'Kashmir Files': Movie on ethnic cleansing of Hindus ignites furor in India

A movie about the systematic ethnic cleansing of Hindus and their exodus from Kashmir, the Himalayan flashpoint between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan, has reopened old wounds in India and ignited conversations about a topic that is considered largely off-limits by the self-styled guardians of secularism in the country's mainstream media.

More than 100,000 Kashmiri Hindus who were forced to leave their homes and migrate to other parts of India following a genocidal campaign of murders, torture and rape by Islamist terrorists supported by Paksitan in the 1990s.

Vivek Agnihotri, the director and screenplay writer of the film, "Kashmir Files," said he had talked to hundreds of Kashmiri Hindus over two years, listened to their horror tales, and made an honest attempt to portray their pain exactly on the screen. The movie will be released Friday.

"We decided to interview more than 700 victims of the Kashmir Genocide from all across the world. We listened to and recorded their stories for two years. We had swollen eyes every time we heard a story," Agnihotri told Firstpost in an interview.

Some experts estimate that 100,000 of the 140,000 Pandits in Kashmir migrated out of the state in February-March 1990. By 2011 just about 3,000 Kashmiri Pandit families remained in the state.

Ravindra Pandita, a Kashmiri Pandit Hindu and founder member of the Save Sharda Committee, told IBT International that the movie depicts truly the plight of the Kashmiri Pandits, a major part of the Kashmiri Hindu community. He added that it was not possible for Agnihotri to grab everything or each horror tale in a three-hour movie.

"Every Kashmiri Pandit family is a Kashmir File, it is in itself a movie," Pandita said.

He said the Kashmiri Hindus have been trying to get justice and raised the issue of systematic ethnic killing of Hindus in the state but there were no takers of their story. He added that earlier movies that touched upon the subject failed to capture the real horror that visited the Hindus in Kashmir. The community, which made up just 5% of the state's population and is now largely scattered around the globe, observe Jan.19 as 'Exodus Day.'

Pandita said in 1989-1990 the geopolitical situation gave the extremist groups in the Kashmir valley an opportunity to conduct their ethnic cleansing campaign with impunity. They were successful because the then Indian government, a weak coalition of parties clobbered together as an alternative to the Congress party, which had ruled the country until then, was unable to offer security to the Kashmiri Hindus.

"The Indian economy was the weakest at that time, the Indian army was weakest and the central government was also weakest at that time. (The Islamist terrorists} thought it is the right time for Islamisation of the state," said Pandita.

Pandita said Pakistan, which claims all of Kashmir as its own territory and controls a part of it, fanned the violence in the state. Pakistani leaders were publicly calling on the Kashmiri Muslim population to pick arms against India. The Hindus in the state were asked to either convert to Islam, leave the state, or face destruction.

Pandita said Pakistan-backed Islamist militant organization Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and terrorist group Hizbul Mujahideen were at the forefront of the ethnic cleansing campaign.

The Hizbul Mujahideen put up posters ordering all Hindus to leave the valley. They also circulated lists with the names of Kashmiri Hindus to be eliminated.

Pandita said as per Hizbul Mujahideen's instructions Muslims in the state started wearing their wristwatches on the right hand and set them to Pakistani time. There were stories of Muslims ratting on Hindu neighbors to Islamic terrorists.

The movie's trailer shows 24 Hindus lined up and shot in cold blood by the Islamist terrorists dressed in army uniforms. This scene is a depiction of Nadimarg massacre that took place in 2003.

The movie also shows how some in India have allegedly incited Kashmiri Muslims against the government for political gains. This has led to lawsuits against the movie and the makers have received death threats. Agnihotri himself had to temporarily deactivate his Twitter account due to threats to his family members.

"It doesn't scare me but I am concerned." he told Firstpost. "The media has to follow the rules, else their careers will be destroyed. We suffer from a colonial mindset. They can kill me but cannot break me."

"Kashmir Files" has triggered intense debates on social media, and a lawsuit has been filed in a court in Mumbai in Bombay seeking a stay on its release. The petitione alleges that the movie hurts the sentiments of the Muslim community.

Many of the Pandits hounded out of Kashmir ended up in squalid camps in nearby Jammu and the Indian capital New Delhi. There was little help from the Indian government. They gradually scattered around the world while continuing to seek justice. Today the community is gaining in influence in India and the global stage.

Pandita said governments and officials were not ready to discuss their plight and even now there is a section that bluntly denies the genocide, calling it propaganda. Some even call the movie propaganda by Hindu nationalists, despite the massive numbers of affected people and the recorded history.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, in 2019, revoked article 370 and 35 A of the Indian constitution that offered special status to Kashmir and limited the national government's ability to intervene in its affairs.

Ashutosh Bhatnagar, Jammu and Kashmir Study Circle, said that removal of Article 370 will indirectly benefit Kashmiri Hindus. He said the removal of articles 370 and 35 A will lead to infrastructure development in the state and create employment opportunities for Kashmiri Pandits, enabling them to go back.

Still Pandita said the the Pandits cannot go back to the homeland because they won't feel safe there until the Muslim community in the valley welcomes them back.

This story originally appeared in IBT International.