Cineplex and Canadian Theatres Enable Genocide by Featuring Propaganda Film “The Kashmir Files” |
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March 31st, 2022
Canadian theatres, including global cinemas, are screening the controversial film The Kashmir Files. This film presents a sensationalized depiction of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s due to the insurgency at that time. According to human rights defenders, the film contains all the hallmarks of a propaganda movie—stereotyping, exaggeration, distortion, and copious graphic communal violence.
“Canadian theatres that feature this film enabled Islamophobia by allowing such propaganda movies. The actual holocaust unfolding in Kashmir is the one organized by the Indian state,” said Taha Ghayyur, Executive Director. “According to Genocide Watch, the Indian government and security forces have enabled countless deaths, thousands of enforced disappearances, mass rapes, prolonged imprisonments, and custodial torture in the region,” added Ghayyur.
Cineplex was previously complicit in streaming Bollywood’s Sooryavanshi, a film that perpetuates stereotypes about Muslims in India, contributing to the rising climate of hate and discrimination faced by India’s 200 million Muslim minority population.
The Kashmir Files uses repetitive Islamophobic tropes; the film portrays Muslims as violent, barbaric, or vile. The film draws comparisons between Kashmiri Pandits and Jews, referring to the exodus as the “holocaust,” a comparison that is unsustainable and against all realities on the ground.
The film’s director, Vivek Agnihotri, is a staunch supporter of India’s rightwing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). There has been no attempt to hide the real purpose of the movie. Like many mainstream media and entertainment outlets, The Kashmir Files incites anti-Muslim violence in India.
According to Ravish Kumar, Managing Editor of NDTV India, “mainstream media is murdering Indian democracy. They are spreading poison in society and poisoning people’s thought process. They are working on a plan to spread hatred against Muslims and make Hindus insecure”.
Systemic discrimination and mob violence against minorities, especially Muslims, Dalits and Christians, have become alarming. In response to recent anti-Muslim genocide calls in December 2021, the UN’s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide advised the UNSC to intervene and protect Indian minorities.
Researcher Swaliha Asiya writes in her film analysis: “Within the first few minutes into the movie, the audience is acquainted with the antagonist, complete with all identity markers of the traditional skull cap and beard. Unsurprisingly the right-wing’s favourite director largely relies on unoriginal caricatures of the stereotypical ‘Muslim villain,’ complete with machine guns, eye makeup, and periodic ‘Allahu Akbar’ to set a strong Islamophobic undertone.”
While the story of Kashmiri Pandits’ migration from the valley requires to be told, filmmakers must possess a certain degree of ethical obligation in retelling such historical traumas to avoid enhanced victimization and villainization.
The Kashmir Files embraces a one-sided narration of the events. This conveys dangerous lies, painting every Kashmiri Muslim as either a terrorist, a militant-sympathizer, or a separatist. Scenes in the film showcase entities as usurping food supplies of perceived victims, encroaching victim lands, and inflicting unspeakable acts of violence on-screen. Director Agnihotri paints Kashmiri Muslims as antagonists deserving of hatred.
The movie has received much praise and admiration from India’s ruling BJP government, even securing tax cuts in several BJP-ruled states. With words of high praise coming from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP Ministers, and MLAs, the movie has become a landmark propaganda production evoking ‘righteous Hindu anger’ from Hindu audiences in theatres across India.
Classifying ‘The Kashmir Files’ As Propaganda Movie
While portraying the pains of Kashmiri Pandits and addressing the community's migration in the film, Agnihotri has deliberately erased the struggles of Kashmiri Muslims who died during the perceived exodus, many while opposing the militant incursion of separatist elements.
In creating the binary of the ‘Hindu Victim’ and ‘Muslim Perpetrator’ narrative, the movie succeeds in sowing sentiments of distrust and anger towards individuals of the Islamic faith.
In the last portion of the film, the impassioned monologue delivered by the movie’s protagonist, Krishna, lays heavy emphasis on the lost supremacy of the victims. It redirects the righteous Hindu anger towards the “invading Muslim enemies.”
Psychology Professor Jordan Peterson has explained this phenomenon in the discourse that precedes genocide in genocidal states and said, “The enhancement of a sense of victimization on the part of one of the groups – usually the group that is going to commit genocide – their sense of being victims is heightened by the demagogues who are trying to stir up this sort of hatred by essentially blaming a group of people for their perceived victimization.”
This propaganda movie ends on an emotionally charged note, leaving viewers with graphic images of torture and persecution on the projected victims committed by the enemy construct – who is shown to be visibly Muslim, with all the audio and visual identity markers to suggest the same – categorizing them as the ‘evil’ other.
The effectiveness of such dangerous propaganda can be observed in various post-movie reactions. The Kashmir Files contains characteristics of a propaganda film, as it deliberately attempts to manipulate sentiments to attain desired reactions related to the film’s subject. Such mass manipulation methods are referenced in India’s genocide warning issued by Genocide Watch founder Dr. Gregory Stanton. During a congressional briefing, he stated that India is in a “preparation stage” of a genocide of Muslim minorities.
Since being released in theatres, a series of viral videos show audiences chanting genocidal slogans, including:
From the perspective of our anti-genocide organization, it’s clear The Kashmir Files is working to trigger mass violence incitement against Muslims deliberately.
Unfortunately, such mass radicalization is not just limited to India.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is a militant religious outfit with a chapter in Canada (VHP Canada). Human Rights Watch (HRW) called out the VHP for their in the 2002 Gujarat genocide. The HRW report also documented communal violence against Muslims and Christians in India. VHP Canada has been offering complimentary tickets and organizing screenings of The Kashmir Files, further inciting anti-Muslim hatred in Canadian communities.
Canadian theatres, including global cinemas, are screening the controversial film The Kashmir Files. This film presents a sensationalized depiction of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s due to the insurgency at that time. According to human rights defenders, the film contains all the hallmarks of a propaganda movie—stereotyping, exaggeration, distortion, and copious graphic communal violence.
“Canadian theatres that feature this film enabled Islamophobia by allowing such propaganda movies. The actual holocaust unfolding in Kashmir is the one organized by the Indian state,” said Taha Ghayyur, Executive Director. “According to Genocide Watch, the Indian government and security forces have enabled countless deaths, thousands of enforced disappearances, mass rapes, prolonged imprisonments, and custodial torture in the region,” added Ghayyur.
Cineplex was previously complicit in streaming Bollywood’s Sooryavanshi, a film that perpetuates stereotypes about Muslims in India, contributing to the rising climate of hate and discrimination faced by India’s 200 million Muslim minority population.
The Kashmir Files uses repetitive Islamophobic tropes; the film portrays Muslims as violent, barbaric, or vile. The film draws comparisons between Kashmiri Pandits and Jews, referring to the exodus as the “holocaust,” a comparison that is unsustainable and against all realities on the ground.
The film’s director, Vivek Agnihotri, is a staunch supporter of India’s rightwing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). There has been no attempt to hide the real purpose of the movie. Like many mainstream media and entertainment outlets, The Kashmir Files incites anti-Muslim violence in India.
According to Ravish Kumar, Managing Editor of NDTV India, “mainstream media is murdering Indian democracy. They are spreading poison in society and poisoning people’s thought process. They are working on a plan to spread hatred against Muslims and make Hindus insecure”.
Systemic discrimination and mob violence against minorities, especially Muslims, Dalits and Christians, have become alarming. In response to recent anti-Muslim genocide calls in December 2021, the UN’s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide advised the UNSC to intervene and protect Indian minorities.
Researcher Swaliha Asiya writes in her film analysis: “Within the first few minutes into the movie, the audience is acquainted with the antagonist, complete with all identity markers of the traditional skull cap and beard. Unsurprisingly the right-wing’s favourite director largely relies on unoriginal caricatures of the stereotypical ‘Muslim villain,’ complete with machine guns, eye makeup, and periodic ‘Allahu Akbar’ to set a strong Islamophobic undertone.”
While the story of Kashmiri Pandits’ migration from the valley requires to be told, filmmakers must possess a certain degree of ethical obligation in retelling such historical traumas to avoid enhanced victimization and villainization.
The Kashmir Files embraces a one-sided narration of the events. This conveys dangerous lies, painting every Kashmiri Muslim as either a terrorist, a militant-sympathizer, or a separatist. Scenes in the film showcase entities as usurping food supplies of perceived victims, encroaching victim lands, and inflicting unspeakable acts of violence on-screen. Director Agnihotri paints Kashmiri Muslims as antagonists deserving of hatred.
The movie has received much praise and admiration from India’s ruling BJP government, even securing tax cuts in several BJP-ruled states. With words of high praise coming from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP Ministers, and MLAs, the movie has become a landmark propaganda production evoking ‘righteous Hindu anger’ from Hindu audiences in theatres across India.
Classifying ‘The Kashmir Files’ As Propaganda Movie
While portraying the pains of Kashmiri Pandits and addressing the community's migration in the film, Agnihotri has deliberately erased the struggles of Kashmiri Muslims who died during the perceived exodus, many while opposing the militant incursion of separatist elements.
In creating the binary of the ‘Hindu Victim’ and ‘Muslim Perpetrator’ narrative, the movie succeeds in sowing sentiments of distrust and anger towards individuals of the Islamic faith.
In the last portion of the film, the impassioned monologue delivered by the movie’s protagonist, Krishna, lays heavy emphasis on the lost supremacy of the victims. It redirects the righteous Hindu anger towards the “invading Muslim enemies.”
Psychology Professor Jordan Peterson has explained this phenomenon in the discourse that precedes genocide in genocidal states and said, “The enhancement of a sense of victimization on the part of one of the groups – usually the group that is going to commit genocide – their sense of being victims is heightened by the demagogues who are trying to stir up this sort of hatred by essentially blaming a group of people for their perceived victimization.”
This propaganda movie ends on an emotionally charged note, leaving viewers with graphic images of torture and persecution on the projected victims committed by the enemy construct – who is shown to be visibly Muslim, with all the audio and visual identity markers to suggest the same – categorizing them as the ‘evil’ other.
The effectiveness of such dangerous propaganda can be observed in various post-movie reactions. The Kashmir Files contains characteristics of a propaganda film, as it deliberately attempts to manipulate sentiments to attain desired reactions related to the film’s subject. Such mass manipulation methods are referenced in India’s genocide warning issued by Genocide Watch founder Dr. Gregory Stanton. During a congressional briefing, he stated that India is in a “preparation stage” of a genocide of Muslim minorities.
Since being released in theatres, a series of viral videos show audiences chanting genocidal slogans, including:
- “Jab mulle kate jayenge, ram ram chillayenge” When Muslims are slaughtered, they will chant Ram Ram (name of a Hindu deity).
- Inciting Hindu youth to marry Muslim women (to impregnate them with Hindu children).
- Pledging to reduce the Muslim population by half.
- Taking oaths of retaliation.
From the perspective of our anti-genocide organization, it’s clear The Kashmir Files is working to trigger mass violence incitement against Muslims deliberately.
Unfortunately, such mass radicalization is not just limited to India.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is a militant religious outfit with a chapter in Canada (VHP Canada). Human Rights Watch (HRW) called out the VHP for their in the 2002 Gujarat genocide. The HRW report also documented communal violence against Muslims and Christians in India. VHP Canada has been offering complimentary tickets and organizing screenings of The Kashmir Files, further inciting anti-Muslim hatred in Canadian communities.