The movie Shikara which was being touted by its maker Vidhu Vinod Chopra as a realistic portrayal of the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus in 1989-90, has turned out to be a blatant propaganda attempt to cover up the ugly truth of Islamist bigotry & violence which forced around 5 lakh Hindus to flee the valley and lives as refugees in their own country.

During promotion, the tagline of the movie was “The Untold Story of Kashmiri Pandits”, but at the time of release the tagline was changed to “A Timeless Love Story in the Worst of Times”. A typical bait-and-switch move employed by tricksters and charlatans. That the movie would brush inconvenient facts under the carpet became clear the moment Chopra asked the victims of the genocide to forgive and forget ‘the little fallout between friends”, hug and move on. This, when mass murderers and rapists of Hindus like Yasin Malik and Bitta Karate are still unpunished for their crimes, when the radicalised Kashmiri Muslim populace starts rioting over few acres of land granted for temporary shelters for Amarnath yatra pilgrims, or pours into streets to mourn death of terrorists like Burhan Wani.

Let’s hear what the Kashmiri Hindu organisation i4kashmir, who were hopeful that finally a mainstream Bollywood director is taking up their tragic story, have to say about Shikara and its maker-

“The Srinagar born Producer, Director & Writer of Shikara, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, returned to direction, after a hiatus, with the much-anticipated movie titled Shikara. The tagline of the movie that read “The Untold Story of Kashmiri Pandits” automatically translating to the depiction of the plight, the tragedy and the atrocities unleashed on the aboriginal and peaceful Kashmiri Hindu community during their 7th exodus in 1990. Alas! It has been a complete let down as the story pivots on the love story of a young couple instead and has nothing much to offer about our genocide.

India 4 Kashmir rejects the movie “Shikara” in its entirety and terms it a malicious attempt to whitewash the crimes of the “Genocide of Kashmiri Pandits” by their perpetrators. The community feels completely betrayed and trespassed yet again by the dilution and taken-for-granted attitude of the makers of this movie. Shikara, in no way, represents the truth or the true picture of unspeakable brutalities inflicted on the Hindus of Kashmir during the turbulent times of the exodus.

On 19 January 2020, the Kashmiri Hindu community marked its 30th year in Exile, living in homelessness for over 3 decades. The peaceful Kashmiri Hindu community was violently forced out of their homes and homeland by the gun wielding terrorists in connivance and support of the majority Muslims in Kashmir. None of this has been accurately represented in the movie. Who can forget the intimidating slogans shouted by the frenzy mob baying for our blood? All this has been watered down very smartly in the movie and the blame conveniently shifted on the administration.

India 4 Kashmir calls out the blatant hypocrisy and outright dishonesty of the makers, particularly for their claims about the movie being the “Untold Story of Kashmiri Pandits.”

Our Shakti @ResearchBharat confronted @VVCFilms & he looks visibly shaken. The same fate awaits him everywhere because by showing a love story on dead bodies of Kashmiri Hindus, he has committed a grave sin. Perhaps equivalent to the 1990 Genocide. Shame.#KPsDisownShikara! pic.twitter.com/9gxHvpcRDj

— India 4 Kashmir (@i4Kashmir) February 7, 2020

(HinduPost note – The supercilious & patronising manner in which Chopra dismisses the cries of anguish of the Kashmiri Hindu lady Divya Razdan in the video above, shows just how arrogant these liberals with Hindu-sounding names are. Replying to the lady, Chopra says “truth has two sides” and gives an absurd example of how people enjoy tea for different reasons – “some like the flavor of the tea, while others are fond of the milk.” He’s basically denying the real cause of the ethnic cleansing of KPs. Would Chopra have the guts to talk about the ‘other side’ of Nazi holocaust of Jews?)

The dreadful memories of January 19, 1990 are deeply etched in our minds. On this night, the horrors and helplessness of the Kashmiri Hindu community came true when over five lakh Kashmiri Hindus were uprooted from their homes. Overnight, the valley turned sombre as the Hindus left behind their land thanks to the systematic and organised barbaric campaigns emanating from the mosques across Kashmir. The war cries unleashed by the terrorists were supported by the locals.

The circumstances that led to forceful eviction of the entire minority of Kashmiri Hindus from their homeland is a genocide and this fact has been outrageously ignored. Instead, our killers and the Kashmiri Muslims, who were hand in gloves with the criminals, have been showcased in good light.

This movie has once again scraped the wounds of the peaceful community. Unfortunately, the makers including Chopra have taken the community for a ride yet again for the reasons best known to them.

We feel disappointed yet again by the “opportunity lost,” which could otherwise have exhibited the truth about the Genocide of a culture and a Civilization. Alas! The reality about the peaceful community has succumbed and fallen prey to the mean mentality of “money making business,” where truth is the ultimate casualty!

#KPsDisownShikara in its entirety and we condemn the commercial extravaganza of the makers on the dead bodies of hapless Hindus who were subjected to Genocide in 1990.”

What makes Shikara worse is that journalist Rahul Pandita, a Kashmiri Hindu himself who has written a book ‘Our Moon Has Blood Clots‘ about the exodus, was involved in writing the screenplay of the movie. While Pandita knows that what drove Hindus out of the valley was bare, naked Islamism, his left-liberal instincts led him to become a party to whitewashing the brutal persecution of his own people not just by terrorists but by Muslim neighbours who spilled onto the streets on the night of 19th January 1990 chanting blood-curdling slogans like ‘Asi gachchi Pakistan, Batao roas te Batanev san’ (We want Pakistan along with Hindu women but without their men). After all, a place at the liberal high table & grants from well-funded liberal NGOs is more appealing than being branded ‘communal’ & ex-communicated by the liberal mafia.

This is what Rahul Pandita had boasted before the movie was released –

In the interview below, Hindu activist Divya Razdan (dubbed a ‘vicious lady’ by Rahul Pandita) who challenged Vidhu Vinod Chopra to his face, talks in detail about why the movie Shikara is dishonest and actually shows Hindus as ‘hateful bigots’ with scenes like a Kashmiri Hindu boys living in a refugee camp saying ‘Mandir wahin banayenge’ (reference to Ram Janmabhoomi movement of 1992)

The odd Tanhaji and Bahubali apart, Bollywood movies remain staunchly anti-Hindu. Even if they talk about Islamic terror, the narrative is always about how innocent Muslims are driven to terror because of some wrong done to them. Anti-Hindu slant, subtle or overt, can be spotted even in movies on benign topics like Mission Mangal.

Expecting honesty from deracinated directors with Hindu-sounding names like Chopra, Johar, Bhardwaj, Bhansali etc. is living in a fool’s paradise. In fact, Chopra had made a movie Mission Kashmir in 2000 which also rationalized & covered up the true nature of the Islamic jihad being waged in Kashmir. Another ‘acclaimed’ movie made on the Kashmir issue – Haider– directed by Vishal Bharadwaj with screenplay by Basharat Peer had portrayed separatists as victims and omitted mention of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus.

A displaced Kashmiri Hindu Dimple Kaul writes about how films like Haider and Shikara are attempts by left-liberals to subtly capture the the entire spectrum on the Kashmir issue, and push the persecution of Hindus to the margins.

Chopra’s wife Anupama during a recent interview with Saif Ali Khan asked him why he chose to act in a movie  (Tanhaji) with ‘questionable politics’. That one question tells us all we need to know about current state of Bollywood – their ‘liberal, secular’ value system attaches a high premium on political correctness rather than true depiction of events/history.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra has been stung by the bold rejection of his propaganda film by Hindus. He has penned an open letter where he first says “if you don’t know history, you will be condemned to repeat it,” before contradicting himself by claiming his movie attempts to “speak of unimaginable pain without sowing the seeds of violence and animosity….I have seen my home destroyed by hate. Do not let it consume you. I want you to have a future that is different from my past”.

How can we prevent history from repeating unless we first face history as it occurred, not as we romanticise it to be? How is acknowledging the truth tantamount to being consumed by hate? If Hindu society had stayed in denial of issues plaguing it like child marriage or caste discrimination, would it have progressed to where it is today? So then why are these same film-makers so hell bent on keeping Muslims and Hindus both in denial about the threat of Islamic radicalisation and intolerance that has been a constant feature of Muslim societies across the ages?

It’s best for Bollywood’s left-liberals to stick to their song and dance movies or making rip-offs of Hollywood movies, as covering serious topics with courage & empathy is beyond most of them. Hindus are better off watching low-budget movies like Srinagar which at least try to depict events as they really took place –

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