e are on the brink of an uprising, similar to the Palestinian Intifada.”

If there’s one thing that Indians and Israelis do the same, it is lying about facts through political drama, crafting propaganda, and effectively fooling the public into believing their way is the right way. The Indian Occupied Kashmir’s status as a disputed territory is globally recognised, and, while the Kashmiris either want freedom or accession to join Pakistan, their special status was revoked.

The movie is based around its name – Article 370, a very integral part of the Indian constitution that granted the Indian Occupied Kashmir the autonomy to make its own laws in all matters except finance, defence, foreign affairs and communications. On August 5, 2019, India abrogated the law stealing away the rights of Kashmiris to establish their own constitution and protect their land by maintaining the Muslim majority. The abrogation allows outsiders to buy land in Kashmir and to apply for jobs in the valley, which is a violation of the rights of the Kashmiris. The story follows how the Indian government, led by Modi, secretly excercised the powers of the PM to put an end to Article 370, overriding all other legal bodies against the will of the Kashmiris.

What do you demand?

“Freedom”

What is our right?

“Freedom”

What will we take by force [if not granted]?

“Freedom”

Priyamani plays Rajeshwari Swaminatha, an officer at the PMO. She uses Yami Gautam Dhar, appearing as Zooni Haksar, an NIA agent, who represents an amalgamation of people involved in the unjust mission to revoke Kashmiris right to their own land. The characters themselves have little to offer from the perspective of a viewer. However, the plot is of crucial importance, which gives the movie substance.

The distortion of facts begins from the very beginning, where the movie starts alienating Muslim jihadists fighting for freedom as cheaters, manipulators and harbingers of violence rather than portraying them as heroes cherished by the public. The movie further lays blame for the political tension in the valley on Muslims alone who are labelled as “corrupt” and “looking for their own benefit out of the conflict” – a clear contradiction of the facts. Other contradictions involve the depiction of the retaliatory attacks following the Pulwama attack on Balakot by India, where 300 were claimed to be killed as a result of the Indian air strikes whereasin reality, the reported damage was only trees.

The flimsy propaganda doesn’t end there but delves deeper. It depicts Kashmir as harbouring terrorists who are a threat to India and misrepresents Kashmir as a land that is somehow India’s to take regardless of desires and aspirations of the peole of the land.

The movie is an apt representation of Indians launching attacks on innocent natives, placing them under house arrest, forcing them to live in inhumane conditions, subjecting them to brutal investigations while taking away their flags and their constitutional rights and illustrating them collectively as a liability and threat to India. Israeli patterns of occupation are vivid in a scene where a Kashmiri is used as a human shield not only to protect the NIA but also to terrorise the public while taking away the financer of the militant group fighting for freedom in Kashmir.

“We are one country. We cannot have two constitutions, two prime ministers and two flags. Kashmir is the crown of India, an integral part of our cultural heritage.” – Modi

The movie, available on Netflix, uses emotional and sentimental music to go along with their rhetoric and justification that Kashmir is a part of India and its problems cannot be solved overnight. However, by abrogating Article 370, the problems will become a part of the Indian ruling body. The scene connivingly sets the tone for the entire movie based on the Indian perception that Kashmir aspires to be part of India but is prevented to do so by the elite and terrorist network of Kashmir. The Indians assert that Kashmir is part of India regardless of its 70-year history of rebellion against India.

The continuous emphasis on “no innocent blood shall be spilt” throughout the movie is a stark lie to the countless murders committed by the Indian occupation. These are portrayed as to have occurred by having “accidentally” run them over, raiding their houses in the middle of the nights, and taking their women hostages and raping them. Article 370 divests attention from the harrowing, distressing and hair-raising vulgarity of the Indian forces in the region to the enthusiasm and patriotism of achieving a land furtively by force.

Towards the end of the movie, the audience sees that the daily report received back in Delhi from Kashmir is no longer filled with bloodied bodies and aggressive assaults of Indian troops on civilians but of individuals hoisting flags of India in a mirthful manner. The movie paints a glorified picture of India and of Modi; the release coinciding the ongoing elections in India.

The ending of the movie is a reminder that Bollywood ensures that the audience is riddled with fake facts. The ignominious and reprehensible narrative and one-sided perspective is out of touch with the truth. When the movie says tourism has increased, or the brutality against civilians has decreased or that Kashmiris are proudly bearing the Indian flags, it is pertinent to note that these are fabricated lies being selectively fed to the world; behind the camera the Indian Occupied Kashmir is under total lockdown, with a media blackout since 2019, while their assets are being sealed due to the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A to initiate the colonisation by Hindu settlers.

“They have held the entire society hostage.”

The movie is not just a movie but rather a clear contortion of facts that projects India as a saint while they strip an entire population of its legal status and rights. The movie is a must-watch for those who want to understand the Indian media propaganda, where movies are used to showcase them as saviours rather than conniving perpetrators.

The writer is an undergraduate student of psychology at FC College, Lahore