By Harsh Thakor
We should expose how ‘Kashmir Files’ is an advertisement of the Hindutva propaganda machine to tarnish the image of Muslims of Kashmir, give a crushing blow to all credibility to the right of self-determination of Kashmiri people and sow the seeds of a Hindu Rashtra for the saffron brigade to sharpen it’s fangs.
It puts into oblivion the continuous barrage of killings of Muslims of Kashmir and the ruthless repression unleashed on all fighters for self -determination. In the very time of Congress activists were hunted down .It is merciless to the aspirations of the Kashmiri people to seek autonomy and distorts the facts about how Sheikh Abdullah was promised that Kashmir would retain it’s sovereignty on the basis of a plebiscite.
We must recall how the Kashmiri people in 1946 wished to be independent and only seeked Indian help for protection against the tribal invaders from Pakistan. An organised anti-feudal revolt was organized confronting the Dogra regime and only Maharaja Harisinghji wished to be part of India.
No doubt we must regret the harsh extermination of the Kashmiri pundits in no uncertain terms. Who can forget the massacre of Kashmiri Muslims during partition? Communal fundamentalists of Islamic tendency must be condemned but critically one must uphold the secular forces of Kashmir .In recent times some of the worst massacres have been undertaken ,ripping the flesh of any dissent .Scrapping of article 370 has fascist undertones. Democratic forces all around the country condemned such a move.Jeelani and Yasim Malik type leaders were subjected to house arrest Such a film puts the reports of civil liberties groups into tatters. The film does no justice to hundreds of activists languishing in jails, being framed. The strangling of the forces of Huriyat is comparable to that of any gross violation of civil liberties in history of India.
I can never forget the state repression from early 1990s and protest of democratic movement Later we had an al India fact finding team of 1997 of civil liberties groups .In recent times even if having religious undertones Muslim organizations have exposed the genocide on Muslims and how common Kashmiris have been stripped of their rights.
We must congratulate the organised democratic movement of Punjab for organizing a series of rallies and conventions condensing repression on Kashmiris and scrapping of article 370.We must also salute the courage of civil liberties organisations or activists like Gautam Navlakha and Arundhati Roy,in boldly exposing and condemning the carnages. I can never forget my student and youth days between confronting state repression in Kashmir was an essential part of the agenda of a democratic movement.Infact in the last few decades whatever aberrations towards communal inclination, we should salute the valiance of the Kashmiri people in withstanding repression unleashed .
We should condemn fundamentalism and the exodus of the Kashmiri pundits but tooth and nail oppose capital punishment on Kashmiri Muslim activists. Sadly our left parties hardly did any justice to the democratic aspirations of Kashmiri people .Sadly our social media is leaving no stone unturned to communalise the issue of Kashmir ,to give it a complete saffron colour. Protest should be staged against such a movie. by progressive forces, propagating how its is tearing apart the very fabric of secularism.
A film should have been constructed portraying the conspiracy of BJP-RSS forces to destroy any remnant of conventional democracy and how historically right from 1952 itself the right of Kashmir self determination was undermined.
Of great relevance were the writings of the Communist revolutionary forces from various streams and the 1990 ‘s Seminar in Delhi on nationality question staged by the All India Peoples Resistance forum.. Even if posessing certain reactionary aspects certain groups like Jammu and Kashmir national Liberation front had certain positive aspects. Regretfully many Kashmir Liberation groups later veered towards joining Pakistan but still the main emphasis should be placed on confronting the tyranny of the saffron brigade. Many positive trends got derailed towards Muslim fundamentalist trends.
I recommend everyone to read the articles by Communist revolutionary journals of the early 1990’s and the fact finding reports of the civil liberties Organizations of India on Kashmir. Democrats should aspire to make an alternative film to extinguish the flame of Saffron fascism.
Harsh Thakor is a freelance journalist.
