CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday sought an examination of the role of former Jammu and Kashmir governor Jagmohan in the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley, calling the BJP’s promotion of The Kashmir Files an attempt to further polarise the society.
Vivek Agnihotri’s film has touched a raw nerve in the Valley, deeply polarising the already-divided Kashmiri Muslim and Pandit communities, as it tries to cast Muslims as the villains of the migration and alleges a “genocide”
Yechury appeared to support a perception among Valley Muslims that Jagmohan had a role to play in the 1990 migration of Pandits. Many Muslims here believe he plotted the migration to get a free hand to deal with Kashmir residents for rising in revolt against Delhi.
On the contrary, many Kashmiri Pandits see Jagmohan, who was governor during the migration, as a saviour of the community but reject insinuations that they left the Valley at his behest.
“When the talk is about the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits — it is called exodus — if you want truth then what was the role of the governor of that time should also come out,” Yechury told a media conference in Srinagar.
The CPIM leader regretted the way the central government was promoting the film, saying polarisation was dangerous for the “unity and integrity” of the country as well as its progress.
“So far as The Kashmir Files is concerned, the Prime Minister himself said that you can make another film (to counter it). There was a film about Godhra and the Gujarat riots, if you remember, Parzania. Did you (Narendra Modi) allow it to be screened (as Gujarat chief minister)? You will allow a film to be made but will you allow it to be screened? You are allowing films which show your one-sided views.”
Former RAW chief A.S. Dulat, who was a key intelligence officer in the Valley in 1990, recently told this newspaper that Jagmohan was quite relieved about the Pandit migration. “When these killings started, he didn’t want the Pandits to bear the brunt of it. So once they started leaving, he was quite happy,” he said.
Yechury, who is in the Valley for consultations with party leaders here, criticised the Supreme Court for delaying the hearing of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370.
“The more time the Supreme Court takes to hear these petitions, the more time the government has to implement it (laws introduced in the wake of special status scrapping),” he said.
“Our understanding is that till the fundamental question of whether the abrogation of Article 370 is constitutionally valid or invalid, such laws be put on hold. A fait accompli is being provided by not doing so. If the matter is heard after that and even if it (court) states that it is wrong, it would be difficult to repeal these changes”.
The CPIM leader reiterated his party’s stance that while Jammu and Kashmir was a part of India, there “should be a complete, 100 per cent, implementation of the promises and assurances” that became the basis of state’s accession to India.
Indian constitution had guaranteed special status to Jammu and Kashmir and allowed to have its own constitution, flag and panel code.
“The discontent and alienation you are creating is not in the interests of our country. There is a need to correct it,” he said.
Yechury said there was a need for a “broadest possible front of secular forces” to “isolate and defeat the BJP” in the next election, saying the unemployment in India was the worst in its regime while the country was falling on all indexes.
“It means that India’s situation is declining very fast — global hunger index, global freedom index, press freedom index is falling,” he said.
“(So much so), we are an electoral autocracy, not a democracy”.
