By Alex John
Let me tell you this first, I haven’t seen ‘The Kashmir files’ yet. It is playing in the city I live, but I couldn’t drag my lazy a** to watch it yet. Well, I thought I ought to write something about it at least, as the campaign against the film is getting intense as days pass by. I know, I am an unknown amateur who daydreams of starting a revolution someday, but today I only intend to let a handful of readers know what I think about this film drawing heavy attention from all over the country. Coming to the point, I understand our rights to rave and rant about films, but the vilifying voices against this film is taking an interesting direction. Some say this film should be banned in the country, some others say Vivek Agnihotri should hand-out all the profit made by the film to the poor (as in he has committed a grave sin, and the profit from it should go to poor boxes than his own pocket). Well, speak about unreasonable chastising. I not only disagree to this, but also want the film to be more visible and successful. Let me make some points on why I do so.
Modern Hays codes (unwritten)
It astounds me how long It took for a film to be made on this subject. I ‘m not counting Shikara as it is essentially a love story with the Kashmir agitation as its backdrop (I haven’t seen that film either, but I am going by what I have read about it in trustworthy media, online and offline). I often wonder about this phenomenon. I think this became more visible when the 1968 zombie classic ‘ The Night of the living dead’ came out. The movie has a girl who is so terrified that she literally freezes at the face of the terror, which could be an everyday sight in the middle of such a disaster. But the liberals fumed. How dare they show a terrified girl? How could they portray a weak woman in their movie when there are none in the real world? It is interesting to think 1968 was the year Hollywood scrapped the Hays code, but I think it kind of stuck around, hiding under the cloak of progressiveness. I think of 1980s when Malayalam cinema managed to break the taboos of sexuality in Indian cinema and the audience outside Kerala started to brand it as the center of ‘sex films’ (which it became in the early 2000s, ironically). My point is, are we really walking back to the prohibitions of the past as we say we progress? Are our hands tied so tight we had to wait for 30 years to make a film on such an important and tragic incident of our past? How ideal is it for us to have to wait for the ‘right political atmosphere’ to make this happen? I mean, as controversial, colossal and tragic it was, movies about World War 2 began coming out even before that ghastly ordeal came to an end (of which, Alfred Hitchcock’s movies stand out, looking back from now). We don’t really have the right to claim to be living in a progressive era if we turn our backs to the victims and their stories that need to be told out loud.
The world war 2 example of being selective about your own plight, even if it isn’t strictly moral.
Speaking about World War 2 and victims might as well lead us to one of the gravest accusations against TKF, which is that it snubs the story of the victims other than the Kashmiri Pundits, especially the Muslims who got killed by the militants. While this might never fall in deaf ears, we can probe into the history of movies about one of the most horrifying events in human history and find out that focusing largely on a community which had to go through inhuman ordeals of ethnic cleansing (or attempts on it) didn’t really impair the reputation of those films; especially because the said community had almost nobody to speak for it at the time. From the beginning to this day, World war 2 movies were mostly about the Nazi-Jew binary, mostly brushing aside the others who were at the receiving end of the Nazi wrath. Trust me, I am in no way trying to justify the filmmakers who turned a blind eye towards of the atrocities committed against homosexuals, disabled, the Jehovah’s witnesses and Gypsies in their films; I am just trying to point out that a community that suffered so much for what they are, deserves that exclusivity in at least one film, when Jews got that privilege in scores of movies. When a community’s sufferings lead to the making of so many movies that carefully avoided the contributions of millions of dead and survived soldiers from Asia (mostly our nation) and Africa, it paved the way for heated debates and discussions which continue to date. The makers of TKF might have failed to include the victims of the J&K turmoil other than the Pundits (or Hindus in general), but the question I want to ask is this; why didn’t I know about the non-Hindu victims before this film was released and stirred up a controversy? Why ban a film that brings about so much positive discussion? Okay, now comes the allegation of propaganda. Well, let’s discuss that next.
Propaganda films are films too.
Many critics of the film complain that the film is propaganda. Well, I haven’t seen the film yet, so let’s just agree on this for the sake of the argument. Now, let me ask you this, since when did we start hating propaganda films so much? We have no qualms in spending our hard earned money on the American messiah films. Please don’t tell me the American superhero films are not propaganda. They are that and much more. That is why the Chinese are planning on banning these films incrementally. That is why the Soviet Union didn’t allow most of them into their country, which proved to be a boon for the monstrous Bollywood mass market movies of that time. They know that Americans, the grandmasters of packaging, will sneak in their individualistic, capitalistic ideology into their countries camouflaged as pop entertainment. Should we, who are not a stringent dictatorship like those countries, ban those films too? I don’t believe so. If you start banning the ideas you don’t like (after all, propaganda is the dissemination of the ideology or idea that you don’t like, isn’t it?), we will be starting to take baby steps towards a benevolent dictatorship, and then much worse, probably. God knows I am not saying propaganda is good; just trying to say that it is such a vast and complex reality that we have to live with in these days of communication explosion. I think the phrase ‘let’s be careful, not paranoid’ sums up the whole idea of how to deal with propaganda. The film has been in theatres for more than two weeks for now and has turned out to be a huge hit, and this gives me a kind of satisfaction that I can’t really put into words. I don’t think there are two opinions about the unimaginable trauma Kashmiri Hindus had to go through at that time of a Global political turmoil, and the fact that all that suffering passed through a blind spot created by those massive political changes and sheer apathy towards the cause due to various geopolitical reasons or ignorance. I want this film to stay in theaters much longer and to be seen by a lot more people because fear of politics and propaganda should not stop this historical event from being a matter of discussion in our country. Well, let’s say it’s already happening and I am happy because the discourse on the film’s virtues and vices are already on. Let’s keep this going on, and like any functioning democracy, stay away from calling for bans that could hamper our freedom of expression, and insisting people give away their hard earned money just because they don’t align with your ideology or beliefs. It is a great thing to be living in democratic multicultural society, so let’s be characteristic of that. On that note, I am signing off to see if I can drag myself out of my room to a theater where the movie plays.
Baradwaj Rangan 
Madan
March 26, 2022
At the outset, let me state what most regulars already know about my position on Kashmir and Kashmir Files. That (a) even as a left liberal, I do think the left has either tried to shroud the KP issue in silence or played whataboutery around it. I mean if you say 1947 exodus of Muslims from Jammu excuses the 1990 KP exodus, then you shouldn’t blame the bhakts for their brand of whataboutery. Secondly, yes, I too support the right of Agnihotri to make this film because it’s just a film end of the day.
With that said, one, I don’t agree that Shikara is merely a love story set in the midst of the KP exodus and the fact that some reputed outlets thought so is not a strong enough argument imo. I would say if that’s all critics got out of the film, it reflects poorly on their judgement because events shown in the film are inextricable from 1990 and its aftermath. Kashmir and what it means to KPs is a character in the film and not a ‘backdrop’. I don’t even understand why this aspect is important. Kashmir Files can have made a bigger impact even without being the first film about the issue.
Two, the parallel to Holocaust does not translate perfectly to this context because the Nazis spoke for the majority heterosexual non Jew Germans and isolated minorities that they othered. Whereas in Kashmir, Muslims were in the majority but in the rest of India they are not. This put the Left in a quandary and they erred in siding with hushing up the issue so that there wouldn’t be blow back against Muslims outside Kashmir (which came anyway). In this, the Left’s approach is not dissimilar to the way in which a section of the American and British Left classify even criticism of Israeli zealotry against Palestinians as anti Semitism.
The other argument is that the Nazis drew up a long list of others that, naturally, excluded themselves. Whereas Kashmiri Muslims too faced the brunt of the assault by militants in Kashmir. I do not completely buy this argument because to the extent that it is safe for anyone to be in Kashmir, it is safest for Muslims. Unless they act to protect Hindus aka Negro lover in the way American racists described it or inadvertently get caught in the crossfire between the terrorists and the Indian army, they are safe. I am inclined to believe the Newstrack reporting as well as Rahul Pandita’s book in this regard – large sections of the local Muslim population did abet the exodus, not to mention the brutal assault and murder, of Pandits. I will add that I have known Pakistanis online through a shared interest in cricket and while there is definitely such a thing as Pakistani liberal (aka not a mythical unicorn), the notion that following Islamic tenets will bring about jannat is very widespread in Pakistan. It is a notion that may perhaps be accepted in countries that openly declare that they are Islamic (though in such a case, India ought to have done much more for the safety non Muslim residents of Pakistan for eg than it has). But it is problematic the moment Islamic writ is sought to be imposed in a country that is neither Islamic in nature of govt nor has a majority Muslim population. Extrapolate this situation in a land as beautiful as Kashmir where both Hindus and Muslims have a long and rich cultural tradition based on which to claim territoriality over it, and it is or was a tinderbox.
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Sidharth Malhotra
March 26, 2022
The film might be politically one-sided but that’s not the only reason for its appeal. When I read about the film’s massive box office success I thought one of the reasons for it was the same as why Anurag Kashyap’s “Black Friday” became a cult classic despite facing censorship: it was willing to say/show things that the mainstream filmmakers are too afraid to say/show.
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Anu Warrier
March 27, 2022
I will defend to the utmost the right of Vivek Agnihotri to make the film he wants to. I do not advocate for any film / book/ whatever to be banned. I also don’t think that he has to give one paisa of what he earns out of this film to anyone he does not choose to. I agree that a film on the plight of the Kashmiri Pandits was a long, long time coming. What happened to them is shameful and we are right to talk about it. I think it’s ridiculous to go authoritarian on this film just because you disagree with it.
I disagree with Agnihotri framing this as some sort of leftist conspiracy to silence him. But he’s welcome to say what he wants, I’m welcome to react the way I feel. And the fact remains that despite everything and everyone that he has blamed for the exodus, the even the BJP has done nothing to alleviate the issue or offer any succor to the Kashmiri Pandits. Theirs is lip service to the cause, the politicisation of an entire community’s pain. That’s the shame of it.
I haven’t watched the film. So I won’t comment on the film itself.
Finally, trolls are trolls – left. right. centre, up, down, makes no difference.
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Alex John
March 27, 2022
@Anu Warrier
“I will defend to the utmost the right of Vivek Agnihotri to make the film he wants to. I do not advocate for any film / book/ whatever to be banned. I also don’t think that he has to give one paisa of what he earns out of this film to anyone he does not choose to.”
Exactly my point. It scares me when even a politician who is considered as the potential contender for prime minister-ship in the future arguing the director should upload the movie on YouTube. I have no idea why these people, even after so many failed-state examples, argue against right for expression and private property. How many socialist utopias should crumble before these idiots learn a lesson?
I haven’t seen the movie either, so my opinion is restricted to the right of a filmmaker to show his effort to the public, and pocket all the money he/she earns lawfully.
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Doba
March 27, 2022
Nice article but FoE is such a misused term. The GoI decided to give this filmmaker the FoE to make and screen this movie. Other movies that challenge the narrative or bring forth other stories on other national tragedies will face censor cuts, protests, vandalism on the sets and screens, and zero security for the filmmakers.
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Alex John
March 27, 2022
@Doba
You’re right. My article is not meant for promoting the FOE on one particular filmmaker, but whoever wants to bring forth any idea to the society. I am not being naive here, I know any society runs on may kinds of restrictions, but the western nations trying to do away completely with censorship with strong rating/grading implemented as the alternative for that gives me hope in this matter.
And this is exactly why I said in my above comment that it scares me when people like Arvind Kejiriwal says TKF should be on YouTube where the filmmakers get little to no revenue. I mean, it can be dismissed as his opinion today, but his opinion becomes his policy when he gets power, and his policy becomes the law when he becomes the lawmaker, right?
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Madan
March 27, 2022
Doba: The right has mastered this dichotomy now, both in the US and here. When people on the Left merely complain about the possible consequences of a film, it is framed as a free speech issue (this happened with Kabir Singh too). Whereas some films face actual material difficulties in their dissemination because of their leftist orientation and the right usually justifies that as being on account of the danger represented to culture/traditional values by such films.
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Aman Basha
March 27, 2022
All this would be fine if the Prime Minister, who praised the film and almost promoted it as a truth that was being concealed by his political enemies, hadn’t banned any film related to the Gujarat Riots from even being telecast in Gujarat and even straight up prevented Fanaa from being screened in any Gujarat screen because Aamir sat with the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Anand Rangathan ought to use his breathless performance for Supreme Leader’s bans too.
Also me thinks Kejriwal made the comment since BJP members were making a hue and cry over the film being granted tax free status. Anyhow when was the last time a film was promoted so relentlessly by the ruling dispensation?
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Rahul
March 27, 2022
Who exactly is calling for banning this film? Even if people are, talking about freedom of expression in context of this movie seems like a deliberate attempt by the author to create a narrative of victimhood where none exists. The prime minister and numerous other members of the BJP are promoting this film while taking about FOE, the same PM was okay with Parzania being banned. The skew in the interpretation of FOE is so stark that on one hand we have the PM talking about foe while tweeting about this movie and on the other hand we have Umair Khalid in jail for months for some extremely dubious interpretation of his speech. On one hand we have the judge claiming that goli maro salo ko is okay if said with a smile and on one hand we have a student being arrested in Bagalkot for wishing every nation with peace unity and harmony.
Even more ludicrous is the claim by the author that Kejriwal is arguing “against right for expression and private property” by asking for the film to be put on youtube. What Kejriwal said was that if you so badly want to spread the message then why not make it free? It was a rhetorical flourish. Gujarat govt is asking for making the movie tax free. The author, if he wanted to create a narrative from the other side, could probably claim that the gujarat govt is anarchist and does not believe in paying tax.
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vijay
March 27, 2022
Rahul, agree. Parzania was banned in Gujarat was’nt it?
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Rahul
March 27, 2022
Vijay, yes, it was unofficially banned by the theatre owners in Gujarat .
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Anu Warrier
March 28, 2022
Rahul, I have always been amused (irritated/angry/furious) by this dichotomy. The minute that anyone on the left says anything about a movie – calls it out for being totally sexist (KS/AR/any of the stalking-as-twue-luvv films), or propaganda (2 of The FIles Trilogy, any of Akshay K’s patriotic movies) we are shouted down – and not just by the right, but even by those who pride themselves on Art (TM) being sacrosanct.
This much-vaunted Freedom of Expression apparently doesn’t extend to us Lefties/Liberals/Tukde Tukde Gang. Mind you, not once have we called for a film to be banned. Not even KS/AR. Certainly not any of these films. But no! We are ” against ART”. We are asking for a film that we want to see. Yadda yadda yadda. (Ha! See what I did there? 🙂 )
But when the right call for films to be banned because they think it is against Rajput/Hindu/Hindi/Indian culture – all seemingly one and the same, or ban Aamir because he said intolerance was spreading, or films by the ‘Nepo gang’ because apparently they killed Sushant, or put a young woman in prison because she had 5gms of weed… out goes FoE.
This was a beautiful PR exercise by Agnihotri and it paid off big time. I didn’t know about Kejriwal having said that. So I didn’t get the context.
I still stand by what I said – I will defend VA’s right to make a movie. I will defend his right to keep every single paise he’s earned from this exercise. I will also defend my right to call out what I see is wrong – whether it is in his public statements or in his film (if I ever watch it).
That doesn’t take away VA’s FoE. But I also don’t see that his FoE has any bearing on mine. I have pretty much as much right as he does to state my opinion. The problem arises when one side makes sure the other can’t say anything, do anything, film anything.
I would have respected VA’s bleatings if he had stood up for Bhansali when the latter was being attacked by the right-wing trolls. At the time, only Deepika had the guts to stand by him publicly. Neither Shahid nor Ranveer did.
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Madan
March 28, 2022
Not only was Parzania banned (which was actually about the riots) but Modi orchestrated an unofficial ‘ban’ against Fanaa in Gujarat because Aamir Khan had criticized Modi’s handling of the Narmada protests. Imagine that! I mean that’s not even about getting offended by the content, that’s just petty vendetta. Not surprising, albeit, from the man who said bani rahe apni dosti.
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Madan
March 28, 2022
“I would have respected VA’s bleatings if he had stood up for Bhansali when the latter was being attacked by the right-wing trolls” – Yes and this is part of the reason why I said I wouldn’t watch Kashmir Files. VA is a blatant political operator and right wing ideologue even if he doesn’t officially belong to BJP. When I say blatant, I mean that he injects his political agenda into every goddamn tweet of his. It’s relentless. It is very hard to even accept the notion at face value that he is the one who is going to make the most objective film yet on Kashmir. Maybe he has but sorry but this is a bit of a boy cried wolf story. He has zero credibility as far as I am concerned.
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Alex John
March 28, 2022
Going through the comment section, I think this exactly what I wrote about. There is an article about the right of a filmmaker to showcase his ideas, and it is immediately branded as right wing because it was about a particular film leftists don’t care about. The comments make me feel guilty of taking sides which I clearly was not.
Now, am I a right winger? Yes, from an economic perspective, because I have seen the socialist/leftist socio/economic system breaking down countries/societies umpteen number of times. But then, I also felt happy when I saw a great part of the society vigilantly coming up together to resist a pompous a** Donald Trump from the very beginning, and to expel him eventually before he could do further damage to their own society (stress on ‘their own’). My point here is, if a movie on Kashmiri Pundits or Gujarat riots is being banned, fingers should be pointed at ‘YOU and ME, not governments or its structures.If opposition to the government is almost literally non-existent in our country, why blame them for doing whatever they like to do? So, if Parzania was banned, it is YOU and ME at fault, because we sat on our a**es while that happened.
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Alex John
March 28, 2022
Read,”because we sat on our a**es while that happened, instead of doing what Americas did to Trump even if he had a humongous fan following”. Trump was doing doing really good economically, so that proves my other point too.
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vijay
March 28, 2022
Alex, as Rahul mentioned, the film is doing well actually and doesnt need any champions at this point. Maybe if it was banned, like Farzania, or had faced troubles in many states, the defensive tone of your article, which talks about not banning or welcoming such films would have been more appropriate. As it stands, looks like the movie is already very well welcomed. We only wish those other films had also been welcomed in a similar manner, propaganda or not. Of course, there will be a few dissenting voices amongst the critics, given the director’s reputation and his leanings. Can’t do much about it.
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Madan
March 28, 2022
Alex John: Unfortunately your formulation there is too simplistic. Remember India has had an emergency, and a entirely unwarranted one at that, already in its short life as a republic while USA hasn’t had one to date. India is a curious mix of beer anarchic libertarianism and callousness in daily life and political and cultural authoritarianism at the macro level. Do you know that even Rajiv Gandhi sent the tax dept behind Indian Express just because of their reporting on Bofors? Oh, why go deep into history, what about Uddhav jailing Arnab? Did you see even the so called American incarnation of Hitler, Donald Trump, ever doing that to reporters? Never. And I haven’t even begun to talk about vandalization by goondas. Where there is no action ever taken against them by the police. Why so much onus on you and me when the police and the judiciary won’t do their job? Don’t they get paid hefty salaries to do so? Don’t the judges care more about their cozy accommodation in Delhi and their pensions than upholding the law? Oh you want us to revolt against it? Well, wasn’t that what the anti-Emergency protests were about? How many times do the Indian people need to rise up in arms before the jagirdars get it? For all our self-congratulatory patting on the back and our civil society benchmarking itself against the US and Europe, we are barely better than Putin’s Russia. It’s a chakravyuh. And it’s worse now because the Indian right has learned to control the narrative and convince people that they somehow have a greater commitment to free speech than the Left, which they don’t. It allows them to whatabout their way out of every argument.
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Madan
March 28, 2022
Oops, near anarchic, not beer. And I don’t even have a glass of Carslberg or whatever next to me, just the silly phone.
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Alex John
March 28, 2022
@Madan,
I was actually expecting such a comment from somebody. Like said, I am not being naive here, and understand these things are way more complicated than they look on the surface.
But my problem here is, none of these things really explain the alarmingly feeble opposition to the central government in the last 8 years, or to the Gujarat government in the the last couple of decades.Just so you mentioned the emergency, look at how stronger the opposition was at that time even when Indira Gandhi was virtually bulldozing her detractors.
I didn’t know Parzania was banned in Gujarat until somebody pointed that out in the comments section not because I don’t care,but we, as a society, somehow learned not to be scared of the increasingly one-sided accumulation of power that happens these days.
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Madan
March 28, 2022
Again what do you think should realistically have been done about Parzania? Protesting and getting beaten up,maybe killed by goons ? Why does it surprise you that not many would choose that option? I don’t know which part of India you live in or grew up in but at least for me, growing up in 90s Mumbai, people were well aware of the dadagiri element. So what you attribute to apathy, I attribute to fear and helplessness. People stop caring because it becomes futile to care. Yes that means the continued degeneration of the republic from what the framers had envisaged it to be but that, much like Russia’s decline, is inevitable at this point. I find your harping on the opposition being inept curious because the only distinction in favour of the BJP is that they are in power. By steadily sidelining outspoken voices, BJP has destroyed its own bench strength and can only provide middling governance at best. And the more it loses its old guard, the more it loses interest in decorum and civility or even the mere pretense of balance or moderation. You mentioned tukde tukde gang. Even the consummate Delhiite parliamentarian Jaitley dubbed the Congress manifesto for 2019 the work of tukde tukde gang. That is how far gone our polity is. And in the absence of better options, the decline will continue. At best, blaming the people themselves may help you feel righteous about yourself but nobody is actually thwarting our politicians from attempting governance and parliamentarian discourse, just once in a while. Are they not accountable even to themselves? If no, why is it OK for them to be monsters while daily wage earners must turn martyrs to avoid condemnation instead?
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Alex John
March 28, 2022
@ Madam,
“Protesting and getting beaten up,maybe killed by goons ?”
Well, I’m not sure how to answer this question. Who is going to beat up a reasonably large, organized protest? It can be met with a large police force, of course, but that is how it works right? If there is not an opposition who can bring up large scale protests against the government policies, then what is the point of living in a democracy? I don’t believe this is just idealism, but is a living reality. Otherwise the farmers’ protest (although I doubt the merit of it) would go in vain. Russia’s decline can be attributed to a lot of other things, like unlike Indians, always succumbing to political systems that can eventually turn into being dictatorial, which they do even now.Or like the hardcore leftist socio/economic policies that I mentioned before.
I am sorry If you think I am being too idealistic, but you sound too given up on our country/society.
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vijay
March 28, 2022
Alex, while there may not have been mass street protests there have been other forms of protests. Such as this
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/as-writers-continues-to-return-award-bjp-asks-to-check-their-ideological-inclinations/
and a couple of others along these lines..Shaheen Bagh was one..
As for absence of mass protests, well in the South atleast BJP is not a presence and the effect of what they do is not felt in full force.Jallikattu protests in Marina beach is the closest to a mass protest we have seen. I wish we had more such protests for other issues as well. And in the pro-BJP Hindi belt of the north you are not going to be seeing that either. You combine this with a weak opposition which is trying to survive. If it is an issue that touches a chord for whatever reason like Jallikattu or CAA, I think protestors can still be mobilized, weak opposition or not.
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sanjana
March 28, 2022
And farmers’ protest was not sponsored by opposition parties but encouraged by them.
People have more important personal work than protesting at the drop of a hat. They can just complain. Thats all. The less said about opposition unity, the better.
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Madan
March 28, 2022
Alex John : Are you living under a rock or are you honestly unaware that there were long and sustained protests against CAA and after that against the farm laws? The farm laws protests succeeded only because there was an election coming up in UP and the CAA protests failed. And where is our National Lokpal, the very raison d’eitre of the 2011-12 protests in Jantar Mantar? You cannot protest for everything, as sanjana says. In a democracy, there must be a way for politicians to listen to people even when they aren’t raising hell by blocking traffic to get themselves heard. If those voted to represent people decide that they don’t have to be bothered to represent them unless it imperils their electoral prospects, democracy in its true sense is doomed and only the electoral charade of having one remains. If that sounds too given up on the country to you, so be it. Besides how does YOUR diagnosis of it change anything anyway, even if I accept it for argument’s sake? If it is true that Indians are just compliant sheep and don’t lift a finger as their civil liberties are taken away, that is also not something YOU by ranting about it on a blog read by a scant few are going to change.
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Alex John
March 28, 2022
@ Madan,
I’m not sure where this argument is going, but I am also not necessarily asking to block traffic or raise hell every time something happens. I’m just saying that we, as a nation, failed to concoct a viable opposition to the ruling party. It is not always about rushing to the streets and getting beaten up, but creating a feeling of having to deal with a capable opposition if something goes wrong with the government. I’m not even sure why you don’t feel writing something read by a scant few is important. Ever heard about ” little drops make the mighty ocean”?
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vijay
March 28, 2022
Alex,you need to be more specific of instances where opposition should have been much louder but was feeble instead. Have shown quite a few examples above, to the contrary,where protests have taken place. So not sure what are you exactly expecting.
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vijay
March 28, 2022
The fact that the govt had to revoke farmer laws, as well as put CAA on the backburner, as well as take back its stance on Jallikattu etc. etc. despite a weak Congress shows that atleast the common man out there can rattle this govt. up if needed. So if Congress can actually get its act together then imagine what more can be done.,.
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Alex John
March 28, 2022
@Vijay
“The fact that the govt had to revoke farmer laws, as well as put CAA on the backburner, as well as take back its stance on Jallikattu etc. etc. despite a weak Congress shows that atleast the common man out there can rattle this govt. up if needed. So if Congress can actually get its act together then imagine what more can be done.”
I mean ,isn’t this exactly what I have been saying in my previous chats?..🙂
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Madan
March 28, 2022
Alex John: I am sorry but it is not we as a nation who have failed to concoct a viable opposition. On the contrary, the voters have given their message loud and clear. They are not going to give an opportunity again and again to the same discredited parties /leaders unless they show they have reformed and now have a competing model of governance to offer against the BJP. If parties won’t take the message from voters in board and cling to dynasty, even at the cost of defeat, there’s nothing much voters can do.
I am sorry if I sounded unduly irritated but the thing is you are talking so much in the abstract about concepts that it then sounds disconnected from ground realities. In the US, voters write to their representatives and not all but some do take up these letters for further action, maybe even legislation where appropriate. In the US, even state level reps attend town halls. Have you seen even a corporator hold a town hall for his ward? If you have, your state is better managed than you perhaps give credit for. Because it’s been eighteen years since I earned the right to vote and I haven’t yet seen that happen and nor in the years before I turned adult either. Therefore my pessimism about Indian democracy is rooted in my view of how our politicians regard power. The average Indian politician seems to think that just because he has the power to screw you, means he should. It is truly a miracle that the country survives and thrives even so, but perhaps that is because of the nature of monetary and other economic incentives that converge their interests with ours in a few aspects, mercifully.
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vijay
March 28, 2022
Alex, you need to tell that to the Congis then..not to “the nation” which has come together whenever needed, for whatever needed to be protested against.
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hari
March 28, 2022
I’m surprised to see people here think only the rights bans. Right from 1947 we have been banning things left right and centre. Nehru the paragon of liberals values have banned so many, that not lot of people are aware. If Modi is not at helm, do you think Kashmir files would have been released. I highly doubt it.
So far the right has rightly held the pole position for whatabboutery, but since the release of TKF the left has overtaken taken them by a mile in this department.
And since the release of TKF the way the goal post has been shifted by the left is laughable. Right from the, oh no there was no massacre to massacre was there but not to the extent that is shown in the movie to massacre happened but why blame on muslims to why not show a few moderate muslims to why not show muslims who were also impacted because of terrorism to why not show why the massacre happened from the pov of the perpetrators to it is all fine but why the govt is giving tax breaks/giving publicity to why not VA give all proceeds to needy to why not put in youtube to so on and so forth. The leftist opposition to this movie is laughable to say the least.
The speech AK gave about TKF, mocking the Kashmiri Hindus, was downright cringeworthy. If that is the level of the PM hopeful, to millions who are looking for alternatives, god help India.
And as an Indian to see people denying that Kashmiri genocide happened in India just 30 years back is very upsetting. Whatever ones ideology might be but to deny that such brutality happened to their fellow citizen is just not done in my books.
Every Indian should condemn Kashmiri Genocide unequivocally, not buts and no ifs. Period.
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Madan
March 29, 2022
hari: Isn’t the right, i.e. BJP, in power since last years? We are talking about today. I have mentioned THE Emergency itself so I don’t need to expressly mention every ban the Congress imposed, except perhaps to appease the insecurities that right wing commenters seem to have on this or other topics where the BJP gets criticized. It’s been eight years and I am waiting for the BJP to do something other than point to Congress and say what about this/what about that. The point here was the right wing have their guys in power and yet they pretend as if the danger to free speech only comes from a few voices on social media criticizing their movies.
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hari
March 29, 2022
Madan my ncomment is not about BJP or right wingers, the less said about them the better. My comment was only about the reaction of the people who call themselves as left and liberal to this movie. Thanks for responding.
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Rahul
March 29, 2022
Hari, that Kejriwal mocked the Kashmiri Hindus is your own analysis , or is it the party line by IT Cell? If it is your own analysis then I will have further comments.
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Srinivas R
March 29, 2022
Haven’t read all of the conversation here. My 3 cents
1)Genocide of Kashmir pandits is a reality and no one can deny it. Presenting it in a sensational way is the film maker’s prerogative. There are factual errors in the movie designed to blame Congress and JNU, which are unnecessary imo.
2) The problem is the movie being used by RW to further fuel the hatred against Muslims and that definitely needs to be called out.
3) About opposition parties and why BJP keeps getting back to power – Bigotry has seeped into our national consciousness. Rahul Gandhi is not a good leader, Congress is in doldrums etc. doesn’t explain the fact that 7 years in power, except bigotry, this govt has shown no signs of excellence anywhere. Demon, GST, rising unemployment etc. don’t matter when the majority is worried abt “putting Muslims in their place” as the only criteria for voting. Heck, for all the chest thumping abt nationalism, the PM didn’t even name China as an intruder and the reasons for Pulwama blast are yet to be investigated. So this TINA is a lie, literally anyone would be better at governance than this. We as a society have rotten into hate. It’s going to take a few decades to return to sanity.
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hari
March 29, 2022
Funny you say it Rahul, in the Goa elections where I wanted BJP to loose badly for various reasons, volunteered for backend work to a professor friend of a friend who was standing on an AAP ticket (unfortunately he lost). So yeah it is my opinion what AK said was despicable and cringeworthy. Do brand me all you want just because I have a different opinion than yours. And no I’m not looking forward to your further comments :).
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sanjay
March 29, 2022
The will of the people and democracy and right to vote in public, political elections have all turned into “programmed mode” worldwide. The ballot and will of the people as we know and grew up on is long gone. We live in an age where the nexus between business, media and politician has reached gargantuan proportion, and anything can be sold as truth and corrupt the gullible populace. Surveys, opinion and exit polls by the money bags give the required bend to common consent. Distortion to facts is widespread and now part of this vicious cycle all over the world . I don’t see any rectification to the new concepts of living and the manipulation or contradictions will take us apart until it becomes violent and destructive and starts to hurt the money bags to their own existence.
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Aman Basha
March 29, 2022
Just throwing it here, but why not Sharad Pawar as PM candidate? Corruption is an easy answer, but then Ajit Pawar came out steamrolled from the BJP’s washing machine. His age and fitness might be another, but he seems quite active and involved in the Maharashtra Govt and if Biden can run the US at 80 with clearly diminished faculties, why not a still sharp Pawar? He’s fought back the BJP and ED, and is showing how to run a completely incompatible set of alliance partners into a popular Govt. at one of India’s most important states. He has tremendous experience, the right social profile (no Maharashtrian has ever become PM, OBC, self made) and Modi himself has given him the Padma Vibhushan and called him his guru. Mamata, KCR and others are highly deferential towards him, the Congress will have no choice but to play along.
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H. Prasanna
March 30, 2022
@Aman Is this a coincidence or did you know about this?
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/ncp-youth-wing-proposes-sharad-pawar-as-upa-chairperson-7843379/
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Apu
March 30, 2022
I am very confused by this article – Just who has banned “The Kashmir Files”? The only people who are talking about the movie being banned is the director himself. He has brought allegations against Anupama Chopra and the Kapil Sharma show only to backpedal. I think he just did it to raise false controversy to promote his movie.
This movie has been promoted with utmost support by ruling party by making it tax free. Tax free! As if it is a social movie but ok what do I know.
And now this article.
Srinivas R: You totally wrote what I wanted to write! Yes, everyone needs to accept that the exodus happened and it was hushed up, and yes, movies need to be made to showcase all truths. I only hope that something is actually done for the KPs.
Anu: Yes, yes, yes – VA has every right to make a movie and no one should be allowed to ban it and the audience should be the judge.
However, if the director and the actors claim that it is a movement and made straight from the heart so that KPs are benefitted, then they should put their money where their mouth is and share profits for helping KPs, no? Otherwise, they are just making money off people’s suffering, especially since some of the sequences in the movie (such as the widow being made to eat rice soaked in her husband’s blood) are fabricated to rouse sympathy and hatred.
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Anu Warrier
March 30, 2022
Anu: However, if the director and the actors claim that it is a movement and made straight from the heart so that KPs are benefitted, then they should put their money where their mouth is and share profits for helping KPs, no? Otherwise, they are just making money off people’s suffering, especially since some of the sequences in the movie (such as the widow being made to eat rice soaked in her husband’s blood) are fabricated to rouse sympathy and hatred
Apu, I get what you say. I am not a great fan of VA anyway, and I firmly believe that all this was orchestrated to piggyback at the whole Bollywood ‘mafia’ that KR so beautifully tomtommed.
The man crowdfunded this, for heavens’ sake. So that was also a PR exercise. Because if he’s asking me to believe that no one would fund this film, given the total rightwing slant that he has, it’s gobsmacking. So he’s already exploited that pain in the initial phase.
But. Films are a commercial business. It’s not just ART (TM). So if he made money out of it, he’s welcome to keep it and not share one paise of the profits. Is that hypocrisy, given his much-publicised sympathy for the KPs? Of course, it is.
Look, this is the guy who makes videos of how Sage Agastya had already discovered electricity and has his wife (who is a good actress, and I had always assumed was a sensible woman) narrate that story of how no one knows that these facts. So, I’ll be damned before I watch anything he makes anyway.
The fact of the matter is my initial response was to the question whether a film such as this should be made. Yes, is my answer.
But I do agree that no one, but no one, calling for it to be banned. So I agree with you that the premise of this article was flawed. I should have pointed that out.
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Aman Basha
March 30, 2022
@H Prasanna: Sharad Pawar was always called the best PM India never had, in fact he had come quite close in 1991 till Sonia tilted it in favor of PV Narasimha Rao. This recent push has come from the Shiv Sena and NCP together, and will be probably echoed more and more as people realize that Rahul baba and Priyanka beti are a sinking stone that needs to be cut off, and that other leaders like Mamata, Kejriwal are lacking some quality or the other.
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Rahul
March 31, 2022
Hari, I think you misunderstood me. I was not saying that you were part of the IT Cell. It is just that the IT Cell have put out a doctored video (as they usually do). Maybe, if your opinion is based on something else, then I would like to know why you think so. I saw his complete video as well and you may find it reprehensible but he is not making fun or making light of what happened to Kashmiri Pandits , though he is casting aspersions on the film and the filmmaker.
https://www.altnews.in/no-cm-kejriwal-didnt-mock-kashmiri-pandits-bjp-leaders-share-clipped-video/
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Enigma
March 31, 2022
@Aman, you have touched upon Sharad Pawar’s age in your post. That and his ordinary communication skills are a major stumbling block. Ghulam Nabi Azad is a good candidate, but he may be as old and he has now rubbed the Gandhi family the wrong way, so no chance of nomination. Shashi Tharoor will be an excellent choice – not very old, speaks well, will raise India’s prestige. But I know that the petty politicians will not accept him. In a nutshell, the opposition are a bunch of useless, petty, selfish bastards. I was just listening the Australian Labour Party leader, Anthony Albanese. He just delivered a fantastic speech, outlining his vision for the country and his plans, if elected to office, with details on how he will be implementing them and in what order of priority. You can never expect this from an Indian politician (the current lot at least), other than maybe Kejriwal. I like the TN finance minister, but yeah too junior.
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krishikari
March 31, 2022
Shashi Tharoor is a pretentious unprincipled ass.
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vijay
March 31, 2022
Enigma, you cannot compare our netas with that of Australia or Singapore, come on..
TN finance minister- right guy maybe, but in the terribly wrong party..
Till date I really dont know what Rahul is passionate about, what is the one thing that he is dying to fix if he is elected to power, what keeps him awake at night
As for Pawar, he was the one politician Anna Hazare wanted to slap first during the 2011 India against corruption movement. In an ideal world, he would be in Tihar jail.
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Aman Basha
March 31, 2022
@Engima: Shashi Tharoor is a cosmopolitan politician, and India has a sizable rural population. Can he present himself as someone who looks out for and understands the concerns of rural India? You could say if Sonia Gandhi could do it, why not Shashi. But again it’s highly doubtful, Tharoor would make a great EAM though. I doubt Azad or even Kejriwal (2019) are special vote catchers and seat getters in national politics. Pawar managed to steal an easy BJP win and spearheaded the campaign very well and extraordinarily for his age and ailment (the rain speech becoming a highlight), if Biden can become President at his age, why not Pawar?
@vijay: Last I heard, Sharad Pawar was running the government of India’s biggest financial state. What’s Anna Hazare up to? Corruption is nothing new to Indian politics, and Pawar has done some good development work during his time in office, which can’t be said about others. The big advantage with Pawar’s corruption is the clean chit given by the BJP because of Fadnavis.
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Rahul
March 31, 2022
Totally agree with what Srinivas says here –
“So this TINA is a lie, literally anyone would be better at governance than this. We as a society have rotten into hate. It’s going to take a few decades to return to sanity.”
With time, I will provide more details of how this govt is failing and has failed. Come to think of it, do we know what the Modi and Shah duo are passionate about except winning elections by hook or crook ? There are few parts of the country where the upper caste Hindus have non transactional attachment to BJP , as they will continue to vote for it in-spite of the fact that BJP has done nothing for the middle class. The dalits also voted for the bjp but it was because of the welfare schemes. (The same welfare schemes that the middle class criticize the AAP about) Wherever the middle class is split , like in Bengal between TMC and BJP, BJP will have difficulty in winning because they have nothing else going for them except bigotry. As far as national alternative is concerned it was BJP itself that started the trend of a stable coalition government. No reason why it cannot happen again.
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hari
April 1, 2022
@Rahul, thanks for the clarification. I based my opinion after watching the videos posted by AAP’s official tweet handle. It was cringe worthy to say the least. And that is entirely my PoV.
A post about TKF went on to become a crib fest against BJP, how predictable isn’t it :).
BJP wins – then wow hell is freezing over, humanity is going to dogs, bigotry is ruling roost etc etc. AAP wins in Punjab, TMC wins in WB then wow sun is shining. Mamta is screwing up WB, but hey it is ok atleast she is keeping BJP out of WB. Hypocrisy much.
No difference between any of these parties, they all want to have power by hook or crook.
As a resident of Maharashtra, my view is that the political parties are taking it to dogs. Apart from few pockets the whole state is reeling down. Party after Party have taken it down. If Sharad Pawar is the alternative at this stage, it does not speak well about the opposition. He is baap of all when it comes to corruption. He showed the way to each and every one. And yeah that is probably why BJP has given him a clean chit :).
Yeah i do agree BJP should be stopped. Let’s see by which parties. Hopefully DMK/TMC/TRS/MVA wins all their seats in their respective states. And not wait for nth avatar of Rahul Baba.
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vijay
April 1, 2022
“Last I heard, Sharad Pawar was running the government of India’s biggest financial state.”
so? Even DMK is running Tamilnadu that way. why would I want these scoundrels running anything? they have all had their chances..
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Madan
April 1, 2022
“As a resident of Maharashtra, my view is that the political parties are taking it to dogs. Apart from few pockets the whole state is reeling down. Party after Party have taken it down.” – Yes and I would submit, as a fellow Maharashtra resident, that that list of parties includes BJP. We have tried out all combinations in Maharashtra, kahi upyog nahi. I completely reject the notion, not that you suggested it, that BJP is somehow clean while all other parties are impossibly corrupt. There really isn’t that much difference when it comes to corruption between the parties. I mean, that’s the whole reason people get into politics, to make tons of money. Who today is getting into politics to serve the nation? Those ideals are long gone. I do appreciate that execution of projects in my neck of woods sped up under the Fadnavis govt but it’s not as if Uddhav has slowed them down again. And flyover work in ‘Mohammedan’ areas in Mumbai mysteriously slowed down in Fadnavis time.
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Rahul
April 1, 2022
“No difference between any of these parties, they all want to have power by hook or crook”.
To be honest, only reason why I am defending AAP or Kejriwal here is that BJP IT Cell is the worst. Often times they have been guilty of purposely twisting news items to spread communal disharmony.
If you want to criticize AAP , Congress , TMC or any other party be my guest. In fact Congress was using UAPA to their advantage when they were in power. I am sure most of us will not get defensive about that the way you get defensive about the BJP.
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Faroo
April 2, 2022
I haven’t watched this movie, but…!!!
yabaa, paakaatha padathukku room pottu araichi!!!
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Prasad
April 4, 2022
Excellent discussion. My views below.
Yes. A film maker has all the right to make a film and if the film is a success then it needs to be welcome. But what is concerning is the efforts made by the state to Promote it using all it’s propaganda Machinery.
When was the last time Govt has given a holiday with pay to watch a movie?
Tax free, yes we can understand thst’s fine. But Government making the movie free to watch?And head of the state also promoting it?
Again seeing the debate below few questions arise to my mind. Again Am not left or right and I strongly believe most of the politicians belonging to all parties have invovled in some kind of scam whether past or present regimes.So no point in judging which party is better.
So now the questions:
As a society are we divided now more than 10-20 years backs? This is again not specific to India , even in US and West we’re seeing these ripples.
We can’t have a decent conversation with some without somebody leaning towards left or right. This was not we were say 10-15 years back.
Just take Will Smith’s incident last week. Again I see a 2 narratives in this. I know making sick jokes is wrong but justifying Violent for that is correct?
Most of the times now, we see people towards left or right but what about MORAL side ?
Just think of the conversations with Friend and Families 10 years back even on sensitive topics. People can respectfully disagree then , but now
all conversations goes to extreme and people take it personally. Is this due to excessive Social Media impact?
Aologize for this rant, thought will put this out. Thoughts are welcome .
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Madan
April 4, 2022
Prasad : I do believe polarization FEELS impossible now. But I wonder if it is merely a reflection of multi polarity. Where conservatives, contrary to their continued whining and protests, actually have a powerful institutional army to get out their views and loudly disagree with liberal mouthpieces, thus creating confusion. I would say pre world wars, conservatives dominated the narrative and it eventually went up in flames with Europe bleeding itself into permanent weakness. The American led liberal narrative has dominated since then and Indian institutions too followed their lead. But no longer.
And in India, mainstream media has in fact been very quick to jump onto the BJP bandwagon and change sides. So it’s not like the two noisy factions that you see in the US. It’s more like a small minority of libs who cannot raise their voice beyond a point because they are instantly branded a threat to national security. They basically have their spaces in a few English language newspapers, NDTV and some YouTube outlets like Wire or MOJO Story. Even Print does a lot of monkey balancing to retain a veneer of neutrality.
In the UK, you have the curious phenomenon of Tory domination of politics except during the Blair years and liberal domination of the media and only now has GB News come up as a Fox like counterpoint to BBC or Channel 4.
There doesn’t seem to be a similar trend in Western or Central Europe as conservatives are prepared to allow that news has a liberal bias and stories don’t have two versions… yet. The problem begins when the facts are contested. For who actually decides what the facts are is a question that’s never been asked before in the history of mass media. And it’s proving to be a vexed question.
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Rahul
November 28, 2022
I find it funny that the govt reps who invited this guy did not google him. They thought he is Israeli so will play along.
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Madan
November 29, 2022
Rahul: Kabhi kabhi bade log se galti se mistake ho jata hai. I forget the forum but poor old Pelosi was addressing the audience and as she looked for a female journalist to ask a question, she picked out…Abby Martin! Kaput! You THINK she’d know what she was asking for but apparently she didn’t.
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