DW News published this video item, entitled “Kashmir Files: Forgotten tragedy or an attempt to re-write India’s history?” – below is their description.
A visceral film on a Hindu minority’s violent expulsion from the Kashmir Valley is polarising opinion across India. The controversy around the ‘Kashmir Files’ boils down to one question – Is this film catharsis or propaganda? Propaganda that repeats talking points of the current ruling party – the BJP. Or Catharsis – for the hundreds of thousands of Kashmiri Hindus, expelled by Islamist militants from the Indian controlled Kashmir Valley.This forms the major storyline. And its based on events from late 1989, early 1990. At that time, a revolt erupted against Indian rule in Kashmir, which is a Muslim-majority region. Both India and Pakistan lay claim to it. Various rebel factions arose, among them, secular groups and Islamist militant groups, backed by Pakistan. The insurgents orchestrated a wave of targeted killings against Kashmiri Hindus, also called Pandits. They were perceived to be aligned with Indian government rule. Hundreds of thousands were forced from their homes, and later ended up living in refugee camps across northern India. The makers of the Kashmir Files interviewed hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits who had to flee their homes. Their experiences, dramatised a fair bit form the core of Kashmir Files. But so does, quite a bit of political commentary, presented in cinematic style of course. Its become a box office hit that quickly earned the endorsement of the Hindu nationalist BJP government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his personal praise and hit back at the film’s critics who say it plays fast and lose with the facts and stokes anti-Muslim sentiment.
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