TIME magazine is at it again. This particular publication seems to have a phobia of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP, and Hindus in general. It also has a seething hatred for India, while its fascination for Islamists knows no bounds. TIME magazine regularly publishes shoddy pieces which seek to project PM Modi as some sort of a devil who is running all over Indian Muslims. In its recent hit job, the magazine has claimed that the film ‘The Kashmir Files’ portrays Muslims as “uniformly evil, treacherous, and predatory. Even little Muslim boys are shown as demonic.”
The Kashmir Files is perhaps the only film that does not shy away from showing reality as it was in the Kashmir of 1990 and the years that followed. The film is gory. It is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Whether it be the Nadimarg massacre near Shopian in Pulwama district, when 24 Hindus were killed by terrorists dressed in army outfits; or the enactment of jihadis feeding a wife rice soaked in her husband’s blood – the film shows it all. Rapes, murders – all indicators of a brutal genocide were shown in the film.
The movie bravely depicts the true stories of Kashmir Pandits’ genocide. Vivek Agnihotri reportedly contacted innumerable Kashmiri Pandits and their families for their testimonies, and the film is based on their real-life accounts. The film unapologetically shows how Kashmiri Hindus were given a clear choice by Islamist terrorists of the valley. Their condition was: ‘Ralive-Tsalive-ya Galive’ (Convert, leave or perish).
TIME Magazine Seething with Anger
In an opinion piece by one Debasish Roy Chowdhury, who claims to be the co-author of a book called “To Kill A Democracy: India’s Passage to Despotism,” TIME claims, “The Hindi-language film has been given a tax break and is being heavily championed by the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been urging people to go watch it.”
The predictive piece also says that the film is not interested in justice and closure for the Pandit community. “Instead, the purpose of The Kashmir Files is to inflame hatred against Muslims; against secular parties that Modi’s followers brand anti-Hindu; liberal intellectuals and activists, whose faith in India’s inclusive democracy runs contrary to the supremacist tenets of Hindu nationalism; and against the liberal media that the Hindu right disparages as sold-out “presstitutes.”
TIME declared, “Drip-fed with nuggets of rewritten history through social media and popular culture, the Hindu vigilantes leading the charge against India’s Muslim population rationalize their bigotry as justice for past wrongs.”
Essentially, the problem that TIME Magazine has with The Kashmir Files is that the film drives a wedge between Hindus and Muslims while portraying the latter as devils. However, all that the film does is show the truth. If telling the truth evokes certain emotions within Hindus, can they really be blamed for it? After all, Islamists did commit the crimes which have been shown in the film.
Onus of Protecting Secularism on Hindus
The fundamental point which the TIME Magazine wanted to make to Hindus was this – ignore the past and fulfil your duty to keep India’s secular fabric alive. This, mind you, is the same fabric that Islamists have time and again torn apart and set on fire.
Telling the truth about Islamists is bigotry on the part of Hindus, according to TIME. In fact, the magazine also went on to compare the success of The Kashmir Files with the state of cinema in Nazi Germany, where films were weaponised against Jews. TIME is drawing a similar parallel in India, attempting to showcase the BJP as India’s Nazi front.
Read more: The Kashmir Files is the goriest, yet the most truthful account of the Kashmiri Hindu massacre
Fortunately, India couldn’t care less about what TIME Magazine has to say. Indians will be told about the horrors that were inflicted upon this civilization, and nobody can stop brave individuals from exposing Islamists in the future.