The Film is a Milestone.

The Indian Film industry has right through its initial days has churned out many movies on controversial topics that concerned the contemporary society and compelled the people to introspect ; Garam Hawa, Sujata , Pink, Peepli Live and so on .

The recent much talked about Film - Kashmir Files also should fall in that category as it has undoubtedly stirred the emotions of millions of Indians.

However, we need to understand who comprise those millions, who have been emotionally stirred. Besides the Kashmiri Pundits, who lived this traumatic experience, They are mainly those who were perhaps not born then when this tragedy happened or were born in mid 90s so were unable to read the newspapers or those adults who seldom bothered to read newspapers and journals in 90s and have suddenly woken up from deep slumber and are now questioning ; AREY YEH SUB HUYA THA HUMEN TO PATA HI NAHIN CHALLA.

Now, when such people look at this kind of film, they are unable to manage their emotions and more importantly  they fail to take a holistic view of the tragedy because they have no idea of the SOCIO-POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT that existed then.

Hence, they tend to believe, what is shown to them and they also overlook the fact that the Film is a commercial activity; it has a financer, a producer and a band of people who have vested interests in the success of the film. The film maker, therefore, discloses things and hides things to suit the commercial interests of those who have interest in the film.

The movie – Kashmir Files, has brilliantly depicted the emotional trauma that Pundits underwent during those scary nights which shattered their whole life due to the callousness and indifference of the politicians who were governing the country then.

Although, the director had the right to hide who were governing then and What was the socio-political environment in the country, Who was the Governor then who did nothing and watched this whole tragedy happen from his Governor’s house.

Because, if the Director is questioned on this, he may state that his aim was to highlight the agony of the Kashmiri pundits and not getting involved in the political aspect of it.

What About the Intentions

When the Film maker hides certain facts advertently or inadvertently and stands alongside the Political Head, whose party was in ruling alliance when the tragedy occurred and was also instrumental in spoiling the communal environment of the country then, I have my doubts with the real intentions of the film maker, particularly when this director had made a film like TASHKENT FILES.

It then creates a suspicion in the mind that ; THIS MAN IS LOOKING FOR SUBJECTS WHICH IN CURRENT SOCIO -POLITICAL ENVIRONEMENT WILL GET HIM MONEY. And that he has made now and gone all the way to the Bank laughing.

No Doubts that We as a Nation Failed our People.

I have no doubts in my mind that as a Nation we failed in providing security and safety to our people, why Kashmir only everywhere, not because we did/do not have the resources but because of POLITICS.

Its really shameful that a nation which has got the fourth largest military in the world and the Largest paramilitary forces in the form of BSF and CRPF, even then we could not provide security to the People in Kashmir and they had to migrate in fear because the NATION COULD NOT TAKE DECISION BECAUSE OF ITS POLITICS.

I have no doubts in my mind that Some wanted to en cash that tragedy for the furtherance of their politics and some wanted to get rid of them for their own interests and those who really wanted to take action and save them must have been in minority that night.

The Emerging Pattern.

Its time for the society to understand this fact- The political ideologies have a vested interest in promoting fear, a sense of the imminence of being taken over by others. 

And its not difficult to see that pattern emerging in the country. 

All you have to do is compile the messages on SOCIAL MEDIA being circulated and one will see that pattern emerging.

This film is also, although well made, but is a part of that pattern which hides more and reveals only that portion which suits the political masters and that is once again a travesty of justice and exploitation of the  traumatic EMOTIONAL experience of those who suffered at the cost of POLITICS AND MISGOVERNANCE.

The Best Example to Understand The Emerging Pattern

 Our honourable PM during his visit to Bangladesh in Mar 21, when the elections in West Bengal were in process, he went to Jeshoreshwari and Orkandi temples there. The Gopalganj's Orakandi is the abode of hundreds of Hindu Matua community, a large number of whom are also residents of West Bengal and were important from elections point of view in West Bengal.  However, his visit led to violence in Bangladesh and many Hindus had to face the anger of Islamic fundamentalists in Bangladesh and their temples were desecrated and some lost their lives.

Notwithstanding the desecration of temples and loss of Hindus life, the Indian social media carried the news ; The First ever PM of India to have visited the temple of Matua community.

Its now left for the people to judge - was it Bhakti or Politics. One is deliberately creating a situation  which leads to Polarisation and Loss of human life. 

Unfortunately in India every Political party is deep into this.

This movie is just serving that purpose ;Politics and EXPLOITING Sentiments of those who suffered.

Congratulations Mr Director !

 This is a recirculation of an old article written in 2021 , as a reminder who feel SECULARISM a burden. Mohd Shammi's spectacular performance proves that We must keep religion aside and stop looking at everything through the Prism of Religion.

 The way Indians abused Mohd Shami on social media after the defeat against Pakistan is an indicator of the rot that has set in, in our society .

Although its not a recent phenomenon, even the movie Chak de India depicted this, where a muslim hockey player after the loss to Pakistan was harassed by his own neighbors.

So, what happened with Shammi was no different.

In 50s to 90s we were a struggling Nation with very few achievements to show and with the historical rivalry with Pakistan and muslims such behavior was expectable, However, what is disappointing now is that despite being the 5^th largest economy, possessing , 5th largest armed forces, given numerous CEOs to top global companies, becoming the global IT hub, we have become petty minded and still suffer from disgusting levels of inferiority complex.

The other change that has taken place now is courtesy, social media the criticism and harassment of muslim sportsmen is no more localized . We need to realise that this unfair criticism of muslims has far reaching implications.

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The whole nation is right now living in a funny kind of an illusion, which is far from reality. Some claim that the process of unshackling the Indian civilization is on and restoration of temples will now usher in a new phase of progress. How will it happen , no one has the answer ? or rather NO ONE WANTS TO ANSWER.

An IBM Institute study finds that 90% of Indian startups fail within the first five years of inception. Wasn’t it premature on the part of Startup India to pat itself? A Study revealed that Indian startups are less innovative than startups elsewhere, they don’t have an original business idea, most Indian startups are copying what has been successful elsewhere. So, what about millions of loans granted to these start ups ? Remember those days of late 70s and 80s when Loan melas were organized and anyone and everyone was given loan and then loan was waived off making Nationalised banks sick.

Another study by Confederation of Indian Industry revealed that out of 100 applications received from freshers from colleges almost 85 applicants are Not EMPLOYABLE. Out of these 85 almost 60 are not even Trainable. Imagine what kind of Employees our Institutions are churning ?.

Even in terms of applications received for patents we have a very poor record.

The Disparity.

In 2020 after all schools, colleges, and educational institutions in India were shut, due to Corona, it adversely impacted more than 32 crore students across the country. While some schools shifted to online teaching, low-cost private and government schools could not do so. Not only schools but also students studying engineering and medicine had to study ON LINE. What kind of an engineer or a doctor we would be getting who has studied ON LINE ?

During this period A nonprofit, organisation Dream a Dream, conducted a survey with schools in Karnataka, to gauge the impact of COVID-19 on them, the salient aspects of the report are ;

1. Ninety-five percent of the schools wanted to postpone board exams

2. Ninety-two percent of the schools sought reduction of the syllabus for the new academic year

3. Ninety-seven percent of the schools require digital support

Because most of the schools surveyed did not have any experience of teaching online. Many teachers were not trained in handling online classes and as mentioned above, schools were also unable to contact students who have moved back to villages. Therefore, they required help in the form of accessible digital learning solutions and training sessions for teachers.

If this was the situation in a Developed state like Karnataka, imagine what would have happened in UP. Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan, MP etc in last 20 months.

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I drive to my office every day , a journey of almost 20 kms during which I have to negotiate my way safely through many cross roads-. Its real fun crossing these as they are of great learning value. Thanks to these cross roads, I have developed some important attributes that have improved my life ; patience, importance of being cool headed, always keeping a smile on face even when someone has hit his mobike on the bumper behind.

But more than these attributes that i have developed in last 15 years since the time I came out of armed forces, I also suddenly had an enlightening experience one day ; The way we move on roads is also a reflection of our culture, our attitudes, our ethics and values, we as a society cherish and uphold.

If the analogy - You can tell a man by his shoes , is applied to the traffic, you can easily tell about the culture of the city . Stand near  a cross road of the city and watch how the traffic moves and one can easily assess the culture; its ethics and values.

Someone very rightly pointed out ; “ The nations that rank as the least corrupt—as Finland, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden, and Singapore—are also the safest places in the world to drive.”

Some enlightening experiences that I had during my daily commutation of almost 50 kms through the city traffic are shared below ;

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