REGIONAL

‘The Kashmir Files is highly unrealistic, disservice to Kashmiri Pandits’, says former IPS officer

By News Desk

July 13, 2023

Admitting the Governor Jagmohan failed to address the crisis that emerged in Kashmir after the eruption of armed militancy in Kashmir in early 90, former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer said that the J-K administration could have prevented the situation.

He said that a lot of people blame Jagmohan for facilitating the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley. “Jagmohan provided Army trucks and paramilitary vehicles to Kashmiri Pandits which is not untrue,” he said.

Shiv Murari Sahai, who was posted in Kashmir said that the incidents in the movie were highly dramatized and highly unrealistic. “A lot of Kashmiri Pandits I met said that the movie had made it highly difficult for them to return home. The sort of vilification against the Muslim community has made it tough for Kashmiri pandits to return home and then be accepted by the majority community,” said Sahai.

The Kashmiri Pandits told Sahai that the movie is a disservice to Kashmiri Pandit community and was promoted by someone who never wanted to return to Kashmir, Sahai said.

Mentioning anecdotes from the time of his posting in the region, he said that the movie was not an actual representation of facts. “Muslims sacrificed their lives more than Kashmiri Pandits ever did for India and they were killed by militants too,” the former IGP Kashmir said.

Stating the movie shows Kashmiri Muslims

He said that Kashmiri Pandits do not want to return home. “Most of Pandits, in fact, most from the new generation do not want to return to the valley as they are doing well outside Jammu Kashmir. There is a thin majority who feel nostalgic and want to return, but the movie has made it tough for them,” he said.

Mentioning Kashmir’s history, he said the modern dissent of Kashmiri Muslims was started by Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah. “After being ruled by Mughals, then Afghans, then Sikhs and Dogras, Kashmiri have never been ruled by themselves,” he said in conversation during the podcast.