Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 21: BJP spokesman and former Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president, Y V Sharma today said that former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s statement on the film “The Kashmir Files” saying that “it’s far from the truth” is odd and bewildering. Omar also remarked that Muslims and Sikhs too had faced the same gun.
In a press statement here Sharma pointed out that the film’s focus are Kashmiri Hindus and it depicts the hitherto unpublicised real stories of the atrocities committed on them. Targeted killings of several of their leaders, ordinary people amounted to genocide and this was the reason of their exodus from Kashmir in 1989/90.
Reacting to Omar’s statement, Sharma asked as to specify which part of the movie was untrue? Were the episodes regarding killing of Indian Air Force officers, killing of innocent men, women and children in Nadimarg untrue? Were the killings of Tika Lal Taploo or NK Ganjoo untrue? Is it not true that slogans “Ralliv, Chaaliv and Gaaliv” in the movie were raised at that time.
Bollywood has made several films earlier also about terrorism in Kashmir. However, the theme of none of them was atrocities committed on Kashmiri Hindus by the terrorists. He further said that NC-Cong Govt had started tottering from 1987 itself after coming to power. By 1989, there was chaos and confusion everywhere. The vacuum caused was filled by subversives very rapidly. The rot set in during these coalition years of NC-Congress Govt was responsible for the events that culminated in late 1989 & as 1990 dawned.
Sharma reminded Omar that the DC Srinagar and Anantnag refused to sign the detention warrants against Shabir Shah, a separatist, who was arrested from Ramban in Sept, 1989. Someone very important and highly placed ordered him to be sent to Srinagar rather than taking him to Jammu? Who was this person when Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah ruled?
Even Farooq released 70 hard core terrorists, between July and December 1989, from several jails. Many of them later became torch-bearers of armed Jihad against the state, he added.
He said though Muslims and Sikhs too, faced the gun during those times, condemnable as it is, it must be noted by Omar that it was only Hindus, the aboriginals of Kashmir, who were ethnically cleansed. They were terrorised, killed, many of their women raped and systematically they were pushed out of the Kashmir Valley.
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