However successful and wealthy the Indian diaspora is, they lack influence in the western political world to highlight or build an Indian narrative in the western world, said Pallavi Joshi, actor and producer of the film Kashmir Files. She was talking at a symposium organised at Nehru Center, London.
It is observed that western countries tend to ignore the human catastrophe in Kashmir – namely, the Hindu genocide by the jihadi terrorists. Despite various organisations trying to sensitise the western world regarding the Hindu genocide in Kashmir, the Western world has ignored it for a long.
Friends of Indian Society International (FISI) organised a symposium recently at the Nehru Centre in London to understand the reasons behind this western ignorance about Kashmir’s Hindu genocide. The lop-sided and biassed narrative of Kashmir in western societies either distorts or blatantly hides the gruesome stories of the atrocities on Kashmiri Hindus.
The symposium was opened by a well-known Author & Director of Nehru Centre, Amish Tripathi. A distinguished panel of speakers were present to provide different dimensions to the topic. The speakers included Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (The Kashmir Files Director & Author), Pallavi Joshi (Actor and Producer), Chris Blackburn (Political Analyst in the UK) and Pandit Satish Kumar Sharma (Author of Caste, Conversion, A Colonial Conspiracy), among others.
The interjections touched upon many aspects, including global terrorism, of which Kashmir is a prime victim, a prevalent anti-Hindu bias and a need to deliberate for the protection of diverse Indian aka Bharatiya values and thought processes. The discussion also included the under-representation of India’s voice-share in the international media and policy-making forums.
Pandit Satish Sharma, an active ambassador of Indian culture in the UK, provided cultural and philosophical aspects of the Indian thoughts and the need for the Indian diaspora to come together.
Chris Blackburn shared his experiences with global terrorism and exposed its links with Islamist charities in the US and UK. He also underlined how the mind space of specific communities are almost monopolised by fringe organisations which in turn aids terrorists. He highlighted the sinister effort to muzzle his voice by certain menacing forces who didn’t want the world to know about the underlying nexus between the terrorists.
Pallavi Joshi pointed to the fact that while the Indian diaspora is hugely successful and has made significant economic contributions to the countries they live in, they lack influence proportional to their economic success in critical issues pertaining to India. She relayed the difficulties and price they had to pay for bringing out stories of India on sensitive issues that no filmmaker had ever ventured upon. She questioned the muting of freedom of expression under the diktats and bigotry of a certain ideology seen on British soil.
Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, famed director of The Kashmir Files, said that he and his production company, I am Buddha, had made it their mission to make purposeful cinema, which challenged skewed narratives and revealed hidden truths. He spoke of Hindus being a global minority and Bharat, which is both a modern democracy & an ancient civilisation facing a multi-pronged attack. He revealed that his upcoming film, ‘The Delhi Files,’ tagged as the ‘Right to Life’, would broadly try to address this issue. He remarked that hiding the truth about Kashmiri Hindus’ massacre and displacement was as vicious and justice-defeating as the terrorising violence and torture and the subsequent cleansing that the community had to endure. His remarks got thunderous applause from the jam-packed audience.
The event left the audience intrigued and inspired. It was attended by a cross-section of the Indian diaspora, including councillors, heads of different community organisations and journalists. The event was compered by FISI Executive Member Saritha Rahul & FISI Executive Member Sweta Bhatia moderated the panel discussion. The speakers were felicitated by FISI President Madhuresh Mishra & FISI General Secretary Manu Khajuria.
Friends of India Society International (FISI) UK is a non-profit organisation that strives to strengthen the relationship between UK and India and also promotes dialogue on India’s social and cultural issues.
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