At a recent private gathering in New Jersey, noted movie Director Vivek Agnihotri
shared details about his upcoming movie The Kashmir Files. The movie will be the first
one ever which will tackle head on the Kashmiri Pandit Genocide. The event was the
culmination of a US tour where Kashmiri Pandits recorded on camera for the
first time the horror and destruction that was wrecked upon them by Pakistan and its
local terror proxies. The events of January 1990 and the period around it has resulted in
the Genocide of the Kashmiri Pandit civilization and the ethnic cleansing of 450,000
community members. It may possibly result in their imminent extinction unless
restorative justice is provided expeditiously by the Government of India with the
unqualified support of the civilized nations of the world.
At the emotional gathering of the Kashmiri Pandits there was much discussion of how
the Jewish people kept their memory, their culture, their identity, their hope alive. It
was about the will of the Jewish people. It was this context that the Consul General
referred to when he stated in his remarks, ‘It has happened in the Middle East. If the
Israeli people can do it then we can also do it.’ The Holocaust of the Jewish people is
undeniable except to Islamists, their resurrection is one that the world takes pride in. It
was this hope of return and rebirth that the Consul General of India was offering to a
people who have suffered much in the words of Prime Minister Modi.
There was zero discussion of any return module or model. Not the right person and not
the right occasion. Certainly, the Kashmiri Pandits have their own return module and no
power on earth or externality will change it. The learning was directed elsewhere, on
fear of life and sustainability for the Kashmiri Pandits. The ‘Israeli model’ phrase
followed immediately the point about security a matter of paramount importance for
the peaceful Kashmiri Pandits. Israel has had to pioneer techniques to protect the lives
of its citizens. It was an innocuous speech which invoked the Kashmir that was once
described by European scholars as the cradle of civilization and was a model of Hindu
inclusivity for 5000 years. Only the nihilists deny the Hindu history of Kashmir.
But not so for the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Having last left the subject of Kashmir with
a call for Jihad to his people after his self-admitted, failed gambit at the UN, he now
sounded the Palestinian settlement alarm at an Israeli demon. When all else fails tap
into anti-Semitism against the Jewish people and agitate the Kashmiri locals. This was a
repeat of the infamous strategy directed by Pakistan which had led to six Israeli tourists
getting kidnapped in Kashmir. There was never any mention of the word settlement or
Palestine. The word settlement has been added into the consul general’s remarks by
mischievous elements. In fact, the consul general talked about the Kashmiri Pandits
going back to their villages. But nothing matters to the spin doctors who have taken
over with their fake gotchas. Vicious attacks followed immediately going so far as
to threaten the Consul General with bodily harm. GKPD demands that such individuals
be prosecuted with the full force of law wherever they are. What is contemptible is
commentators who having stayed silent on the Kashmiri Pandit Genocide are now
criticizing a brave and caring officer who is probably the most popular consular officer
that India has sent to New York. The Indian community loves him for his efficiency and
ability to get things done on its behalf.
Desperate Prime Minister Imran Khan has a big problem. Shorn of the
histrionics, the recent Congressional hearings in Washington established two key facts.
First, that Pakistan is the biggest killer of Muslims globally. Around 15,000 in
Kashmir alone. Second, that Pakistan is responsible for the Genocide of Kashmiri
Pandits. Worst for him, one billion plus Indians are united on the issue of Kashmir which
is a sight to behold.
But Prime Minister Imran Khan’s problem will not be Kashmir’s problem for
much longer. Kashmir has a bright future ahead of it post 370. The Kashmir Files movie
will slay the false narrative which has dominated the media and those who want to fish
in troubled waters. The 700,000 Kashmiri Pandits have inalienable rights in Kashmir.
Kashmiri Pandits will return to their Homeland on their terms. Kashmir will become the
inclusive place that it once was with Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and others joyfully reflecting
the diversity of India. It will be peaceful. Pakistan Occupied Kashmir will be part of it
as it in turn will be part of India. All because peaceful but courageous Indians will join
hands and Right the Wrong in Kashmir. And Sandeep Chakravorty will be a bright star in
the Indian Foreign Service.
