Federation of Indian Association (FIA), New England and Indian American Community with several other partner organizations organized two exclusive pre-release film Impact programs about ‘The Kashmir Files (TKF)’ on Wednesday, December 8, 2021, one at Harvard Club, Boston, MA in the afternoon, and the other at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, MA in the evening. This film has been made based on the real incidents of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s that tell the stories of horrifying events to the world. 

All the invitees at the Harvard Club had a brief meet and greet program along with veggie wraps and various soft beverages, spending with Vivek Agnihotri (Film Director), Pallavi Joshi (actress), and Mallika (creative producer). Abhishek Singh (President of FIA, NE) and Jyoti Singh (Emcee of the program) welcomed all the invitees and set the tone of the discussion, and said they are hopeful the outcome of this discussion will help to prevail the Global Peace, Social Harmony, and humanity. Following a brief clip of the making of the film, Vivek Agnihotri briefed the audience about his motivation behind making this movie and his thoughts and experiences. Vivek said that his talks with some Kashmiri Pandits made him to uncover the truth behind the unreported/partially reported stories of the Indian history, and highlights of pains, sufferings, struggles, and trauma of Kashmiri Pandits.. Then, he realized hypocritical policies adopted by the local and international top leaders and government agencies that raises questions about the principle of democracy, religion, politics, and humanity. It is an honest effort to uncover the truth, and present to the world.

Prof. Bal Ram Singh moderated the panel discussion that comprised of Prof. Sanjay Kaul, Swati Chauhan, a student at Harvard Divinity School, Dr. Ramesh Kapoor, and Prof. Adam J. Sulkowski of Babson College. The panelists expressed their enlightening thoughts and said that such films, documentaries, and literature will definitely help the educators in teaching the younger generations about the factors and patterns of genocides, and how to address issues of human rights, and world peace. In his concluding remarks, Vivek said that such issues would not be resolved by being either a leftist or a rightist but by being in the middle as Lord Shiva’s third eye. It is an eye of wisdom, which provides us the ability to distinguish what is right and what is wrong and leads to oneness and true harmony in the world.  The packed Hall of influential intellectuals and local dignitaries applauded his speech. He as well answered all the questions raised by the audience in a brief interactive session.

Pallavi talked about her experiences that came across during her research and requested everyone to watch the film on Friday at Regal Cinema, Marlborough, MA. She urged people to then share their thoughts with family members, friends, and on social media to encourage people to watch this movie which will be released theatrically worldwide on 26 January 2022, coinciding with India's Republic Day. She asked people to be aware of the real situations and support efforts that are working towards building Kashmir as a heaven on the earth again. Gaurav Dixit, Mukta Munjal thanked all the partner organizations, media, and dignitaries for their participation to the discussion.

At UMass Dartmouth, Prof. Sukalyan Sengupta, Director of Center for Indic Studies, and Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering Department led ‘The Kashmir Files” film screening event in the evening. He welcomed TKF film team, FIA, and Indian-American team members to the event and thanked a hall full of students, and eminent faculty members for their active support and participation.

There are the Kashmiri Muslim and The Kashmiri Hindu views of the exodus but it seems like truth always lies somewhere in the middle. Kashmir is the birthplace of Shaivism and wisdom. It needs to be re-built by moving from ignorance towards knowledge and by following the middle way as symbolized by the third eye of Lord Shiva. We need to embrace the true principles of oneness and social harmony and world peace –said the impactful speaker Vivek Agnihotri. 

The faculty members namely, Prof. Amit Tandon, Prof. Uday Kant Jha, Prof. Jerry Solfvin, and two students -  Shristi Bhat and Chinmay Kadrollimath, Raj Gupta ( FIA, Executive Board-Director) shared their remarks on the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus and measures to stop such events from occurring in the future. Prof Uday Jha, Decision & Information Sciences, presented a brief historical perspective and factors that lead to the 1990’s Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus. In the Q& A session, Vivek answered all the curious questions of the students and faculty in a convincing and amicable manner.

Pallavi shared her thoughts about the heartfelt interviews about the situations from the victims and their next-generation youths. Many students and other invitees also asked several questions to Pallavi and got her genuinely satisfactory answers. For the question, why a female tutor’s role and not a male tutor’s role was presented in the film, she said that not because females and children are vulnerable but it is a real character of the story. “You will definitely recognize that character when you watch this movie” – said Pallavi.

One of the audiences said to the reporter that Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri’s film TKF has made both Bharat (India) and the international arena proud of his creativity.

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