Just recently, I had the opportunity to watch a special screening of The Kashmir Files, a month prior to its official theatrical release on January 26th, 2022. Thank you to Vivek Ji, Pallavi Ji, and their entire team for working relentlessly on this picture. It takes guts and bravery to work on a film that shows the complete truth, without distorting it to please certain audiences. I made sure to mutter a silent “thank you” as each name appeared in the rolling credits screen. For putting their careers at stake and standing for the truth, I hope there is some kind of karmic reward awaiting them!

As for the film, it is hard to express everything I’m feeling in words. I’m choking up on tears even as I write this, but let me try.

When I heard the runtime was nearly three hours long, I did feel it was a tad bit too long. I know Bollywood movies are notorious for their long run-times, usually owing to their long song and dance sequences. I remember thinking “If this turned out to be another dramatized love story like Shikara or another stereotypical Bollywood movie romanticizing our genocide, that would be a huge letdown.”

I was also worried about how they would fit so much information into three hours. If they plan to educate us on the facts and figures, wouldn’t that be boring to audiences? But if they just focus on the gruesome events of 1990, how would they bring out the pain of being ignored by the media, academia and government for the last 32 years? It just seemed like a Herculean task to me that would surely fall short in some way. 

Maybe, I’ve just been conditioned to be pessimistic. I’ve been vocal about the Kashmir cause for as long as I can remember. For nearly 32 years, the Kashmiri Hindu voice has been consistently silenced. The media has not been forgiving to us in any way. It’s been a struggle raising our voices when the world is against us. My people have constantly posted about our struggles: notes to the governments, cries for help, congressional hearings, newspaper submissions, etc. We have tried our best to make our voice heard. But, not everyone is ready to listen. We are fighting two battles, one amongst the media, and the other, against ourselves.

But today after watching this movie, I can proudly say that justice for my community is slowly being delivered. The Kashmir Files exceeded my expectations in every way. It nailed every situation that occurred. I couldn’t believe what I was watching on the big screen. From Girja Pandit’s brutal rape and murder to Hindu’s houses being burned to the constant chants of “Raliv, Galiv, ya Tsaliv”, this film hit every details on the nose. Without turning it into a documentary, the movie successfully weaved in the facts and figures of not only the 1990 genocide, but also the civilizational threat Kashmir faced for centuries.

It accurately depicted the ignorance of the Indian government at that time, the ploys of the Pakistani groups that fed separatist lies to the masses, the radicalization of our own neighbors, the lies of the “Free Kashmir” movement, and the deceptive ways in which the media and academic institutions brainwash the general population. Every. Single. Detail. Every single thing we have faced was accounted for.

I found myself crying multiple times in the film. It’s one thing being told and having read about the horrors that occurred to the Hindus in Kashmir. It’s another thing seeing it unfold in the theater. My mother was crying throughout the film. I know it was hard for her to relive the horrors that had snatched her father away from her. When you’ve been trying to heal from the pain of knowing that your father was hacked into pieces for being a Hindu, sitting through a movie that triggers all those emotions is the last thing one would want to do. In fact, my father’s anxiety got the better of him and he left within 15 minutes of the movie starting. Watching this movie was essentially re-living the past for them. For everyone. There was not one eye free of tears after the movie ended.

It is ironical to me that a movie one almost wants to walk out of as soon it begins is an indication of how good the movie is. But, in this case, it is. Maybe, cinematically transporting audiences to those gruesome events is what it takes to wake people up to the reality of what happened. If you’re willing to learn about the genocide of our people, from the brutal rapes, murders, disfigurement, to the entire destruction of our culture, please watch this film. 

There was a young Afghan man and a Sindhi man in the theater on the same night I watched the film. At the end, the former stood up and told the crowd that the struggle he faced there as a result of the Talibans was very similar to what we saw. This is not just my struggle. This isn’t just my family’s struggle. This isn’t just the Kashmiri Hindu’s struggle. This is the struggle and voice of Hindus. Our hearts beat as one. To all the Hindus who have faced or are facing something similar, I always like to remind them they may try to bury us, but they did not know we were seeds.

I can’t thank Vivek Ji, Pallavi Ji, and his team enough for this. Thank you, Dr. Surinder Kaul Ji, for initiating this idea. You all have worked with such a noble spirit, not giving up even with hurdles thrown at you. I hope this movie paves the way and inspires other filmmakers to show us those inconvenient truths that were hidden from us. 

For the first time in nearly 32 years, my mother said “This movie will bring my father some justice”.

Satyameva Jayate - Truth Alone Triumphs.

P.S: Article edited by Samyukta Singh

Image source: Republic World