The cinema industry is a powerful tool to define and manipulate the collective conscience of a society. And the movie industry as massive as Bollywood is can have a lot of influence. The Indian film industry often stereotypes Muslims as extremists and terrorists reining the underworld mafia. It has stooped to a new abyss of darkness with its recent release of a right-wing propaganda movie ‘The Kashmir Files’.
It was recently showcased at the International Film Festival held in Goa where an Israeli filmmaker was also on the jury. In an interview, he slammed the exhibit of the movie quoting that he “knows how to recognise propaganda disguised as a movie.” He asserted that the movie was pushed into the prestigious festival owing to political pressure. Israeli filmmaker’s criticism of the movie as ‘vulgar’ and ‘propaganda’ ignited a row and many notables were not happy with such a statement. He said many from within Bollywood came up to him to take back his remarks, but he refused.
Since its release, the movie is causing quite a turmoil in the already stirring Islamophobic India. The movie’s phenomenal success is not for the right reasons. The aftermath of a Hindi-language drama film based on a fictional storyline narrating an exodus of Kashmiri pundits from IIOJ&K has sparked the already existing religious polarization in Indian society. The story of the 1990s exodus of pundits is only a distortion of historical facts and nothing else.
A few minutes into the movie and we see Muslims lusting after Hindu women, Muslim kids flaunting Kalashnikovs and insulting Hindu deities, and a Muslim betraying his Hindu friend to support terrorism. There is a scene where an alleged Muslim militant tells a Kashmiri Hindu who wore apparel portraying a Hindu god that only those who will chant “Allah o Akbar” will be allowed to stay in Indian-Occupied Kashmir. Even the Muslim children of Kashmir are depicted as brutal and inhumane. The movie is graphical in terms of violence with scenes of Muslims in skullcaps brutally murdering Hindus.
Despite being fiction, the movie is being perceived and propagated as a factual historic account of the exodus; it incites violence against Muslims in general and Kashmiris in particular. The movie was banned in Singapore by their censor board citing that the film’s provoking and one-sided portrayal of Muslims has the potential of disrupting social cohesion and religious harmony.
Historically, in 1990, a large gathering for the independence movement was called in Srinagar by the Hurriyat leadership. To crush the movement for independence, Governor Jagmohan Malhotra was sent with full authority. He gave a big blow to the movement. Within two months of his appointment, he was removed due to atrocities he unleashed against Kashmiri Muslims which was covered by international media. India had no choice but to oust him. During this period several Hindu minority people living in the valley fled away. During this conflict, 30 to 80 were reportedly killed. So the Kashmir Files movie depicts historically inaccurate facts. The movie presents only a one-sided story with the evil motive of sabotaging the freedom movement.
It is notable that despite the reservations and criticism of a few circles from within the country, the screening of the movie was elaborated from 600 to 3000 screens. The government gave tax relief to the movie so that people can buy movie tickets at cheaper rates. The movie is being aggressively advertised and pushed on social media as well. Made on a budget of approximately $2m, as of 28 April 2022, the film has grossed more than $39m in India and $5.6m overseas which accumulates to a worldwide gross collection of $45m. These financials are the highest for any Bollywood movie. The movie incited rage across India. Only recently in Ahmedabad, Gujarat a fanatic group of RSS stopped a mere passer-by Muslim Muhammad Adnan and forcibly showed him the movie on their mobile while beating him and torturing him. They called out that all Muslims are responsible for what happened with the Hindu Pundits in the 1990s and they are to be made accountable and punished for their deeds. The Muslims are pestered and victimized all over India for being responsible for the massacre that never happened.
The circumstances in Kashmir are no different and since the revoke of article 370 in 2019, the valley has been turned into a prison with above the charts of atrocious human rights violations. Playing by the hybrid warfare the objective of the movie is to sabotage the freedom movement for the right of self-determination in IIOJK screening them as bloodthirsty fanatics and propagating the Hindutva agenda of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) across India.