Reconciliation needed, not hate propaganda

The Kashmir Files distorts facts, inflames passions

The violence against Kashmiri Pandits and their escape from the Valley in 1990-91 make a terrible and shameful chapter of the country’s recent history. Their suffering still continues, and the nation has felt for them and stands with them. The recently released film, The Kashmir Files, directed by Vivek Agnihotri, deals with the experiences of the Pandits who were forced to migrate, mainly to Jammu but also to other parts of the country. Their migration, the situation that led to it, and the failure of the State to help them at that time have been key points in the BJP’s campaign against the Congress. The film should be considered as part of that propaganda. This is clear from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s endorsement of the film and the tax breaks given for it by BJP-ruled states. Governments can encourage and support films for good causes, such as national integration. But in the case of The Kashmir Files, the government is doing it for exactly the opposite reason.

The film takes too many liberties with facts and presents a blatantly exaggerated version of the events of 1990. It claims to present an authentic history but falls far short of the claim and even gives a false account. The numbers of those killed and displaced given by the film, for instance, are far higher than even the numbers given by Kashmiri Pandit organisations and the government itself. The whole attempt has been to blame the Congress, its governments and its leaders for the killings. Left liberals and Kashmiri Muslims too figure as villains. Many facts are glossed over, such as the fact that it was a BJP-supported government in Delhi at the time and that that party should be held accountable, too, for what happened then and since.

The film is in the tradition of inflammatory and provocative misrepresentation and distortion of history that Hindutva politics has often resorted to. It has not only made a false narrative but presented it most emotively in the guise of art, aimed at no purpose but to rouse hatred among communities. It does not serve the causes of justice or peace but undermines them in Kashmir and outside. The question of why nothing has effectively been done to rehabilitate the Pandits in their homes by BJP governments so far has not been asked. Both the Pandits and the Muslims have been scarred by history. A government truly interested in India’s unity and integrity must constitute a truth and reconciliation commission that will help to heal the wounds, help Pandits return, win the hearts and minds of all. Such a commission might even lead to a solution of the larger Kashmir problem. That is what the Pandits need, and what India needs. Not hate-rousing, polarising propaganda.