In a moving tribute on the 36th anniversary of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus, superstar Anupam Kher took to social media to relive the harrowing events that uprooted an entire community, blending personal anguish with a call for remembrance amid his milestone 550th film project.
January 19, 1990, remains etched in history as the day when militant threats and brutal attacks forced nearly 500,000 Kashmiri Hindus to abandon the Valley overnight. Kher, hailing from a Pandit family, appeared visibly emotional in his video address on X, challenging the notion of burying painful histories.
‘Why dwell on dark days?’ he posed rhetorically. ‘Because joy gets celebrated, so must grief—it honors those who suffered losses exactly 36 years ago today. We can’t alter the past, but we refuse to erase it.’ His words struck a chord, amplifying the voices of survivors still displaced in refugee camps.
Addressing critics who point to the scrapping of Article 370 as a panacea, Kher clarified, ‘That was a commendable move, but terror’s shadow lingers. Conditions have improved marginally, not revolutionized. I’ve met elders desperate to return, their sanity fraying from homesickness.’
Kher’s post detailed the human cost: families fleeing with scant possessions, leaving behind generations of heritage. ‘Jammu’s tent cities bear testimony to that nightmare,’ he noted. Referencing his role in the blockbuster ‘The Kashmir Files,’ which grossed over 350 crores and spotlighted the genocide, he stressed its depiction was merely a fraction of reality.
This annual observance reignites hopes for justice and repatriation. Kher’s candid narrative not only commemorates the exodus but pressures policymakers to bridge the gap between policy wins and on-ground security, ensuring no community endures such erasure again.