakistan sponsored home grown terrorists.
I may be assuming but am sure these are the same people, who literally sing praises for a movie like Schindler’s List saying how it moved them to tears but are ready to ridicule a movie of the same genre on the plight of fellow Indians and are first to applaud those whose motives are dubious at best or vile at worst. I am not one for generalisation and it would be wrong of me to assume that the entire Tamilnadu is like that.
It is in fact, a land, which has been the hub of our cultural glory. There is certainly a pride that is visible in our Sanatan Dharma in most parts of Tamilnadu amongst the people. But there is definitely an artificially created divide by erstwhile politicians for their own gain and that has now manifested into a full blown hatred towards North Indians. The fact that even educated people are falling into this trap is what frightens me most. The friend I was talking about is well educated and is very kind. And if a person like him can fall into the trap of this artificially created chasm then it is indeed very scary to imagine the actual rot that might have already spread.
I am from Andhra Pradesh. I have travelled most of our country by road and have had many memorable experiences with people from many parts of the country. I have lived as a bachelor pursuing Graduation in Chennai. I will always cherish all the years I spent in Chennai. Not everyone are the same and there have been also many disagreements with various people in my life.
Never has it instilled hatred against anyone in me. My point is one can always disagree with another person’s view and still feel empathy for them, when a tragedy befalls them. Similarly, one can have differing opinions against a man, a party or it’s ideology but if that differing opinion turns into hatred for humanity itself, that is dangerous.
What happened in Kashmir was a blot in the history of our country. The brutality that was inflicted upon fellow Indians by home grown Islamic terrorists, who massacred lakhs and forced even more to run for their lives only due to their religious belief should send a chill down the spine of every Indian irrespective of their religious or political affiliation and should be a lesson/reminder to ensure that such acts are not ever repeated in our country.
Instead here we are, gloating that some Israeli nincompoop has called out the Kashmir Files. If anything that act is vulgar. I could have immediately replied to my friend’s post and started a war of words on Social media. But I didn’t, as I was too angry at that time and had to calm down and gather my thoughts. Secondly, the best way to call out such ignoramus beings is by telling them in detail what’s flawed in their process of thinking.
Fact 1: The Kashmir Files movie is not a BJP propaganda movie but a movie about the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits in the valley by home grown Pakistan sponsored Islamic fundamentalist terrorists given legitimacy by the successive governments of the past.
Fact 2 : Each of the scenes depicted in the movie are just miniscule part of the total brutality that was heaped on Kashmiri Pandits of the valley. The scale and nature of brutality is even more gruesome and heart wrenching than what was actually shown in the movie.
Fact 3 : All the cast and crew have done a tremendous job in showcasing the dark side of our history and the result of their hardwork was shown in the appreciation and critical acclaim it received from a vast majority of audience across the globe inspite of very less publicity and very few number of theatres it was released in.
Fact 4 : And finally, all the incidents shown in the movie can be easily verified and the director of the movie made painstaking research to present the facts.
I sincerely request my friend and anyone like him, to do their own research after watching the entire movie and then comment on what is propaganda in that movie. Don’t become so numb to the sufferings of fellow Indians to the point of ridiculing their pain. That is not only inhumane but speaks volumes about the hatred that has seeped in against one’s own countrymen. I have no problem with differing political ideologies or pride in superiority of one’s culture. But when these attributes turn into absolute disdain towards the plight of others, it needs to be called out for it’s stupidity.
I hope my friend reads this article and takes down that offending post but that is just as I said a hope. I don’t have any hatred towards him nor do I carry any ill will against him but his callousness in treating the Kashmiri Pandit genocide as propaganda influenced by his political ideology without actually watching the movie is vulgar to say the least.
I sincerely hope for a day when people like them can look beyond their political ideologies and treat all Indians as brothers and sisters instead of casually making fun of the worst human tragedy in Independent India. There cannot be a compromise with someone, who cannot empathise or sympathise with the sufferings of fellow Indians. It is absolutely vile and disgusting. Jai Hind.