Pandits forgotten as politics play out on 'The Kashmir Files'

In the din surrounding 'The Kashmir Files', Kashmiri Pandits seem to be fighting a lonely battle for justice. Yes, the movie has brought out a lot of empathy for the community, but the politics being played out over their plight is downplaying the fight for justice of every Kashmiri who has fallen to the bullets of terror.

Whether it is the BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, TRS, or the Trinamool Congress, the movie has become a tool to lash out at each other. All are trying to either score points or run one another down to portray a particular image for political benefits. Several BJP-ruled states, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Bihar, and now Goa, have made the movie tax-free.

When a similar demand was made in the Delhi Assembly by the BJP MLAs, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal criticised the move of making the film tax-free, and suggested the filmmaker upload it on YouTube for all to see free of cost. Amid applause and table-thumping from the AAP MLAs present in the Assembly, Kejriwal attacked the BJP MLAs and said they have been on the job of putting up posters of the film. "Did you enter politics to do this?" he asked mockingly.

Blaming the Congress for the plight of Kashmiri Hindus, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in Gujarat: "'The Kashmir Files' shows how under the Congress rule, atrocities and terrorism spread in Kashmir."

Rahul Gandhi, who claims to be a Kashmiri Pandit, has not commented on the movie or even on the plight of Kashmiri Pandits. Several other party leaders, however, jumped into the fray.

The political parties are making the most of the plight of Kashmiri Pandits, but no one is actually doing anything to bring justice to them. The BJP has been showcasing the Kashmiri Pandit genocide to whip up the majority's passion, but on the ground there's been no action.

Thirty-two years after the genocide, no judicial commission or even an inquiry commission been formed to probe the exodus. In almost 95 per cent of the violent incidents perpetrated against the community, no FIR have been filed and even those where cases have been lodged, there has been no movement at all. The BJP-led Centre has failed to come up with a plan for the return and rehabilitation of the community.

The plight of the Kashmiri Pandit community is yet another poll plank for the BJP and the ilk, but even those who champion the cause of humanity are failing to sit up and take note.