Speaking at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival, filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra got candid about his Kashmiri childhood and the mass exodus of Kashmir Pandits. His upcoming film Shikara is based on the same. The film stars Sadia and Aadil Khan in lead roles and will hit theatres on 7 February.
Speaking about why the story is so close to his heart, he said:
“My childhood was spent in Kashmir, it can never be away from me. Now is the time to raise an alarm in Parliament on the question of Pandits.”Vidhu Vinod Chopra
He added, “People those who killed us, cannot say sorry and move on. I wanted people (our friends and neighbours) who didn’t help us to say sorry for not standing by us.”
Speaking about the kind of reactions Shikara has received, Chopra said
“After watching the film the kids asked me, is this what really happened? My heart broke. They had no idea of what happened to their parents. Our culture is finished. When I went to Jagti camp and spoke to kids in Kashmiri they responded to me in Dogri.”Vidhu Vinod Chopra
He also added that, “You get a heart attack but you get stents. And you go on. All of us Kashmiri pandits have a stent in our hearts. But we have to move on. The hashtag #ApkaSwagatHai in response to #HumWaapisAyenge gave me hope. There has to be an acknowledgement of what KPs went through.”
Speaking about the recent political changes in Kashmir, particularly the abrogation of Article 370, Chopra said that the government had shown courage by getting rid of it but he is interested in seeing what happens next.
“Govt has shown courage and removed it, but I wanna see what happens now.”Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Finally, he added that Kashmiri Pandits deserved something akin to what’s happening at Shaheen Bagh. “There needs to be a Shaheen Bagh for Pandits as well,” said Chopra.
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