India’s prime minister has hailed the relentlessly violent drama for exposing long-buried truths
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskHigh-powered promotion is not the sole reason why “The Kashmir Files” has bagged over $25m since it opened on March 11th, a post-pandemic record. The film also provokes strong emotions. Its story revolves around the very real tragedy of the Kashmiri Pandits, an ancient community of high-caste Hindus who were once perhaps 5% of the population of the Kashmir Valley.
Pandits were targeted by Islamists backed by Pakistan during a cataclysmic surge in violence in the 1990s. Police protection was scant. All but a few fled, never to return. Official reports and scholarly research suggest that more than 200 were murdered, among the 14,000 civilians, 5,000 Indian soldiers and 22,000 militants killed during the past three decades of strife in the valley.
These other casualties get no mention in the film. Instead, within its first 15 minutes we see Muslims betraying Hindu neighbours, chanting “Convert or die!”, beating Pandit children and visiting unspeakable acts of savagery upon women. By the end of the film it is not just the awfulness of Muslims that is doggedly bludgeoned into viewers.
In the Kashmir Valley itself the film has been met with silence. This is partly because cinemas there closed in the 1990s. Zayd Hanief, a 22-year-old law student who watched the film on a visit outside the valley, says he was revolted. “It simply confirms the worst stereotypes about Muslims.” To some, the boosting of the film by Mr Modi, whose government in 2019 imposed direct rule on the once semi-autonomous state of Jammu and Kashmir, and has cracked down fiercely on dissent, feels ominous.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "Horrible histories"
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