1990 Pandit Exodus Row: 89 Kashmiri Hindus were killed, rest ran away says SP leader Abu Azmi

Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi has kicked up a political controversy after he said that only 89 Kashmir Pandits were killed during the 1990 mass exodus while the remaining people from the community ran away from the Valley.
Citing an RTI reply, he said 1700-1800 people were killed in Kashmir in the last 30 years and most of them were Muslims. “When I saw an RTI reply, which is released by the government only and has no lies, it was written that total 1,700-1,800 people were killed in the last 30 years when militancy peaked in Jammu and Kashmir… Only 89 Pandits were killed and the rest were Muslim and Sikh brothers,” Azmi said.

“Those who ran away were Kashmiri Pandits, while Muslims are still fighting and dying there,” he added.
The SP leader also criticised the Bollywood film ‘The Kashmir Files’ and said that making a “film on lies” is just a tactic to “create a divide between the Hindus and Muslims”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi promoted The Kashmir Files. No Prime Minister has ever endorsed any film. In the film, it is portrayed that Muslims in Kashmir had subjected Hindus to atrocities,” he said.

Directed by Vivek Agnihotri, ‘The Kashmir Files’ revolves around the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the year 1990 following systematic killings of people from the community by Pakistan-backed terrorists. The film released in theatres in March last year had led to huge controversy and was also criticised by many.
The film drew a large number of spectators across the country and was also made tax-free in several BJP-ruled states including Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
Last year, Prime Minister Modi while speaking at a BJP parliamentary party meeting said that such films “reveal the truth”. He also claimed that a campaign was being run to discredit the film, adding that more such movies should be made.
“Instead of assessing the film on the basis of facts and truth, a campaign is on to discredit it. The whole ecosystem opposes anyone who tries to show the truth. They only try to project what they want to see as truth, the conspiracy for the last few days is to ensure that no one sees the truth,” he added.