Vivek Agnihotri
Vivek doesn’t understand that truth can kill—and kill with abandon— while a lie can, at best, hurt.
Let us muzzle Vivek Agnihotri and cancel his The Kashmir Files! The greatest danger of commercial films like The Kashmir Files is that the film introduces to millions, who so far knew very little, the sordid tale of the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits. After all, are not those the best movies that merely show what we already know! Moreover, the reason for approving or disapproving a work of art must be, as a random cab driver could tell you, not its apparent truth but the artist’s intention. The movie, therefore, by virtue of coming from a Hindutva- allied movie-maker, gets automatically cancelled. As a Vivek Agnihotri directorial, the movie, ipso facto, invites its own disproval and chastisement.
Truth is Overrated
Vivek doesn’t understand that truth can kill—and kill with abandon— while a lie can, at best, hurt. So what will you choose—a truth that kills or a lie that hurts? A lie, of course!
Who needs truth anyway? As a fellow comrade once said, truth and reality exist in the few cubic centimetres of the human mind, and nowhere else. We have to be selective about unravelling truths. More importantly, if the truth is injurious to the Idea of India, we must forsake it in the name of secularism.
Carefully-nurtured national secrets are not without a purpose. If we allow them to leak, be warned that there will be ensuing anarchy. Can we afford truth at the cost of status quo and healing at the cost of peace? No, we can’t. We shouldn’t.
A greater danger is if we allow one truth to unravel, there will be hundred others waiting to come out, causing disorder in society and consternation in our minds. We fear that in the post-The Kashmir Files era, we might see movies about hitherto-suppressed truths like genocidal rape of lakhs of Hindu women in Bangladesh during the 1971 war or genocidal conversion/exodus of Hindus in parts of the undivided Indian subcontinent.
Solution Is Negation Not Truth
The best solution for a multi-cultural nation like us is to pave the way for “negationism” in place of naked truths as exemplified by the respected comrade Mani Shankar Aiyarji, who in his ’93 article Kashmir is not Bangladesh simply denied the angle of Pakistan-sponsored Islamist terrorism:
“The Kashmiri Pandits left the Valley in droves in 1990 because they were corralled and herded out like cattle by the cowboy- Governor of the day.”
At the same time, in the same spirit, we, the eminent intellectuals, rejected any rebuttal to Aiyar’s theory. For instance, every effort was taken to throttle Governor Jagmohan’s attempt to set the records straight as in his reply below:
“Aiyar wants the public to believe that the Kashmiri Pandits are so unintelligent that they left their comfortable homes and beautiful valley at the instance of a pied piper called Jagmohan, and not by the militants’ strategy of ‘killing one and frightening one thousand’. He ignores the hard fact that eminent Kashmiri Pandits had been butchered before I took over”.
Another example of the secular art of negationism will be the tactical denial by comrade Inder Kumar Gujral, when he gainsaid the communal motive behind the forced exodus of 50,000 Hindus after the Islamic conquest of Kabul in April 1992.
Prevailing Fascism
However, with a Fascist government at the helm, things have changed. People used to understand and empathize with terrorists back then in times of secularist governments. I remember some of us set out to hold peace talks in the aftermath—and in spite—of Yasin Malik killing 4 unarmed IAF officers at a bus stop in Kashmir. One of the comrades suggested, “save this young boy [Yasin Malik] who’s so invaluable for peace… that agar yeh bachcha mar gaya toh bahut tragedy ho jayegi”. This is the kind of sensitivity that is missing in today’s Fascist environment.
Negationism is anathema to Fascism.
Negation roots out the problem by denying it while acceptance takes us to a circuitous route of confession and head-hunting. Unravelling of a suppressed truth leads to anger, as witnessed in theatres playing The Kashmir Files. The truth may let the interested quarters target the peaceful Muslims since Kashmiri terrorists coincidentally happened to be all Muslims. KPs too are not entirely without blame since by not having ever picked up arms despite being persecuted, they have helped Nazi Vivek propagate his propaganda.
Needless to say, as comrade Sayema has rationally attributed a report of a Muslim not being provided hotel accommodation to Vivek, such crimes would henceforth be on Vivek.
Vivek Agnihotri, however, is at a greater fault. If he had to compulsorily tell the story, he could have retold the tale of Kashmir Pandits (KPs)—as comrade Dhruv Rathee has suggested— with empathy, humanity and inclusiveness. After all, even terrorists are human, and their point of view needs to be understood. Furthermore, some Pandits, in the spirit of negationism—which acted as a defensive mechanism—have made successful lives for themselves in other parts of India and the world. Then what is the need to reopen their wounds?
Secularism demands that we hold on to carefully-nurtured beliefs even when evidence is on the contrary. Wanton killing and destruction, if proves anything, it proves that Bitta and Yasin are quintessentially humans—capable of erring.
Euphemism is sometimes a good option to balance truth with sensitivity, as epitomized in Prime Minister Nehru terming the induction of Hindu women in Muslim harems as the cradle of composite culture and Audrey Truschke diluting Aurangzeb’s crime by revealing that he did not destroy as many temples as he spared. Vivek doesn’t indulge in euphemism either. The rascal calls a spade a spade!
A Thousand Histories
The biggest fault line of India is its diversity. Diversity of people means diversity of opinions, which translates into diversity of histories. In a country with million histories, who gets to tell a story? Surely not Vivek Agnihotris or Vikram Sampaths! A free run to them can upend order and our years of painstaking peer-reviewed research. Viveks & Vikrams can’t be allowed to challenge the eminent historians and intellectuals like us who traditionally have been high priests of knowledge and establishment.
We oppose the movie as we fear that it is not simply a one-off movie. It can well become a touchstone or reference point for future movie-makers. Given a choice between ignorance and knowledge, Hindus always chose the former. TKF, however, has changed this.
Vivek, by demolishing what was hitherto commonsensical and entrenched in the order of things—that Muslims, by the very fact of being Muslims, are always victims—has clearly attacked Indian secularism.
What About…?
Vivek’s movie also suffers from other irregularities.
What about a few other sources that put the number of KPs killed to few hundreds and not to thousands as claimed in the movie? How come there was a genocidal exodus if a few dozen Pandit families continue living in the valley to this day?
What about Muslims killed by terrorists?
What about, as comrade Burqa Dutt brings to light, the fact that KPs were driven out of the valley in a class struggle between the privileged elites (i.e. Pandits) and poor hapless Muslims? Do the lives of poor Kashmiri Muslims matter any less?
What about the then prevalent slogan “Kashmir will become Pakistan—without Hindu men but with Kashmiri women!” Clearly, terrorists did not hate all Hindus! They loved Hindu women! But Vivek seems to miss this inclusiveness and some more!
What about the entertainment quotient? Do people go to theatres to lament? What about mirth and merrymaking that accompanied moviegoers of yoke when they indulged themselves in Pepsi and popcorn while watching a movie?
What about the killing of non-Hindus like Sikhs? The Hindu supremacist Vivek would not tell you that Sikhs were being killed as recently as 5 months back!
And why merely focus on the genocide of KPs of 1990 only? History is a witness that the 1990s was 7th in a series of genocide wave that started with the warrior-saint Sikandar Butshikan. Clearly, the Hindu genocide is not something new or something to ponder over afresh. We can not afford to give undue attention to the exodus of 1990.
Why does Vivek link temple-breaking with the cultural genocide of Kashmir? It is ludicrous, if not outright laughable. After all, temples are just temples. Idols are just idols. What’s the big deal, yaar? Our anthem Ham Dekhenge mocks butt (idol), anyway.
Vivek-the Habitual Hindu Nazi
There is no doubt that Vivek is a Hindu supremacist—another reason to cancel him. He doesn’t, for instance, raise the issue of illegal Muslim Rohingyas hounded out of the country of their illegal immigration. His concern is always Hindu—not universal. He is dangerously parochial, not a true humanist. A Hindu becomes truly cosmopolitan when he raises non-Hindu issues.
The movie is not the first time that Vivek has indulged in conspiracy theories. His movies always have a violent theme. Not just theme, but also Nazi titles and subtexts. Consider these: “Hate Story”, “The Tashkent Files: Who Killed Shastri?”, and now TKF. Too many gory details have rendered The Kashmir Files to verbose discussions and all-out torture porn. The censor board must have censored all scenes where violence was depicted, or violent threats were issued by terrorists. The last scene especially was an absolute let-down.
A question we must ask is, what is next? The question assumes significance in post-Vivek and the post-Vikram world when glass-ceiling has already been broken on what needs to be told and what not. Vivek, The usual recidivist, has now announced the making of “The Delhi Files”. What should be more important for us—the status quoist lies or disruptive truths? If we do not proactively choose the former option, Viveks & Vikrams will choose the latter for you. We must not let them prevail amongst us.
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