January 19, 2024: Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, the provocative voice behind ‘The Kashmir Files,’ commemorates the infamous ‘Black Day’ with a gut-wrenching Instagram animated graphic. It portrays a terrified Hindu family abandoning their idyllic Kashmiri abode under threat of slaughter – a scene ripped from the 1990 pandemonium.
Captioned starkly: ‘Today is January 19. The day Kashmiri Hindus were forced to leave their ancestral homes. This is to remind you that even 36 years later, they cannot return home and live in exile in their own country.’ Reactions poured in, united in anguish: ‘Never forgive. Never forget.’
That fateful night in 1990, Valley mosques broadcast death threats, sparking the greatest migration since Partition. Pandits – given hours to flee – left an estimated Rs 2 lakh crore in assets. Marked as ‘kafirs,’ they became refugees in their birthplace.
Agnihotri channeled this outrage into ‘The Kashmir Files,’ a 2022 release that punched way above its 15-20 crore budget, raking in 350 crores globally. Facing demonization as ‘propaganda’ and ad boycotts, it conquered hearts. Tax exemptions nationwide cemented its legacy as truth-teller.
Decades later, Pandits number mere hundreds in Kashmir, their heritage vandalized. Agnihotri’s post reignites demands for justice: property reclamation, security guarantees, and return. In an era of selective outrage, his persistence spotlights enduring injustice, challenging India to heal this gaping historical wound.