NEW DELHI: The Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora (GKPD) on Monday held a press conference to address concerns raised by several sections of people regarding the movie “The Kashmir Files”. Its members claimed that through the movie, people were being made aware of the “ethnic cleansing” that had taken place, and said it should not be seen through the “Hindu-Muslim binary”, but through the lens of global terrorism.
Stating that contrary to several opinions, the movie was based on the “truth” and is not a “propaganda”, Surinder Kaul, co-founder of GKPD, said the world was getting to know about a chapter of India’s history that had been “torn and thrown away”.
“Following the release of the movie, there have been conversations about it being a propaganda, which is not the case. GKPD has done four years of research and we facilitated 700 testimonials to the filmmaker,” Kaul pointed out.
“Another point which is being made is that this movie is spreading hate. We would like to say that before the global release of the film, private screenings were held across 16 cities in the US and the response from the audience was overwhelming. Even those from Pakistan and Afghanistan, who are Muslims, shared their pains. The movie should be seen from the angle of humanity,” Kaul said.
Addressing questions over the government in power at that time, Kaul said, “GKPD does not have any affiliation to BJP or Congress. Our sole motive was to bring the truth to the fore and we are grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for mentioning it in Parliament, and even to all the chief ministers who have declared tax exemption on the movie.”
GKPD demanded a “one-place settlement” from the government so that Kashmiri Pandits can return to their native place. Utpal Kaul, its international coordinator, said, “It has been 32 years and no justice has been meted out. Justice will be served when the likes of Yasin Malik are hanged. We want a tribunal to be constituted, which can find out about the atrocities that the community faced. We want to return to our land and, hence, have prepared a vision document seeking permanent settlement that the Centre needs to consider.”
