Beyond The Kashmir Files: A Cinematic Lens Distorting Historical Truth

Highlighting the perspectives of those living the ongoing struggles amidst a polarised narrative

Updated on: 6 October 2024 7:14 am

Anupam Kher In A Still From 'The Kashmir Files' Photo: via The Film 'The Kashmir Files'

A mass hysteria took over the collective consciousness in the aftermath of The Kashmir Files in 2022. “This is exactly how it was”, many claimed about the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in the 1990s, even as exaggerated figures and one-sided versions of history were casually thrown about in the film. A conjuring of memories was superimposed on the wounds of a community that still reels under the trauma of being torn away from their homeland.

As people from the mainland raved about the exposé in The Kashmir Files, little was spoken on the present day conditions of the migrant Pandit community. Issues that matter, like employment, housing, rehabilitation and return took a backseat as the narrative became fixated with rabid communal polarisation. The film became a pretext to reorient the image of the “enemy” in the nation’s eyes. Muslims, students, intellectuals—suddenly, everyone who has been in the line of fire of the incumbent regime had become a villain on the big screen.

Outlook looked at righting the wrongs that Kashmir’s memory was subjected to in The Kashmir Files in our issue 'Memory Files' dated April 11, 2022.

In this issue, author Siddharth Gigoo offers the reader a glimpse into an intimate memory of loss and longing, as a migrant who still dreams of returning to his ancestral home.

Haseeb A Drabu, renowned Kashmiri economist, explains why he refuses to watch a film that looks to fit Kashmiris like him into the role of participants in a pogrom and refuses to engage with the complexity that comes with this identity.

Huzaifa Pandit, a professor of literature, looks at translation as mediation to comprehend Kashmir through its rich literary culture.

Author Suvir Kaul explains how the communal fire is stoked while representing Kashmir in Indian popular culture to benefit a Hindu majoritarian politics.

These, and many more stories bring back into perspective the Kashmir that is missing from the narratives of Bollywood’s cinema.