'The Kashmir Files': Kashmiri Pandit diaspora group says RSS helped KPs during tough times

The Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora (GKPD), an organisation that works for the Kashmir Pandits, said that 'The Kashmir Files' move succinctly represented the atrocities on the community that led to their exodus from Kashmir in the 1990s. One official from the organisation said that the movie showed the truth and it is only 10% of what happened there.

"What is shown in The Kashmir Files movie is the truth, it is only 10% of whatever happened in the Valley, there's more," Utpal Kaul, the International Coordinator for GKPD, said. "Many Kashmiris are alive today because of the Sangh," he added.

He said that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) helped Kashmir Pandits to leave the valley. He also mentioned the assistance of the Dogra Samaj, Arya Samaj and Sikhs.

Kaul said that the then government was nowhere seen when the exodus began in December 1990. "The mass killings reached its climax on January 19 when outrageous slogans were raised, even today these are completely ineffable, All of this was happening for the first time in history, for us as a minority," said Kaul.

The GKPD member added, "We had to flee to save our lives and our honour. We were displaced on the roads of Jammu and we did not know what to do."

He informed that RSS had given shelter to thousands of Hindus at Gita Bhawan. "The Sangh working out of over 700 locations sent us the assistance of Rs 1.5 crore," Kaul said.

'The Kashmir Files' directed by Vivek Agnihotri hit the theatres on March 11. The movie revolves around the killing of Kashmir Pandits in the 1990s. 

Starring Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Darshan Kumaar, Pallavi Joshi and others. The file, which has been made tax free in many states has caught up in controversy with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Opposition parties sparring over the portrayal of the happenings it depicts. 

"Congress is in denial of killing and genocide of Kashmiri Pandits. The argument is happening on The Kashmir Files, instead of budget," Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during the discussion on the budget of 'Union Territory of Jammu and for 2022-23' in Rajya Sabha.