Thirty-one years ago, 1990 to be precise, half million Kashmiri Hindus were ethnically cleansed of Kashmiri Valley by marauding Islamic gangs. Brutal murders and rapes followed. Even a judge of the Srinagar High Court was shot in broad daylight. While the then Kashmir Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah, completely abdicated his responsibility, perhaps one should say colluded with the gangs, 500,000 Kashmiri Hindus had no option but to leave or stay back and die.
Many died in squalid camps and most moved on with their lives with pitiable scanty support from the Indian government, picking on their lives and hoping one day to go back to their homes — the homes where their ancestors survived six earlier genocides.
Even after 31 years, even after removal of laws that greatly contributed to this genocide, India has no solution to bring them back because it has lacked the courage to face the reality of Islamist fundamentalism and the courage to dismantle terror infrastructure. Worse, their story is hardly ever discussed openly in India even after 31 years, while any minor incident particularly that would portray Hindus in poor light turns into a high decibel campaign.
Filmmakers Vivek Agnihotri and his wife, Pallavi Joshi, have decided to change that. They have done what India has not done for 31 years — to show the real face of Kashmiri Hindu genocide in their film, The Kashmir Files, which is currently screened across many cities in the United States. The breadth and width of its coverage of Kashmiri Hindu genocide in the film even while being gentle to the capacity of the audience to take, is a feat by itself.
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