On March 6, a pre-release screening of The Kashmir Files was held in Delhi. Eminent people from many segments of society, as well as Kashmiri Hindus, were invited to the screening.
Lieutenant General KJS Dhillon (Retd.) was also present at the screening of The Kashmir Files and expressed his thoughts thereafter. He recently shared a video of him expressing his thoughts after seeing the movie. In a Twitter post, he shared a video writing, “The Kashmir Files” I was part of the history on 19 Jan 1990 … and on 05 Aug 2019 …👍🇮🇳 Jai Hind VC: @vivekagnihotri @AdityaRajKaul”
“The Kashmir Files”
— KJS DHILLON🇮🇳 (@Tiny_Dhillon) March 8, 2022
I was part of the history on 19 Jan 1990 … and on 05 Aug 2019 …👍🇮🇳
Jai Hind 🇮🇳
VC : @vivekagnihotri @AdityaRajKaul pic.twitter.com/XUOxEQ4SJy
In essence, General Dhillon revealed in the video that during the terrible episodes that led to the migration of Kashmiri Hindus in 1990, he was stationed there as a Captain in the Indian Army and assisted numerous Hindus. Similarly, he was posted in Jammu & Kashmir in August 2019 when Article 370 was repealed. Lt. Gen. Dhillon received a huge round of applause after he spoke.
The comment by General Dhillon came after the character portrayed by Anupam Kher in the movie showed a Kashmiri Hindu man had written over 6,000 letters to the government to repeal Article 370 while the genocide and exodus of Kashmiri Hindus was underway in the valley. The moving performance has received a rousing reception during the screening of the movie.
The film takes viewers back to 1989, when due to rising Islamic Jihad, conflict erupted in Kashmir, forcing the great majority of Hindus to flee the valley. According to estimates, roughly 100,000 of the valley’s total 140,000 Kashmiri Pandit inhabitants migrated between February and March 1990. More of them fled in the years that followed until just about 3,000 families remained in the valley by 2011.
Articles 370 and 35(A), which granted the state of Jammu and Kashmir special status, were repealed on August 5, 2019. Apart from repealing Article 370, the Modi government bifurcated the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two new Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir (with Legislature) and Ladakh (without Legislature). In addition, with the repeal of Article 370, Article 35A was rendered invalid.
The Kashmir Files, directed by Vivek Agnihotri, is centered on the lives of Kashmiri Hindus and is based on true events. The film is based on video interviews with first-generation Kashmiri Pandit victims of the Kashmir Genocide. It was originally slated to be released in theatres on January 26, 2022, but was pushed back because of the increasing number of Covid-19 instances. It is now scheduled to release on March 11.
