Beyond The Kashmir Files

An attempt of decoding the message conveyed by the film, what India needs to learn from watching it and do, to ensure the future generations don’t have to watch The Kashmir Files 2.0

Synopsis

_{While I wrote this piece immediately after watching the movie, this is not a film review. It is a reflection of what we (KPs) already knew but needed a grim reminder of and something that the rest of the country didn’t know but needed to be told.  In this piece I have tried to express my views, based on my own experiences as a KP and as a victim of the being one. The thoughts presented are not in any intentional sequence but just as these come to my mind randomly.}

Is Kashmir Problem a Problem of the KPs Return

One of the most important, but less recognized, reasons why the problem of KPs has not been solved for 32 years is that we, as a country, always saw it as a problem of return of KPs.  While the return is a necessary part of the solution, it doesn’t meet sufficiency of the solution.

The onus of restoring peace and glory to Kashmir has been put on the GOI with KPs as a collateral sacrificial goat. This apart from being unfair to KPs also leaves the main problem unsolved.

For a complete and lasting solution, Kashmir should once again be made the place of excellence in human endeavor as it was for learning, knowledge, scholarship and peaceful coexistence thousand years ago. If we get blinded by the limited objective of return of KPs, we lose sight of the fact that within a few years you will be watching TKF2.0. Govt. and people of India have to understand that the key problem is a brutal majority of a particular religion in a concentrated geography and its state sponsored enablement.

Even if all the KPs return, (and this if is bigger than the Mt. Everest) and even if we put ten NSG commandos protecting each KP, make no mistake that if the Non-Muslim population there is less than 5% – it is only a matter of time before you see a KTF 2.0.

KP population has to grow to a critical mass to survive and thrive and not get overwhelmed by the predatory majority.

The problem therefore is not return of even all the 5L KPs but the dangerously low percentage of non-Muslims in the valley. And anyone thinking that this is Islamophobia should recall the broad day murder of the Sikh Principal and Hindu Teacher who were shot dead after asking the Muslims to leave the venue.

The NGOs waking up to feed the KPs in camps after they saw in the film.

For the record let me state that the number of KPs facing financial problems today (in 2022) which can be directly attributed to the exodus and genocide would be a single digit percentage of the Global KP community. In demographic surveys conducted by a citizens group during 2005-2010, the KP camps, e.g. Mishriwala, had the incidence of diabetes and hypertension 5x more than the general population as well as the visible and wide occurrence of PTSD and depression never witnessed before. These ailments, exacerbated by the deplorable conditions in shanty camps exposed many to dehydration and sun stroke, eventually resulted in the loss of many lives in silence.  KPs, by their wisdom and adaptability, moved much beyond the need of money and better facilities in the camps. Majority of KPs today are well settled in Jobs and enterprise across the country and the world.

On the other hand, 100% of the KPs are suffering from having lost their home in their own home. Organizations planning to feed the hungry and needy will not find many takers beyond hundreds.

Moreover, do not forget that KPs barring a few, will never be satisfied by alms, they need self –esteem and above all the restoration of their cultural inheritance. No amount of money can buy that. It can be resorted only when Kashmir once again becomes the seat of excellence that it was where it created and attracted great scholars like Udbhatt, Vaman, Rudratt, Bhatta Lollat, Bhatta Shankuk, Anandvardhan, Vasugupta, Somamnand, Utpaldev, Bhatta Narayan, Bhatta Totuk, Bhatenduraj, Mammat, Kshemendra, Jayratha, Kshemraja, Sharnagdev and many others that evolved and presented their work for the future generations to deliberate upon. KPs need that sense of well-deserved pride which they lost not once but over 7 exoduses.

Reiterating what I said earlier, that can happen not merely by return or KPs but by return of Hindus. Like I said even if all the KPs return, they will still be a less than 3% Non-Muslim population and thus vulnerable to misguided Muslims for whom any non-Muslim is an Infidel and to be treated such.

Does that mean we forget 1989?

No it doesn’t!

While revenge may be an immediate reaction in our mind immediately after watching KTF, hate mongering won’t help anyone and should be avoided.

At the same time handing justice to the culprits should not be delayed any further least of all ignored. This is most important as a strong deterrent that this may never happen again. Here are some people, that quickly come to mind, and who must be charged and tried as an effective tool of deterrence.

1. Direct murderers, we all know them all, should be charged and handed to justice quickly since we are already 32 years behind schedule.

2. Politicians of the then day, like Farooq Abdullah should be asked to answer why they can’t be tried for treason. Enough has been written on his role by the then Governor Jagmohan in his famous book “My Frozen Turbulence in Kashmir”

This will make the future CMs aware of the risk of being double agents.

3. Rajiv Gandhi should posthumously, be stripped off the Bharat Ratna. The biggest shame, I as a KP feel or so should others, is that the man who was forewarned of the minutest detail of what could happen to them, (and which actually happened later) but who as the Prime Minister instead shot the messenger, and was conferred the country’s highest civilian award The Bharat Ratna by this country.

4. Manmohan Singh should be charged with, and tried for, degrading the office of the PM by shaking hands with a proclaimed murderer of KPs and Air Force officers in broad day light. He should be barred from assuming any office, fighting any election or even voting as a citizen. This alone will make the future PMs aware of the risk of hobnobbing with persons no grata for narrow political objectives

5. Journalists like Rajat Sharma and others should be asked to tender a public apology to the nation for providing a national TV platform to a scoundrel and murder who waged war against India and then degraded the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi by perpetrating to be a mini Gandhi – just to fool the country and the legal institutions.

What should be expected of the Government?

1. Identify all our martyrs, recognize them nationally and reward them posthumously on the Republic day.
2. Make a KP martyrs’ memorial in all major cities of India including at Lal Chowk in Srinagar. (gruesome victims, not all martyrs)
3. Make sure all their heirs are given complete financial support as needed till the last surviving heirs
4. Compensate all KPs who lost their property, or sold in distress, with an amount equal to the current market value and give them land in Kashmir at a place they choose where they can build their houses.
5. Have a Kashmir rehabilitation Ministry in Central Govt. with the same status and powers of Ministry of Minority Affairs.
6. Declare all KPs as a minority as per the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.

No matter, how much we sugar coat the reasons behind all the 7 exoduses of Kashmir, any kid will tell you that all these happened because of a brute majority of a particular religion in the valley. This has to change. And KPs are not to be made sacrificial goats through programs like PM package.

Kashmir does not belong to any one community, be it KMs or KPs – it belongs to all Indians. And Kashmir is not only the problem of Kashmiris but of all Indians.

Limiting the problem to return of KPs is being blind. The solution is in having enough non-Muslims in Kashmir!

India has to find a method to encourage and settle a large number of Non-Muslims in the valley through a well-coordinated, transparent and non-apologetic program. Be it  land allotment, industry and job creation. In this initiative, the Govt. alone cannot work in isolation. Its ramp up will likely take time so it must be initiated immediately.

All those lakhs of Indians who are weeping in the cinemas watching KTF have to volunteer to invest, live and settle in Kashmir, because it’s their land as much as its mine and the Govt should provide the required echo system for the same.

What should be done by KMs?

My sincere appeal to the post 90s born KMs is to watch the film without any bias or influence. They must know their future cannot be sold to Islamist rhetoric, Islamic terror and jihad which is the basis of all trouble in Kashmir. They must also know that all these slogans of so called Azadi are nothing but an attempt to make Kashmir a fanatic Islamic country like Pakistan whose citizens’ condition today is very desperate growing with rapid intensity.

KMs must admit their silent enablement of the genocide, embrace penance and publicly apologize to  the survivors of the KP genocide. This has to be an initial step towards healing and reconciliation.

What should be done by KPs?

KPs must convene to form ‘one’ representative body of community leadership to help channel communication and concerns of their membership. The GOI should give them 90 days to do so;  splinter groups if any will form a coalition for ‘one’ community representation. Term limits will apply to the elected leaders.

Summary

• TKF should not be seen as depicting the problem of KPs but a problem of the country if we don’t want our kids having to watch The Kerala File, The Hyderabad File, The Muzafarpur File and many other files.
• Return of KPs is a small part of the solution: ‘accelerating’ the correction of state-driven imbalance of demography since several generations is the sustainable solution. Kashmir has to be the global seat of learning and scholarship just as it was for thousands of years
• Solutions centring around crating a small mini Kashmir (for KPs) in Kashmir is dysfunctional and dangerous. The entire valley of Kashmir belongs all KMs, all KPs and all Indians – where no one community be supported to grow in exponential numbers making others vulnerable.
• Many KPs have settled in lands near and far. All of them carry the loss and burden of having lost their homeland. The law and order institutions in Kashmir must be overhauled immediately to create a sense of security for them to visit as and when they want.
• All Indians deserve the same security in vising Kashmir. This, when done and achieved, will make Kashmir a part of every Indians heart and mind. Visiting and living in Kashmir should become an act of joy and not bravery.
• The GOI must create a committed roadmap of initiatives and actions and publish them with timeline and periodic progress attained. This will hold the government, communities and their leaders accountable for collective ownership.
• Kashmir is a collective opportunity for all of India, an opportunity with an expiration date. And the KTF is a wake up call!

Ravinder Bhan

April 10^th , 2022