“Bollywood is a propaganda expansionist tool: The Kashmir Files”
In the recent past, “Indian Chronicles” exposed designs of the Indian propaganda regime. It qualifies the high standards of propaganda where lies are presented as facts and facts are manipulated to dilute the minds of target audience.
India always uses Bollywood as a tool to expand its propaganda; a soft power of India and an apparatus to picture India’s image of its own choice. Several movies based on ethnic and racial divide have been produced so far in which Muslims in general and Pakistan in specific were portrayed negatively. The fresh attack has been made through the Hindu language drama film “The Kashmir Files” released by Zee Studios on 11th of March 2022. The story of this film revolves around the victimization of the Hindu pandit community in Kashmir (IIOJK); based on the interviews of the victims of early 1990s Kashmiri Hindus genocide. Kashmiri Muslims have been presented as terrorists while Hindu pandits as innocent / peacemakers who were forced to migrate from Kashmir. In other words, the exodus of Kashmiri pandits has been portrayed as genocide; a clear example of historical revisionism.
This pack of lies (movie) has attracted criticism not just from outside but from inside India as well. Sane voices from Indian Congress, as well as Bollywood, termed it an agenda-driven effort containing concocted and distorted facts that have nothing to do with the historical truth. Apart from this, it is an effort to incite violence and hatred against Muslims, especially Kashmiri Muslims. Another criticism has been made that such movies trigger the Hindu nationalist mood of the nation instead of showing sympathy to the dislocated victims.
Modi-led Indian government praised the efforts of the filmmakers, the film has been declared tax-free in several states of India and has earned a lot at the domestic box office, all of this is a clear indication of RSS patronage of the film. However, Singapore has banned the film by terming it against the city-state’s film classification guidelines which could create violence in the society.
Like many other Modi-led government actions, this movie has the potential to disturb socio-religious order in the society which is considered the hallmark of the BJP regime. Many other policies including agriculture/farm laws, NRC, and CAA have incited disorder as well as a divide in the multiracial and multicultural society of India.
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What has been depicted in the movie “The Kashmir Files” is one side of the picture, the other side is blurred and contains some untold facts. Human rights watch (HRW) report 2022 reveals the ground facts of the burning Kashmir (IIOJK). Claiming to be the most secular nation in the globe, Indian authorities clamped down the internet facility in IIOJK for 18 months which was restored in February 2021. It shows the fear of resistance from the resilient Kashmiris who have not been accepting Kashmir as part of India.
The report also exposed Indian inhuman actions on the death of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, at which authorities did not allow Geelani’s family to offer final rites. HRW report highlighted the UN expert mandates’ letters to the Indian government asking reasons behind arrests and detentions of Kashmiri politicians as well as the general public including Waheed Para, Naseer Ahmed Wani, and others. It also urged for an inquiry into the death in custody of Ashraf Khan Sehrai, a separatist leader of occupied Kashmir. The armed forces act giving special powers to forces in IIOJK was widely criticized. Besides this, media is not the exception; report vowed that Indian authorities have made repressive laws to curb freedom of expression. All the above is a slap on the face of Modi-led BJP regime and the filmmakers as well.
Another sector that has intentionally been ignored by the propagandist (Indian ruling elite / Media / Bollywood) is the declined economic situation of the people of Kashmir (IIOJK). They have witnessed a severe socio-economic crisis after the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A. BJP government claims that steps taken in August 2019 were aimed to boost development, create more jobs, attract investment and build a peaceful environment for Kashmiris; all these claims are proven ‘bunch of lies’.
All indicators including the human development indicator have depicted a deep drop-down in economic sectors including tourism, information technology, horticulture, and handicrafts. Tourism is one of the largest industries through which most of the Kashmiris are earning their bread & butter but due to the deteriorating law & order situation and the restrictions imposed after August 2019, tourists are reluctant to visit the Kashmir valley; a heaven on earth.
Jammu chamber of commerce and industries (JCCI) and Kashmir chamber of commerce and industries (KCCI) have expressed severe concerns about the economic slowdown in the state and opined that no major development took place in the last two and half years. The ongoing situation is further causing damage of billions of rupees to the economy of the masses (of IIOJK) and creating joblessness. One thing that needs to be understood by the ruling elite is that economic development is not possible in a shattered environment where people are being harassed and smashed too.
The current approach of the BJP-led regime to manage Kashmir is making this piece of land, unlivable, and advancing with the same policy will not change this status (unlivable) even after hundred years.
The writer is an Islamabad-based research scholar and a freelancer.
