Nitin Dhar

Iltija, you fancy a successful political career for you. It doesn’t suit you to pick up ‘news’ from X or screaming headlines. This person was arrested on the charge of ‘amplification’ of threats that already existed in the public domain. There is no UAPA slapped as per my information only 66F. Let this case be resolved in the courts. Will you delete this tweet and apologize when the truth comes out?

Not a review of Baramulla: For years I wondered what would be the best genre to tell our story on screen most effectively. What should be the cinematic language that can be used to show a continual Genocide on screen? What can be both subtle and effective? What can be both truthful and healing? How can you show the horror of Genocide and resilience of survivors? How can you show the unvarnished truth without relying on ‘balancing’ for the sake of balancing. I think #Baramulla has finally checked all these boxes. There couldn’t be a better genre than horror and paranormal activity to depict our story. After all what has happened to Hindus of Kashmir over last 700 years does seem like a horror and paranormal activity to any outsider. Almost unbelievable. ‘Who gets killed in their own homes?’ ‘Why did you not fight back?’ ‘Are you cowards because you left your homes of 5000 years?’ And my favorite - ‘You don’t look like refugees and genocide victims, it is hard to believe this happened to you’. Never mind those who ask these questions have no understanding of what a genocide truly is and have never met a true genocide victim. Kashmir known for its breathtaking beauty and tulip gardens as depicted in numerous Hindi films of yore hides a deep secret in its bosom. The white Tulip in the film Baramulla is not a symbol of beauty. It spells doom, it looks unusual and out of place. @AdityaSJambhale’s Kashmir is not pretty. It is dark, gloomy, foreboding and it is a place where children disappear and old creaky homes are infested by ghosts. Walls scream ‘kafir’ in red- perhaps wanting to ask ‘what happened to infidels’? This sign is immediately erased but the hands that erase it are themselves colored in red- color of blood. How do you erase ‘kafirs’ without becoming part of erasure yourselves? How do you live in Kafir homes without becoming party to guilt yourself? How do you solve crime in a land where primal crime remains unsolved and unresolved? Baramulla will sear you. It will torture you and it will unsettle you. And if you are a Kashmiri Pandit it will break your heart into million pieces once again. Baramulla should be a mandatory watch for every Indian. Baramulla is our land. It is Varmul for us and Varahamula for our ancestors. Sanskrit term meaning "boar's molar". Land of Shiva where Vishnu, in his boar incarnation, struck the mountain at this location to drain the waters of the ancient lake that once formed the Kashmir Valley. In this abode of Shiva, unspeakable sins have been committed. Just as the mystery of missing children cannot be solved without the mystery of haunted home being resolved , present crimes cannot be be solved unless those who live there now don’t confront what their forefathers have done to the aboriginals of the valley. Until that happens, Kashmir will remain cursed, gloomy, and haunted. As terrific @bhashasumbli in the climax lets out a primal cry and says ‘ No more’. Unless people there like Gulnar don’t say ‘No more’ they will keep living in haunted homes and their children will get swallowed by invisible evil. I want to congratulate director @AdityaSJambhale and writer @monalthaakar for this brutally honest and heart breaking film. May your craft always remain pure.