The Kashmir Files

"This film is dedicated to all the persecuted minorities in the world."

"This is the exact description in Shamsu'd-Din Muhammad Araqi's biography Tohfatul Ahbab."

"You are studying in India's topmost university but you don't know who Araqi is?"

"His sole intention was to destroy to the temples and shrines of infidels. To put an end to their traditions and rituals."

"In this independent India, in this democratic India, in this secular India: they were once again ousted with swords and guns."

"Do you know what this means? Raliv means Convert! Chaliv means leave! Galiv means Die! Convert! Leave! or Die !"

"This was their seventh exodus. And this wasn't an ordinary exodus. This time it was a genocide. And the story doesn't end here. They faced yet another genocide. And neither Araqi nor the Terrorists nor the State were responsible for it. But you and I were responsible for it. .... When we decided to remove them from our hearts and minds. And this was the real genocide."

"If we haven't read about it, it's not part of our history. If we haven't seen it, it hasn't happened. So there was no real genocide in Kashmir. If anyone tries to tell the truth, you say, 'don't preach!'."

"They didn't just kill Kashmiri Pandits in the year 1990. They killed all moderate Muslims as well."

"He wrote, “A lot of people are wondering if my Twitter account is suspended. No, it’s not. I have deactivated it. Here is why: Since I started the campaign of #TheKashmirFiles, Twitter shadowbanned me. My followers dropped drastically and most of my followers couldn’t see any of my tweets. On top of that, my DM was filled with vulgar and threatening messages (by you know who). It’s not that I can’t handle such elements, but it seemed there were many Pakistani & Chinese bots. However tough you may be, it’s mentally testing to be surrounded by such intense hate and threats for your family. For what? Making an honest film on the pain and sufferings of our Kashmiri brothers & sisters? Is that why they are rattled that the truth may come out? The ugly world of social media has given the power to a lot of evil elements. And our silence gives them hope to succeed. TheKashmirFiles breaks that silence. Loud and clear.”"

"The filmmaker further added, “I have always spoken against India’s enemies. #The KashmirFiles is an attempt to expose inhuman terrorism that has destroyed India’s most sacred land of Shiva & Saraswati. And now religious terrorism is making inroads in mainland India. That’s why they want people to like me silenced. I always speak for those who can’t be heard. I have been exposing many untruths and fake narratives by anti-India Urban Naxals. They want to silence me. But I know very well that silence helps tragic events like Kashmir Genocide. They must know that I can’t be silenced. I thank all my followers and fans for your love and support. Love. Always.”"

"For instance, (the examining committee) had issues with the word ‘Islamic terrorist’. More than two dozen cuts were issued in all. However, I argued and showed them the documents and proof to support my point. Eventually, they allowed the film without these cuts. How can they dispute the facts after all?"

"OpIndia spoke with Vivek Agnihotri regarding Intezar Hussain Sayed’s initial allegation that the film offended religious feelings. Agnihotri, in an interview with OpIndia, said he was determined to portray the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus on-screen through The Kashmir Files., “I can prove in any court or any platform of their choice that every frame, every word in my film is truth. Nothing but the truth.” On the news of a PIL being filed against the film, he had said, “They can create as many hurdles as they want but I can’t be silenced.”"

"Speaking on the question of why he chose not to go with the OTT platform and release it exclusively in theatres, Vivek said he was not willing to give up his Intellectual Property(IP) and strike comprises that deals with the OTT platforms normally entailed. He highlighted an incident on how he was bluntly asked by an OTT executive to remove the reference to ‘Islamic Terrorism’ from his movie. Vivek said he was taken aback when the executive openly asked him whether any specific adjective was used for terrorism which is talked about in the film. According to Vivek, the executive asserted, “We have a global policy that we do not use the term ‘Islamic Terrorism’ in any of our films. I hope you are not using that.”"

"Calling out the 'genocide deniers', Vivek wrote, "I am not the first person to call it Genocide. But systematically books and literature like this were taken off libraries and a lie was created about ‘exodus’. This was indeed the GENOCIDE. Any GENOCIDE DENIER is either a part of terror business or naive. #RightToJustice" In another tweet, Vivek clapped back at former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah. Sharing a picture of a man, he wrote, "Whenever any Genocide Denier tries to divert by arguing on numbers of dead people, show him this report from 1989 and ask “how many numbers would you give Ramesh Kumar?" "Btw, @OmarAbdullah’s father and son of Shri Sheikh Abdullah was the chief minister at that time," he added."

"The filmmaker recently shared a shocking video of a maulvi saying that The Kashmir Files should be banned. Sharing the video on his Twitter, Vivek also shared that this is how ‘Kashmiri Hindus were removed from the valley’. He tweeted in Hindi, “Maulvi Sahib of Rajouri says: “This film should be closed… Humne 800 saal tum pe hukumat ki you want to erase our mark in 70 years rule…” Friends, in the same way, the name and the existence of Kashmiri Hindus were erased from Kashmir.”"

"Dear @Wikipedia, You forgot to add ‘Islamophobia… propaganda… sanghi… bigot… etc’. You are failing your Secular credentials. Hurry, edit more."

"Pallavi [Joshi] and I decided to do separate research. Whatever we know about Kashmir is through the politicians, but have no idea about the reality. We decided to interview more than 700 victims of the Kashmir Genocide from all across the world. We listened to and recorded their stories for two years. We had swollen eyes every time we heard a story. I was not crying because someone was killed. I was crying on myself. It was self-pity – I thought to myself how it is even possible that so many people were killed, women were raped, their breasts were cut, and no one talks about it. Pallavi and I decided to not get into politics, and tell a human story that was never heard."

"When didn’t even know if we’ll be making a film, or documentary, or a series. There came a time when I thought if nothing will happen, I’ll release it on my social media platforms. We divided our research work, but during the process, we couldn’t help and cried our eyes out. Almost every victim told us that this is the first time someone is asking them about their sufferings. They don’t even discuss it in their family as they don’t want to let their kids know their stories. It’s a terrible feeling to hear all of it. There is a dialogue where someone asks – "Why didn’t they speak up?" and Mithun Chakraborty replies – "Toote hue log bolte nahi, unhe suna jaata hai" [Broken people cannot talk, you make an effort to listen to them]. That is my message."

"It doesn’t scare me but I am concerned. The media has to follow the rules else their careers will be destroyed. We suffer from a colonial mindset. They can kill me but cannot break me."

"The real harm comes when someone starts targeting and stalking you. This is where the threat begins. I faced this thing last year also when they shot fatwas against me in Kashmir. They said, ‘We will never let you enter Kashmir. We will ensure this film never gets released’. When I was in the US to give speeches in top universities, I was heckled by Kashmiri Muslims or Pakistani boys. I understand all these things, but stalking is really scary because it’s about your young teenage daughter. These days she is on Instagram, so it’s very easy to find and connect."

"It doesn’t! I was making commercial films and was there in the entire Bollywood club. I was also a part of nepotism domination, and other dirty politics. I have seen the underbelly of Bollywood very well. There are two kinds of films you can make, one is a sweet story which people want to hear and the second one is a film that only you can tell. These are discomforting subjects which will make people uncomfortable. It wasn't an unprompted decision, I wanted to do it. It was a mature decision of my life. I knew there would be opposition, but what pains me is this is from the same Bollywood that talks about respecting independent filmmakers. Who can be more independent than me? Nobody! I love certain actors like Rajkummar Rao, Taapsee Pannu, but when they make a film and say it’s an independent one, it’s not! It’s supported and financed by big studios. They are doing the same thing and just naming it differently. While Bollywood media call them independent filmmakers, I am the only genuine independent filmmaker here in India. I do my research from all around the world, I put my money, and face struggles for the film distribution, so this is a journey of an isolated filmmaker. I do my own marketing. But Bollywood doesn’t recognise us and in fact, they boycott and isolate us. That’s painful."

"You tell me which is the most discussed issue in India than Kashmir? It's the most discussed theme in the world and in 1990, 5 lakh people were forced to leave their motherland and people who came from outside killed 4000 Kashmiri Hindus, committed genocide. Who are these people? They came from Iran and Iraq for refuge and these Kashmiri Hindus gave them refuge. Today they have thrown them out. What can be a more interesting story than this? If the youngsters are not told about this story, believe me, it’s going to happen next to you, at your doorstep. This film is dedicated to all the minorities and the persecuted people of the world, whether they are Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Dalits or anyone else. This is to tell people what happens when there is an absence of humanity or when we are indifferent to humanity."

"But, let’s not get confused between the majority and minority because the majority in one place can be a minority in another place. 4000 people were killed, women were raped, why don’t female journalists and Me Too groups talk about it? So many Dalits were killed. Why do these politically activated Dalit groups don’t talk about it? You see the hypocrisy."

"They are more interested in Delhi politics than their own people. Everyone has made a film that was sympathetic to terrorists. Do they try to portray why they are killing people? Who cares about why they are killing? Nobody has a right to kill anyone. So many women were cut alive on saw machines, somebody has to make a movie on that. When I am doing it, the entire Bollywood and politically charged media are standing against me. I have been isolated as if I have committed a crime in my own country."

"I was in Delhi recently with a journalist who showed me this. He said, ‘I just type 'The Kashmir Files’ NDTV, and see what has come up’. They made a page for us and it only had four lines. It was the description of the film that said, ‘It’s a propaganda film.’ Nobody in the film, besides me, has seen the film, so how can they call it a propaganda film? They are the ones doing propaganda against the film. Later OpIndia did an expose piece on them and they had to delete the word propaganda. If they are true journalists then they don’t have to delete it. This means it was fake journalism. Similarly, Anupama Chopra’s ‘Film Companion’, on which I made a video that has now gone viral. I don’t have anything against anybody, but if someone is going to attack my film, I am capable enough to defend my own baby."

"Film Companion did a vicious thing by using the keyword ‘The Kashmir Files’ to grab eyeballs. They had to acknowledge the trailer release because it went viral and then they released a 3-year-old review of ‘The Tashkent Filles’. It said ‘it’s a third-grade film of third-grade politics.’ ‘The Tashkent Files’ did 100s in business and was the biggest hit of 2019, it won two National Awards and was included in universities as a case study. If you go out and ask any Indian, 'Have you seen ‘The Tashkent Files’?' they get emotional. And, these people are calling it a third-grade film? The reviewer has written, ‘I was more interested in eating burger and fries’. What kind of journalism is this? I had to come out and attack these people and defend my film."

"Take the example of the reaction of most Indian intellectuals to the movie The Kashmir Files and the massive response of ordinary people. If the first aspect demonstrates anything, it lays bare the absolute barrenness of Indian intellectual landscape. I have not read a single reflection or review that even minimally tries to understand what people are responding to when they respond to the movie. Like everything else, this too is another occasion for moralising lectures about communalism, posturing against the imputed hatred the movie apparently propagates combined with expressions of pseudo-horror about an allegedly partial portrayal. Very few things can move the entire population like this movie did and I am still thinking about it. And perhaps will also write on the movie. Tragedies or violence are not new, especially when they are in the news every day. So, it cannot be that the overwhelming response of people had only to do with the horrors faced by the Pandits in Kashmir or the treachery of our ruling classes (politicians, intellectuals, and media). Shortly after the movie came out, I saw it in Belgium, I remember telling my daughter that this movie would enter the national consciousness of India."

"Writer and director Vivek Agnihotri deserves a lot of credit for having the will to fight for years to be able to make this film. There were reports that he could have made a deal with Netflix if he had agreed to not mention Islamic terrorism, which would be akin to making a movie about the Holocaust that doesn’t mention the Nazis. Good for him and his team for not caving to such a cowardly and ridiculous demand."

"this is Anupam Kher’s finest contribution to cinema yet. PN Pandit isn’t just one person. It is all of us. It is the mirror of our misfortunes, shards of the glass that still haven’t come off from skin. It is pain in its rawest form because it is a movie that’s been closest to the truth, unlike any other from the past. None of the deaths were fictional, none of the tragedies coincidental, none of the wounds exaggerated or underrepresented."

"“When one feels, they have hit rock-bottom and can only rise from here, they invent ways to hit newer lows. A pity they choose to hurt the sentiments of Kashmiri Pandits again. Kashmir Files is an eye-opener and probably just the tip of the iceberg"

"It is not easy to write about movies or books which bare one’s bottled-up horrors and agony. But then, that is the strength of Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’. It has made me, a displaced Kashmiri Pandit (Hindu), to own it, to call it my story. And that is no small feat."

"In this plea, it is said, “The film will not only hurt the religious sentiments of the Muslim community but also ignite emotions and inflame members of the Hindu community with a clear possibility of triggering violence in all parts of India.” It further said, “his movie, as can be seen from the trailer released, has scenes which hurt the religious feelings of the people of India, more particularly the Muslim community and has a very potent mixture of inflammatory scenes which are bound to cause communal violence in the prevailing circumstances in the country.” The plea also mentions, “The dialogues as can be seen in the trailer are discriminatory, defamatory and against the principles of the Constitution of India. The dialogues are violative of the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 15 of the Constitution of India, being inflammatory in nature.”"

"The film is too hot to handle for our political class, even if some of them might support it tacitly. That is because it pulls no punches. There is no varnishing or airbrushing of brutal realities. Names are named, whether it is meddling neighbouring powers, religious, ethnic, or caste communities, dead or living politicians, even individuals and real persons. Religious identities or ideologies are not elided, evaded, or avoided. Disturbing visuals, distressing slogans — it’s all there and in your face in this movie."

"She wrote, “My father’s sister, Girija Tickoo, was a librarian at a University who had gone to collect her paycheck, on her way back the bus she was travelling from was stopped and what happened next still leaves me in shivers, tears, and nausea. My bua was then thrown into a taxi, with five men (one of them being her colleague), who tortured her, raped her, and then brutally murdered her by cutting her alive with a carpenter saw. Imagine being the brother who had to recognize his Babli, who wasn’t at fault in this gruesome battle of total hypocrisy.” Raina said she had never heard anyone speaking about the incident. “My father tells me every brother lived in such shame and anger that nothing had been done to receive justice for my Babli Bua,” she added. Urging everyone to watch the movie, Raina said, “This is my plea to ALL of you to watch the Kashmir Files and take your friends and family with you.”"

"“Instead of engaging in healthy debates based on facts and truths, this entire ecosystem has launched a full-fledged campaign to discredit the film. An individual has shown the courage to expose the truth, but this ecosystem is hell-bent on shaming his efforts. They also do not want to understand or allow others to do the same. They do not want to accept the truth, nor do they want the truth to be revealed in front of the world. The type of campaign that has been launched against the movie in the last few days is astounding”,"

"“My intention is not to advocate for a specific film, all I want to say is that it is critical to present the facts in their entirety to the world. There can be varied aspects to it. Some will see one aspect while someone else might see it from a different perspective. The people who feel that this movie is not up to the mark, are free to make another movie… who is stopping them,” Modi further added."

"“Through such films, people come to know about the truth and understand who was responsible for any incidents in the past. Who exploited or who did the correct thing, films like these try to project,” asserted PM Modi as he lauded the filmmakers’ efforts to bring to light the harsh reality that had been buried for years."

"PM Modi added that more good films should have been made narrating the thoughts and ideas of Mahatma Gandhi so that the world can know more and more about him. “People make tall claims like freedom of speech and expression, but have you seen any movie made on the Emergency of 1975. Why? Because there has been a constant effort to suppress the truth."

""The entire Jamaat (group) that raised the flag of freedom of expression has been furious for 5-6 days. Instead of reviewing the film on the basis of facts and art, there's a campaign to discredit the film," he said. The movie, directed and written by Vivek Agnihotri, depicts the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from the state after systematic killings of people from the community by Pakistan-back terrorists. PM Modi added that his concern is that the truth should be brought out in a proper manner. "My concern is not just the film. I believe that it is beneficial for the nation to bring out the truth in the right way. It can have many aspects. Some see one thing, others see something else," he said. He then attacked the movie's critics, alleging that the negative reactions to the films are coming from those who deliberately tried to hide "the truth" for many years. "Those who think that this film is not right should make their own film. Who's stopping them? But they are surprised that the truth that they kept hidden for so many years is not coming out. Those who live for the truth have a responsibility to stand with the truth at such a time," PM Modi said."

"'Today, met #TheKashmirFiles team. The truth of the sacrifice, unbearable pain and struggle of Kashmiri Pandits who were forced to leave their home in their own country has come to the notice of the whole world through this film, which is a very commendable effort,' he tweeted in Hindi."

"Those who have any problem with the censor-cleared Kashmir Files, are free to boycott it or make another film to refute it. Fine. However, I have worked in Kashmir in very sensitive and responsible positions since the early 1990s--I know the truth is more scary than what is shown"

"Spielberg, a jew, made Schindler's List. Polanski, a jew, made Pianist. Kramer, a jew, made Nuremberg. They had a moral duty to not water down the crimes against their community and they didn't. Vivek Agnihotri has made what Vidhu Vinod Chopra, a Kashmiri Hindu, should have."

"I worked at the CRPF Control Room in Delhi during the genocide and expulsion of Kashmiri Pandits. We recorded everything but the govt did nothing."

"The film is about true and real events surrounding the 1990 ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Kashmir and today over 400,000 Kashmir Pandits remain in exile after 32 years.”“Terrorism in all its forms, no matter what its source, should be exposed and opposed. This attempt at selective censorship would amount to one further attack on the freedom of New Zealanders and people worldwide.”"

"Peters added in a Facebook post, ‘To censor this film is tantamount to censoring information or images from the March 15th atrocities in New Zealand, or for that matter removing from public knowledge all images of the attack on 9/11’."

"Watched The Kashmiri Files today. If the story was 100% true, no exaggeration, no half truth--- then it is really a sad story & Kashmiri Pandit must get back their right to live in Kashmir. I don't understand why no film was made on the exodus of Bengali Hindus from Bangladesh."

"The Indian High Commissioner to New Zealand has objected to this move, saying that “an unnecessary controversy has been created in New Zealand during the weekend regarding the film and its planned release.”... “There are concerning reports that the Office of the Chief Censor is under tremendous political pressure,” he added.. The letter to the chief censor emphasizes, “We all believe in the fundamental principle of freedom of expression. If there were no freedom of expression, the human kind would have not seen films and books on wars, holocaust, political conflicts and other tragic historical events”."

"“Those uncomfortable yet courageous conversations would also need to find a place in our society to enable the persecuted to have a voice,” said Vinod Kumar, President of HCNZ. “We request all communities to respect each other’s right to have their plights being shared. We request everyone to remain calm and allow those who do want to watch the film do so peacefully and safely once the decision is made by the Chief Censor,” added Vinod Kumar, President of HCNZ."

"Kashmiri Files KILLED BOLLYWOOD. The MONSTROUS SUCCESS of KF (Kashmir Files) will permanently change BOLLYWOOD in the following ways: 1. It will start making a lot of serious films on serious issues. 2. It will start focusing on content and not on stars, budgets and extravaganza. 3. It will start making films with actors rather than stars. 4. It will henceforth not depend on songs to make a hit film. 5. It will finally show its face with pride to world cinema instead of being apologetic about the Indian audience. 6. Its top 6 or 7 production houses and makers will cease to be at the top and will lose their control because Kashmir Files has proved that anyone can come out of anywhere to sit at the top which is the ultimate democratisation of cinema. 7. More than anything else it will start taking the audience seriously and not anymore presume them to be mindless dumbos who will only see masala films .” “I want to sum up by saying that Bollywood will be permanently divided into 2 eras as pre #KashmiriFiles Bollywood and post #KashmiriFiles Bollywood. I want to touch the feet of @Vivekagnihotri and the entire team of #KashmiriFiles for BREAKING the foundations of BOLLYWOOD so as to BUILD A BRAND NEW BOLLYWOOD.”"