Convert, leave or die!

The Kashmir Files (Hindi; 2022)
Writer & Director: Vivek Agnihotri

This post would probably draw a lot of flak, especially after Singapore's censors recently banned this film. Singapore's justification for its ban is that it is provocative and gives a one-sided portrayal of Muslims in a horrible light that can potentially cause enmity between communities.

According to the affected community depicted in this movie, the Kashmiri Pandits, it is precisely the reason why the film 'Kashmir Files' was made. It claims to be the voice of the descendants of what could simply be put as the original inhabitants of the Cradle of Civilisation. Back in the days, aeons ago, Kashmir was the centre of knowledge; of philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, theology, you name it. It was the place thinkers worldwide used to congregate to unravel the Universe's secrets. 

From the 14th century onwards, their peaceful existence went into turmoil with the infiltration of Islamic invaders from the West. Waves after waves of invaders, from the Sunni to Shia denominations, had tried their luck at usurping the land and its beauty. The Pandits also underwent tumultuous times under the Moghul dynasty. All in all, they all wanted to change Kashmir into an Islamic country (Darul Islam). As decreed in the Sharia Laws, the non-believers were imposed exorbitant taxes (jizya). The invaders' battle cry had been consistent - 'Convert, die or leave'! Under the threat of death or maiming, many Pandits embraced Islam. Again as per Islamic law, the non-believers were slaughtered, and their female companions were taken as captives to be raped or kept as sex slaves as part of their war spoils. (Kashmir, without Kashmiri men but with their women).

Before the 1990 exodus, some say genocide, history has recorded six other exoduses starting with the 14th century. 

Maharajah Hari Singh

Rumours have it that his 1921 blackmail

scandal by a Parisian sex worker was 

used as a bargaining chip to rope Kashmir

into India.

In 1947, at Indian Independence, Kashmir was ruled by a Hindu monarch, Maharaja Hari Singh, ruling over a Muslim majority. This princely state was given the option of becoming part of Pakistan or being absorbed into the Indian Dominion.  When the Maharaja opted to join India, Pakistani tribesmen and later the Army sneaked in to create mayhem. Nehru then decided to call the United Nations to mediate the situation in Kashmir. That proved to be a big mistake. Kashmir was divided into two, each controlled by India and Pakistan, with an area of 'no man's land'. From then on, there was no peace, so to speak. The democratically elected leaders have been accused of practising double standards. The rebel yell for a free Kashmir and 'Quit India' has been ongoing. With its ascension to India came special legislation like Article 370 that gave Kashmir certain powers to rule itself. By 1990, the number of Islamic terrorist groups in Kashmir had reached discerning levels.  

Growing up in the 90s and keeping updated with the day's events, I was fed the idea that Kashmir had its internal problems. That was all. Now, the alternative media is telling me that there was another aspect to Kashmir's history. As Napoleon had purportedly called history 'a fable mutually agreed upon', in modern times, we find the narrative that the general public is fed is politically and ideologically convenient. François Gautier, a French journalist who covered Kashmir at that time, has a totally different version of what happened there. The mainstream rejected his reporting and photojournalism articles as they did not align with their narratives. Gautier, disillusioned by the whole media business, became a naturalised Indian and is now delving into rewriting an alternative history of modern India. 

The movie's premise is that the world had wronged the Kashmiri Pandits by not giving an accurate account of what took place in the Kashmiri Valley, which made almost 90% of the Pandits exit the country. That was more than meets the eye, and the film hoped to put the facts straight. The Pandits insist that it was not an exodus but an attempt by the Islamic militants at genocide. It tells the tale of terrorists masquerading as Indian Army personnel luring them to a safe haven in all that chaos to kill en masse and bury them in mass graves. It tells in gory detail how students turned their guns against their teachers and how cordial neighbours turn into informants in the name of rabid religious convictions. It describes how the world, through the media and the academia, is duped into believing the Pandits left of their own accord.

Krishna Pandit, a student leader from one of those who left the Valley in the 90s as a toddler, has no recollection of what happened to his family (his parents and an elder brother). He was informed that his parents died in a scooter accident, and his brother is still missing. The grandfather who brought him to Delhi is a broken man suffering from PTSD. Krishna is fed with the idea that the cruel acts of the Central Government of India turned them into refugees. Krishna is active in the 'Free Kashmir' movement and is prodded by his Professor to become its leader. Its members scream 'Azadi', meaning freedom.

He gets a firsthand account of what actually occurred in his hometown when his grandfather dies, and he has to return to Kashmir with his remains to perform the final rights. He is introduced to his father's friends and the militant leader who carried out the atrocities to form his own opinion of what transpired in 1990s Kashmir. 

This film had a worldwide release to roaring success. Many of its viewers, who personally endured the events, came out immersed in tears, transported back in time to relive those suppressed memories. They claim that it was an accurate account of what really happened there. 

Everyone agrees that what the jihadists are doing simply cannot be in line with any teachings worth being called 'the way of life'. The interpretation of the religion by fanatics simply defies logical thinking. Anyone with a little brain can surely see what the jihadists are doing are wrong by any account. The trouble is that others who profess the same religion decide to keep mum and turn a blind eye to their atrocities. They condemn the Wahabbis acts in private, but in public, they would rather not run down a fellow believer. Each interprets the same line in the scriptures quite differently. Their inactivities ire the non-believers and give the impression that the moderates condone their actions. Hence develops the schisms.  

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Nobody's child!

Selfie with the Prime Minister (2017)
Directors: Nor Arlene Tan, Grace Cho

At first I thought it was just a film to showcase the plight of the migrants and the hardship that they had to endure on a daily basis after being swindled by human traffickers and shunned by the Malaysian society at large. Well it is that and much more, but it tries putting it in a light hearted manner. It tells the tale of a selfie crazy migrant worker who goes around taking pictures of himself against the backdrop of the landscape around the country.

As he introduced himself, he made a blooper (or was it is on intention, I wondered!). He introduced himself as Ziaur Rahman from Bangla... er, Myanmar. What kind of person would forget his country of origin. Then it clicked. Ziaur is a Rohinya from Arakhine State whose people are is in great turmoil as we speak.

A bit of history on the origins of the Rohinyas. They occupy the Western part of Burma neighbouring Bengal and they were recruited by the British to fight the Japanese in World War 2. The rest of Burma, (as Myanmar was known then) were with the Japanese fighting the British-led Indian Army. This demarcation continued as their allegiance to their Motherland was always questioned due to their religious belief and their ignorance(?refusal) in Myanmarese language. With lack of economic opportunities, poverty and the religious insurgence as many jihadists flock that area to sacrifice in the name of religion, this rich area has become something akin to war zone. Humanity has died, Savagery is the order of the day as carnage and human sacrifice spreads like wild fire.

Refugees who manage to escape persecution land in the hands of human traffickers. Like commodities, they change hand and finally land in Malaysia. Also amongst these refugees are many who had borrowed from moneylenders hoping for a good life in Malaysia just to realise that they had been taken for a ride.

Together, these economic migrants, play a cat-and-mouse game with the authorities and gets played out by errand employers of their hard-earned salaries. As Malaysia is not a signatory of UN convention on Refugees, the migrant workers cannot move freely as legal refugees, They all live under the radar, unseen, unheard but still play an important role to do the duties deemed too dirty, degrading and dangerous for an average Malaysian.

This documentary tells of Ziaur's struggles making ends meet, his quest to solicit donation for his cataract surgery, his activism work which involves writing to dignitaries the world over on the helpless state of Rohinyas in Myanmar and outside as well as indulging in his favourite pastime, taking selfie and being active in social media. The highlight of the film is when he attends PM Najib's Hari Raya open house in Putrajaya to take a selfie with him. To top the icing on his cake, he also took a selfie with the police officer on duty at that occasion. He thought it was ironic considering the number of times he and his friends were harassed by the them for bribes. In the spirit of festivities, everybody had their guard down and nobody was stressing anybody out!

Till date, Rohinyas remain unwanted. Their birth country is refusing them. Their neighbours do not want them. Countries and organisations like OIC who are vocal about their sufferings under the umbrella of the common religion look the other way when it comes to the crux of the matter.

The blurring of who is right and who is wrong cannot be overstated. Brutality from all involved parties is obvious. The disturbances have gone on for so long that none of combating sides (the Rohinyas, the Myanmarese military or the militant Buddhist monks) remember who drew first blood. Situation becomes worse when jihadists with the same ideologies as ISIS and Al-Queda rear their ugly heads in the mayhem.

No hope for humanity

No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka (2013, Documentary)

Director: Callum Macrae

One of our lecturers (RS) back in university told us that the more we tried to hide something, the more people would want to see. And at that time, he was referring to the then sudden urge to preserve modesty or at least put a show of, by university students after 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution. Once it is bare open, people would lose interest. Words of wisdom, come to think of it!

I decided to watch this award winning documentary which was aired last before the CHOGM meeting and Sri Lanka was to head the association that carries no real power but to remind (haunt) Britain of their glorious past! It only came to my attention after reading about its ban in Malaysia and the ongoing court case where the organiser of a public screening is charged. 

Just when you thought there was hope in humanity, comes this graphically disturbing images of people systematically eliminating a certain ethnic population of their own citizens. On one side there is a group demanding autonomy of the area they live and on the other, the people in power claim to hunt for perpetrators who take up arms for their course. The bottom line is that civilians are left dying left, right and centre.

The world is in a quandary. The Government denies any acts of wrongdoing contravening any international law. They claim that LTTE held their own people hostage and kill those who deflect. LTTE, who are guardians of the ethnic Tamil, and international UN workers categorically accuse the ruling government of drawing Tamils to areas deemed 'No Fire Zone' just to shell them to smithereens.

This rather graphically distressing film provide forensically certified photographic evidence of genocide in the land described by Arthur C. Clarke as the most beautiful land on earth. People are zeroed into safe zones and hospitals and are repeatedly bombed till there is no place to run.

 

Go ahead, watch it and spoil your whole day. It can happen anywhere. No race is immune from these. They say that the best of man comes in the worst of situations. I suppose a mob like situation, all humanity values go down the drain. The animalistic blood dirty preying fangs of survival which is deep seated in the DNA of us which survived through the prehistoric times comes into interplay!

Lena Hendry