{"id":21664,"date":"2023-02-06T08:25:40","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T08:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/?p=21664"},"modified":"2023-02-06T08:25:40","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T08:25:40","slug":"pathaan-provides-cover-for-bjps-violations-of-human-rights-in-kashmir-writes-fatima-bhutto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/2023\/02\/06\/pathaan-provides-cover-for-bjps-violations-of-human-rights-in-kashmir-writes-fatima-bhutto\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Pathaan’ provides cover for BJP’s violations of human rights in Kashmir, writes Fatima Bhutto"},"content":{"rendered":"

While\u00a0Mission Majnu\u00a0<\/em>was heavily criticised in Pakistan for its laughable portrayal of Pakistanis and audacious attempt to re-write history, Shah Rukh Khan\u2019s\u00a0Pathaan<\/em>\u00a0was apparently, illegally screened in Karachi\u2019s DHA at the behest of SRK fans in light of its smashing box office record in India and beyond. Many have called\u00a0Pathaan<\/em>\u00a0a masterpiece and perhaps one of SRK\u2019s best.<\/p>\n

However, renowned writer and columnist Fatima Bhutto has shed light on its attempt to \u201cprovide cover\u201d for BJP\u00a0gross violations of human rights in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), followed by the abrogation of article 370 of the Indian constitution, which granted the province its autonomous status. In her latest piece for\u00a0The Guardian,<\/em>\u00a0Bhutto has deconstructed India\u2019s obsession with Pakistan, reflected through its many films, including\u00a0Razi, Uri,\u00a0<\/em>and most recently,\u00a0Mission Majnu<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Pathaan<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Pathaan<\/em>\u00a0opens in Lahore to see a Pakistani general reacting to the news of Modi\u2019s withdrawal of article 370, she recalled. The general dedicates the remaining years of his life to \u201cbringing India to its knees,\u201d for which he contacts a deranged terrorist. \u201cPathaan\u2019s plot is nonsensical, and no one wears many clothes as they dance in bikinis and shorts trying to save India and therefore, the world,\u201d writes Bhutto. \u201cIt is naturally unconcerned with facts \u2013 article 370 was the instrument that allowed Kashmir\u2019s ascension into the Indian union; if it is declared null and void, then so too is Kashmir\u2019s ascension to India. But why bother with facts or what any actual Kashmiris think or feel? There aren\u2019t any in this insipid film anyway,\u201d she points out.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0New Kings of the World\u00a0<\/em>writer notes that the film masterfully shows those against the revocation as \u201chomicidal maniacs\u201d and those in its favour, such as Khan\u2019s character, as \u201cvaliant government agents with pectoral muscles.\u201d Citing the longest internet shutdown to take place in a democracy and the arrest of thousands of Kashmiri protesters, Bhutto adds, \u201cTo set up an event such as the degradation of Kashmir as a fun plot point is beyond tragic. The political project of Modi\u2019s quasi-fascist BJP cannot be set to fun music and helicopter stunts, try as Bollywood might.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bhutto also calls out Khan, India\u2019s biggest Muslim superstar, for never saying a word against Modi\u2019s government, which is \u201cglobally known for its anti-Muslim persecution after robbing Muslims of their citizenship.\u201d Recalling the ominous National Registry of Citizenship Act, which declared 700,000 of India\u2019s Muslims to be illegal immigrants, she reminded readers that \u201cadmirers of Modi\u2019s BJP and its politics lynch Muslims, filming their brutal killings on mobile phones to pass around WhatsApp as viral trophies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The writer even shared a tweet Khan made on the Indian prime minister\u2019s birthday to wish him. \u201cYour dedication for the welfare of our country and its people is highly appreciated. May you have the strength and health to achieve all your goals,\u201d SRK had written. \u201cQuite a thing to wish a man who as chief minister allegedly oversaw the murder of 2,000 Muslims and systematic rape of hundreds of women in Gujarat during the 2002 riots,\u201d added Bhutto.<\/p>\n

Calling out Bollywood for its \u201cnasty\u201d portrayal of Pakistanis, she cited various others films that represent not only Pakistanis, but Muslims in particular, in a negative light. \u201cJanuary also saw Netflix release\u00a0Mission Majnu<\/em>, a lazy drama about Indian spies finding out about Pakistan\u2019s nuclear program,\u201d she continues.<\/p>\n

In the piece, Bhutto lauds Pakistan for producing films about \u201ctrans love stories, female desire and the toxic societal power of patriarchal fundamentalists,\u201d and music that puts to question the divisions based on borders. Meanwhile, she laments what is happening in India as \u201cdoubly strange, where culture is no longer a medium used to extend conversation but rather a means to snuff it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burdened as it is by a failing economy, decades of terrorism and the humiliations of the war on terror, Pakistan is undergoing a cultural renaissance, she asserts. Bhutto continues to highlight the double standards of Modi\u2019s government by reinstating, \u201cat the same time as these ridiculous films are produced and marketed [in India], the Indian government has ordered YouTube and Twitter to take down links to a two-part BBC documentary,\u00a0India: The Modi Question<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While\u00a0Mission Majnu\u00a0was heavily criticised in Pakistan for its laughable portrayal of Pakistanis and audacious attempt to re-write history, Shah Rukh Khan\u2019s\u00a0Pathaan\u00a0was apparently, illegally screened in Karachi\u2019s DHA at the behest of SRK fans in light of its smashing box office record in India and beyond. Many have called\u00a0Pathaan\u00a0a masterpiece and perhaps one of SRK\u2019s best. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21665,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,40],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21664","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"category-latest-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21664"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21666,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21664\/revisions\/21666"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailykashmirpost.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}