The Kashmir Files, directed by Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, is being talked about across the country, and social media platforms are seeing a lot of posts that motivate people to watch the movie. The Kashmir Files tells the story of systematic atrocities committed against Kashmiri Hindus in the Valley, leading to the infamous, horrific, heart-breaking Exodus of 1990.
The ghastly incidents shown in the movie, along with many others, have been a part of every Kashmiri’s life, including mine. Lakhs of people lost everything, almost overnight; the less fortunate, their own lives, and others, all they had built over decades — their businesses, land, and most brutal of it all, their honour and homes. This tragedy, much-discussed since, will always remain a blot on independent India.
What is seldom talked about, however, is the story of what followed the Exodus — the story of the community getting back on their feet after losing everything to the most horrible time one could experience. This is a story, I believe, that needs to be told — the story of our community rising from the ashes like a Phoenix, the story that can help many of us become stronger versions of ourselves, for there are some valuable lessons to be learned from it.
Today, you can find many Kashmiris in leading roles at global organisations; many are bureaucrats, doctors, lawyers, artists and administrators. The bottom line is, they are doing well in their lives. How was all this possible? How does someone recover from the trauma of getting plucked out from their roots, from everything that belonged to them, and from everything they belonged to?
Lesson 1: The most important investment to make is Education
We left our homes behind and ran for our lives. Most of us were left without a roof on our heads, without enough food to feed the children and the elderly, and with no access to clean water. Yet, none of our children stopped getting a formal education. This meant we had to save money to pay the school fee. This was ensured despite thousands of us skipping meals and choosing it over comfortable beds to sleep in.
We all owe it to the sacrifices our parents made to ensure we could go to school. Perhaps they realised the golden rule that there’s only one thing no one can ever snatch from you — they can take away your money, your home, your belongings, even your life — but never your education, formal and cultural. It stays on till you exist as an asset that will help you rebuild your life, ground up.
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Lesson 2: The answer to violence is Justice — not Violence
When something as bad as an exodus hits you, mere mortals may consider responding to violence with violence, if they don’t know better.
If we would’ve let our emotional state affect our ability to make objective decisions, it would have been easy to take up arms to avenge the atrocities. It takes far more courage to channelise all that pain and convert it into a constructive force rather than a destructive one.
We Kashmiris have been raising our voices for justice all these years — which has been falling on deaf ears — but, our unwavering belief in the concept of ‘justice’ is so strong that none of us resorted to violence or vengeance.
Life teaches us the difference between ‘reacting’ and ‘responding’ to situations, and how these two approaches — that seem to tread on similar grounds — are actually poles apart. The reaction is when we give in to every stimulus around us and submit to external factors which, in most cases, are out of our control. Response, on the other hand, is when we choose ‘how’, ‘when’, ‘where’ and ‘to what extent’ do we react and keep the control with us.
Realising the power of this thought can help us take control of our whole lives and give us outcomes we would never imagine are possible to achieve!
Lesson 3: Great works are performed not with power but by Perseverance
When we left the Valley, we never thought it was going to be forever. While some thought it was for a few weeks, some expected it to last a few months. It’s already been over 30 years, and we are still waiting for the day things might move in our favour.
Such a wait for justice can drain anyone emotionally, but not if you have perseverance. While we might have lost a few battles, we are still hopeful that we will win this war against oppression. Had we lost perseverance, we would have already lost the war by putting our efforts and energies into short-term goals rather than thinking long-term. It was this very trait of perseverance that helped us adapt to our gradual but definite upheaval. Uncertainty stared at us in its most ruthless form but perseverance helped us pull through.
It’s applicable to life in general. No matter how bad things might appear to get at a given moment, and we may feel there is no chance of bouncing back, we owe it to ourselves and our families to keep fighting with the greatest spirit.
Lesson 4: Always Help others
Many institutions, both government and non-government, turned a blind eye to the plight of lakhs of Kashmiris who left the Valley to safer spots like Jammu, Delhi and other nearby areas; there were some who welcomed Kashmiris into their homes, giving them safe spaces. My uncle was among such people. Already living in Jammu in a three-bedroom house, he made space for 12 more families (around 35 people) in his 800-square-feet house. He didn’t have to do it, but he did.
There were many who selflessly helped us. Not only did such acts of kindness directly help many, they also inspired others to do better, be better. I witnessed many of my uncle’s neighbours opening their doors to the needy.
It is important to note this wasn’t just about sharing space, but about letting people know you share their pain with them, that you empathise with them.
A single act of kindness is capable of triggering a whole movement. I hear many people complaining it is not possible to make an impact alone. What we need to understand is that just one act, by one human, may inspire hundreds of thousands of others, and so on. All it takes is one simple act of kindness — help everyone you can!
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Lesson 5: Your Character far outweighs your physical assets
All are free to interpret ‘character’ through their own belief systems. What I believe would be common across every interpretation or definition is the fact that character, to a great extent, is influenced by surroundings, and surroundings are deeply shaped by culture.
You will know this if you interact with a Kashmiri. You will realise they were definitely taken out of Kashmir but Kashmir was never taken out of them nor will it ever be.
It is not just about the symbolism that you can find in our homes where we, in some way or the other, try to keep Kashmir alive — through paintings, art or craft from the Valley, and the underlying belief in ‘Kashmiriyat’ — our true culture reflects across our thoughts, behaviour, actions and mindset.
It is the subconscious driving force behind the decisions we take each day, the way we greet people, the way we deal with our elders and youngsters, or simply the way we conduct our routines. Indian culture, no matter from which part of the country, inspires you to become better human beings — it gives you essential lessons in humility, knowledge, faith and karma. These lessons make more of you than your body does and we should always strive to keep them alive in us, no matter how bad we might think the situations are.
I shared this seldom-told story to find peace in the chaos that has surrounded this topic over the past few days. It is my attempt to approach the Kashmiri Pandits’ story through a learner’s lens.
It’s my tribute to all those who lost their roots to extremism and political hogwash, and are still living as displaced people in their own land.
Sahil Koul is the Founder and CEO of Forearm Worldwide — a Social Development Technology company based out of Gurugram. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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