Kashmiri film personalities hail scrapping of Article 370

The Narendra Modi government scrapped articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution of India, which gave special status to the state of Jammu & Kashmir, on 5 August.

The bill piloted for this purpose through the two houses of Parliament by Union home minister Amit Shah also broke the state up into the Union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

The decision instantly became a hot topic of discussion and continues to be so. There have been various reactions and counter-reactions on the government's move in the media as well as among experts and the general public.

The film industry also has a number of people who hail from Jammu & Kashmir. Some of them were forced to leave the valley during the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits three decades ago while others were victims of militancy. Cinestaan.com spoke to some about the latest developments.

Ashoke Pandit, filmmaker and social activist, is a Kashmiri Pandit who was forced to leave the valley during the exodus. He has always been vocal on the issues faced by Kashmiris and minced no words on what he thought of the articles.

“The articles were like a cancer and had to be operated upon," Ashoke Pandit said. "There are no two opinions on this. The only thing is that you needed political will to do this. We are in exile for 30 years now and were not sure when this would end. Return was looking difficult because things were not coming into a grip.”

Pandit was also vocal about earlier central and state governments. “What Modi did, earlier governments could have also done, but they all were running their businesses, whether the Gandhi family, the Mufti family, the Abdullah family or the Hurriyat. So, they didn’t want things to normalize. [Article] 370 and 35A were not a Jammu & Kashmir problem. They were problems of the country because of the terrorism. Our security forces kept laying down their lives.”

Veteran actor Kiran Kumar traces his roots back to Kashmir through his father, the late Jeevan. "I think this is the best news this year," the one-time screen villain said. "I applaud the courage of the Modi government to have taken this historical decision. It is the righting of a wrong that was done 70 years ago to the state.

"The article was only helping three families in the state foment a sense of separatism among the population. This has nothing to do with religion. Kashmir, by definition, was a place of peace where people lived together irrespective of religion."

Speaking further on the three families, Kiran Kumar said, "For these families, who were using the articles as a means to create unrest, why should India carry this karz [debt] of Article 370? It is a good thing it has now been removed."

Kiran Kumar said Jeevan had arrived in Mumbai at the age of 18 and he himself was born in Dadar in central Mumbai. But he expressed the hope that the move by the government would bring development back to the state of Jammu & Kashmir. "The removal of special status will help to improve the state of Kashmiri youth," he said. "There has been no development. Corporations could not come to the state, no jobs were created, which actually led to the stone-pelting and other incidents. With jobs, the youth can understand the world, get educated, move up in life. Kashmir will not only have shawls and boat rides on the Dal lake. It will be more than that."

Pandit was also optimistic about positive outcomes. “Every Ladakhi, Kashmiri Pandit, Kashmiri Muslim, Jammuite and individual is going to prosper because now we will talk about growth, prosperity, industrialization and business and life will start getting smoother,” he said.

Although Pandit hoped things would improve, he admitted the decision came as a surprise. “We were not expecting that this will happen; that the government will take a pro-India stand and do this because this has never happened [before]. This was a promise given by the Narendra Modi government in 2014 and 2019. We are thankful to our government, especially the prime minister and Amit Shah, for the way they have handled the situation,” he said.

Actor Tej Sapru also traces his lineage to the state. Tej, son of the late actor DK Sapru, is a well known face in Hindi cinema. He said, "It is strange that my great-grandfather was a treasurer in the court of Hari Singh, the last king of Jammu & Kashmir. So was Kiran Kumar's grandfather, who also worked in the court. But we cannot go back now and buy land in our ancestral place. If we have to, they would ask us to bring back the chart [of our lineage]. Now, where would we go for a chart from those times? If you are a Kashmiri pandit and have gone through it all, it is very difficult."

Praising the decision, he said, "I would say this is the best thing that has happened to Kashmir in all these years."

While there have been doubts about normalcy being restored in the state, considering its long and bloody history, both actors sounded confident. Kiran Kumar said, "For people saying there will be repercussions, India can handle anything that comes its way. Yes, there will be some unrest. When you throw a stone in the river, there will be ripples. But the state will return to normalcy after a while. It is inevitable."

Tej Sapru expressed a similar sentiment: "According to me, within a year, it should go back to normal. Personally, I am very happy this has gone through."

Pandit said he and many others like him will now return to the valley. “Our return will happen. Our next generation, which has never gone to Kashmir, will now move back. We will get back to our roots. It was not just a question of property. It was the question of our identification, roots and culture,” he said.