“Funny how those who keep asking for freedom of expression have a problem with freedom of expression when it comes to #The Kashmir Files.”
Chetan Bhagat
For some strange reason, it is not considered cool in English speaking Indian intellectual circles to talk about Hindu suffering from the past. However, the same intellectuals believe speaking up on minority-related Issues is evolved and virtuous. The thought behind this is that minorities are lesser in number, hence, more vulnerable and weaker. And it is always good to speak for the vulnerable and weak, isn’t it? Hindus, on the other hand, are a majority Their higher numbers automatically mean they are stronger, and they must be dominating the minorities. What’s more, a Hindu focused party has been in ofce now for nearty eight years So, how can there even be any Hindu issues in a Hindu dominated, Hindu slanted party ruled India at all?_
_Therefore, India’s intellectuals seem quite upset with the success of “The Kashmir Files’, a low budget film that had no powerful backers, mega-marketing campalgn or support from critics. Yet, the film has had not only commercial success but also tremendous influence. It has sparked discussions, moved audiences emotionally and done what a plece of art is meant to do-have impact.
Yet, our intellectuals labelled it as biased. propaganda, fake and whatever else to just make it go away Except it didn’t. The Kashmir Fles’, a film about the forced Kashmiri Pandit exodus in the 1980s, is a gut-wrenching., emotional take on what happened in Kashmir but was never really discussed as much as it should. It also shows how starved we are of stories that talk about Hindu issues, Because honestly, you can’t. *You cannot talk about Hindu issues in public in India and not be attacked by the intellectual ecosystem.. You will be labelled, discredited, shamed, attacked all in supereloquent English until you fear beIng branded communal for life and retreat*(preparing myself for some of that after this column).
The truth, however:, needs to be told. The film may not be perfect no plece of art is. It may have gratuitous violence, extra emotions and maybe even some lctionalised creative liberties. However, the film does talk about what happened. That in India, a country of majority Hindus, Hindus were mereilessly killed, kicked out and terrorised in one state. Yet, the government in ofice did little because the Muslim votebank was loyal to it.
Even when radical Islamic organisations mushroomed around the country, not much was done. Terrorism was real, bomb blasts were a regular feature around the country, and this so-called “powerful majority” of Hindus lived in fear. Today, we do not have that. Today, the government protects Hindu interests. It is perhaps even biased towards them (maybe because it’s their votebank).
_The purpose of this column is not to talk about Hindus vs Muslims. Unquestionably, India is a nation of many faiths. Hundreds of millions of Hindus and Muslims live and work together in this country every đay Our GDP is made by people who are Hindus and Muslims and all other religions. However, one must realise that all communities have suffered in the past including Hindus. Just the percentage of population does not autonmatically decide the victim and the aggressor. The British were an ultra-minority in India at one time when they ruled us. So, who were the victims then-Indians or the British?
Sadly our intellectual elite are so busy being posers and virtue signalers that they do not examine India’s past with the intellect they claim to have. _
_Calling “The Kashmir Files’ propaganda hurts the sentiments of not only Kashmiri Pandits, but all Hindus around the country.
There is another missed aspect in this majority minority debate. Hindus may well be a majority in India, but they are relatively a minority religion in the wortd. India is practically the only land where Hindus are a majority (along with Nepal), and where Hindus feel it is a natural home. The Kashmiri Pandits might well be-a tiny percentage of India’s Hindus, but when atrocities occurred against them and the government did little, it shook that foundational belief, of India being a natural haven for Hindus. Hence. the intellectuals who keep saying ‘stop going on about Kashmiri Pandits need to realise what it represented at that time.
Of course, tndia is not only a home for Hindus It is a land and haven for many communites that have suffered. Our Muslim brothers and sisters have suffered, and we must listen to their issues. But along wit that, we must realise that Hindus have suffered too. We must make listening to each other and showing compasslon a two-way street. The Kashmir Files’ is a story that needed to be told. Its success also tells us this- it is a story that needs to be heard.
Chetan Bhagat