A day after a controversy broke out over a tweet by filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri claiming the January 19 event at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh was aimed at celebrating the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, protestors at the venue have on Sunday called for a meeting in solidarity with Kashmiri Pandits, who were forced to leave the Kashmir valley in 1990 amid rising Islamic Militancy. This comes after the filmmakers’s tweet was countered by the official Twitter handle of the Shaheen Bagh protest on Saturday, wherein the protestors said that the event scheduled on January 19 has no link to the exodus. To commemorate the exodus, the protesters have invited two prominent Kashmiri Pandits, performance artist Inder Salim and theatre personality MK Raina to speak to the gathering on this occasion. Talking to India Today, Mk Raina asserted that the decision of Shaheen Bagh protesters to stand by Kashmiri Pandits shows that those agitating at Shaheenbagh are not exclusive in their approach and also understand the pain of others who have undergone similar experiences in the past, be that the Pandits in Kashmir or Sikhs in Punjab.
“Shaheen Bagh is one of the biggest Gandhian Satyagrah post Independence. This kind of sporadic movement is unprecedented in India. This is a movement which will give a new shape to our country. We have been a unique country all the way, and this uniqueness of such huge diversity is threatened by recent turn of events in the country. These protesters are determined to reclaim the idea that was envisioned as India. Their protest is for a democratic and humane India which cannot be undermined by some allegations.”
Jamia Alumna and film maker Saba Rahman who has been actively taking part in the protests for the past one month believes that these kind of solidarity will strengthen the protest. “The conflict in Kashmir, however, is chronic and it will be good to remind us how quickly the fabric of Kashmiriyat was torn apart. The tragedy of the exile of Kashmiri Pandits is often shamelessly abused by political parties and those who want to undermine the voices of Kashmiri Muslims. It’s time to send out the message that we will not be divided by this hate-filled narrative,” Saba said.
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