“We remember. There is a reason Kashmiri Pandit-millenials like me are seldom allowed to articulate our ancestral/inter-generational trauma. We’re not one ideology. We’re not anti-Muslim. We’re not anti-state. We don’t wish to fit into another polarised, political thought. We are trying to grieve and heal from the loss of home, loss of language, food, culture… Loss of being able to be Kashmiri. Diminishing/erasing the Kashmiri Pandit experience to serve a political thought/right-left propaganda is problematic and disrespectful. ‘For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.'”
These are the words of Garvi Dhar, a Kashmiri Pandit who has never lived in Kashmir. Her grandparents were forced to flee the valley as terrorists went on a rampage—targeting and murdering Hindus in 1990. Her father could never go back. “Never knowing when we can return is a feeling we feel each day,” rued Garvi.
(*quote in the end by Elie Wiesel, an author and Holocaust survivor)
The Kashmiri Pandits Suffered A Great Tragedy
“The Kashmir Files” does a noteworthy job of acknowledging some of the bone-chilling horrors survived by the Kashmiri Pandit community. As Garvi told me, the film only showed a “watered-down version of what actually happened”.
Thousands of Pandits left the troubled territory in a mass exodus; those who didn’t were killed, mercilessly. Those who left became refugees in their own nation, much like anyone who is forcefully uprooted from a land they call their own.
The ethnic cleansing that took place in the ’90s continues to be one of the worst chapters of Kashmiri history, dating back thousands of years. People who try to downplay the sheer terror of the violent episode are clearly misguided.
Why Anupam Kher Is The Hero Of The Film
Director Vivek Agnihotri moves between the terrible history and conflicted present of Kashmir with ease and clarity. The protagonist, Krishna Pandit (played by Darshan Kumaar), is a young man with a troubled past.
He is an upcoming student leader in a Delhi-based university named ANU. Later, he is charged with treason for speaking his mind. Any similarities to Kanhaiya Kumar and JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University) are purely intentional.
Krishna was born in Kashmir, but raised elsewhere by his adoring bobji (grandfather). He thinks his parents and brother have died in an accident until he finds out otherwise. His bobji is Pushkar Nath Pandit (masterfully played by Anupam Kher), a retired teacher and theatre-enthusiast.
“Anupam Kher reminded me so much of my own bobji. He is like every bobji ever… The expressions, mannerisms, dialect—everything,” said Garvi. As a left-leaning person, I may not agree with Kher’s political stances, but I would be remiss if I didn’t praise his acting chops. He leaves a lasting impression on you.
The Agenda Behind The Kashmir Files
Pushkar has been protesting for Article 370 to be repealed since his time in a refugee camp in Jammu. He pleads with his grandson to stay away from those who raise slogans of “azadi!” (freedom), saying that politics only leads to destruction.
The moments of cinematic brilliance in the film are overshadowed by the agenda it is trying to push. There is no denying that Agnihotri has weaponised the narrative of the right-wing. He is not the only filmmaker or actor to have done so.
We have all observed a wave of presumably nationalistic films being churned out by Bollywood, year after year, since the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) government came into power.
I think that Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule was right in questioning the BJP about why it doesn’t include the Kashmiri Pandits in the budget if it cares about them so much?
Apart from Article 370, there are references to many other events that the BJP has cleverly used to alter our political landscape, such as the so-called “tukde-tukde gang”. I am, of course, referring to the infamous JNU incident where some people allegedly chanted anti-national slogans on campus.
Black Versus White: What About Grey?
Not only JNU, IAS officer Brahma Dutt (played by an ageing Mithun Chakraborty) tells Krishna how Muslims were paid ₹500 each to narrate instances of oppression and falsely implicate the Indian state. Doesn’t this sound eerily similar to the rumours about the women of Shaheen Bagh being paid to protest?
Also, revolutionary poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s “hum dekhenge” (we will see), a poem which became an anthem of resistance during the anti-CAA and NRC protests, is heard multiple times during the film. Who is singing it? Take a guess! A left-wing professor named Radhika Menon and her sycophantic students.
Menon, clearly modelled on writer and professor Nivedita Menon, is hell-bent on brainwashing Krishna with a maniacal glee on her face. It was disappointing to see how unidimensional she was portrayed to be. There were no nuances or shades of grey. She is pure evil as only left-leaning intellectuals are made out to be!
Polarising The Public
My main contention with the film is that it tries to further polarise an already polarised public. Yes, the Kashmiri Pandits suffered a great tragedy. Yes, the Kashmiri Muslims have also been suffering great tragedies. Can both not be true? Why does acknowledging the violence faced by one community have to come at the cost of the other?
There is a scene in the film where a Muslim man helps terrorists kill his Kashmiri Pandit neighbour. “It broke my heart to see neighbours turn against each other,” said Garvi. I ask you: isn’t the film doing the same thing—turning people who have lived together in harmony against each other?
I might have found the oversimplification of ideologies problematic, but the Indian audiences have certainly not. As I pen this piece, The Kashmir Files has earned over ₹100 crore at the box office—already making it one of the biggest hits of the year! Watch it at your own risk if you do, keeping in mind that the film is replete with visuals of graphic violence.