Oscar nominee and National Award winning director Ashvin Kumar whose film No Fathers In Kashmir which is set to release on 5th April 2019, said that the mainstream media has painted a wrong picture of Kashmiris. He said that the portrayal of the common Kashmiri people and Kashmir itself is done in a way that is different from the reality.
“Kashmiris are presented as anti-nationals as only pictures of stone-pelting youngsters are coming out. It is but obvious to assume that they are anti-nationals because they are throwing stones at the army. But do we really know how they are harassed every single day, just to live a normal life?” said Ashvin in an interview with IANS.
The filmmaker is the son of veteran fashion designer Ritu Kumar who herself has worked extensively with Kashmiri artisans. His maternal grandfather was also a Kashmiri and therefore, he has observed both sides of Kashmir — before and after insurgency — closely.
“As a kid, I used to visit grandparents’ house in Kashmir. The place was all about beauty, nature, the valley, the people, their warmth and the beautiful Kashmiri culture. Kashmir was a different place before 1989, when the insurgency engulfed it and everything was ruined,” he said.
“In 2009 when I went to Kashmir to make film Inshallah, Kashmir, I realised it was not at all the Kashmir where I spent summer vacations as a child. It was not the paradise anymore,” said Ashvin.
Kumar said that the reality was altogether different; it had changed completely. According to him, Kashmiris have simultaneously disappeared from not just the daily life of Kashmir but their stories have also disappeared from mainstream media.
“Instead of showing how a 14-year-old boy is pelting stones and picking up the gun against army, why can’t we think why is he not in school? Why does he not having a normal childhood? The reason behind the act of violence is not presented by the mainstream media,” he said.
When asked if the change came after the death of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in 2016, the director clarified that in his documentary Inshallah, Football, he had made it clear that if this generation of Kashmiris decides to “pick up the gun”, the consequences would be disastrous.
“In my next film Inshallah, Kashmir, I stated it again ‘do not alienate these children, something dangerous will happen’. Then Burhan Wani happened (started gaining popularity among Kashmiri youths) and recently Pulwama (terror attack in J&K) happened,” he explained.
“Basically, what we see today is the continuation of a situation where several generations are deprived of a normal childhood. Nothing has changed except the lack of compassion from the government to think about the common Kashmiris living in rural areas,” he added.
Ashvin’s film No Fathers In Kashmir revolves around the story of a young Kashmiri girl who lives in the UK and comes to Kashmir in search of her missing father.
It stars Soni Razdan, Anshuman Jha, Zara Webb, Shivam Raina and Kulbhushan Kharbanda in key roles.