SRK's 'Pathaan' is an attempt to conceal brutalities in Kashmir, says Fatima Bhutto

Had Mission Majnu, Razi, or Uri been enough, Bollywood wouldn't have had to produce Shah Rukh Khan’s blockbuster film Pathaan. The film that revolves around Pakistani politics has been the butt of all jokes, although not as much as Mission Majnu which kickstarted a meme fest.

Jokes apart, Pakistani author and columnist Fatima Bhutto believes these politically charged films contain a more sinister underlying message injected into the minds of the young generation and also as a means of brushing BJP's (Bharatiya Janata Party) horrific violation of human rights in illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) under the carpet by altering the course of history that suits Indian extremists the most.  

Bhutto highlighted Bollywood's attempt "to provide cover” for BJP violations in IIOJK followed by the repudiation of article 370 of the Indian constitution which granted the province its autonomous status.

In her latest piece for The Guardian, Bhutto recalls how Pathaan opens in Lahore to see a Pakistani general reacting to the news of Modi’s withdrawal of article 370. The general dedicates the remaining years of his life to “bringing India to its knees,” for which he contacts a deranged terrorist.

The New Kings of the World writer notes that the film masterfully shows those against the revocation as “homicidal maniacs” and those in its favor, such as Khan’s character, as “valiant government agents with pectoral muscles.”

“Pathaan’s plot is nonsensical, and no one wears many clothes as they dance in bikinis and shorts trying to save India and therefore, the world,” she suggests.

“It is naturally unconcerned with facts – article 370 was the instrument that allowed Kashmir’s ascension into the Indian union; if it is declared null and void, then so too is Kashmir’s ascension to India. But why bother with facts or what any actual Kashmiris think or feel? There aren’t any in this insipid film anyway,” Bhutto highlights.

Bhutto adds, “To set up an event such as the degradation of Kashmir as a fun plot point is beyond tragic. The political project of Modi’s quasi-fascist BJP cannot be set to fun music and helicopter stunts, try as Bollywood might.”

Bhutto also calls out Khan for his presumable silence over Modi’s government, which glorifies “its anti-Muslim persecution after robbing Muslims of their citizenship.”

Recalling the ominous National Registry of Citizenship Act, which declared 700,000 of India’s Muslims to be illegal immigrants, Bhutto reminds everyone that the “admirers of Modi’s BJP and its politics lynch Muslims, filming their brutal killings on mobile phones to pass around WhatsApp as viral trophies.”

The writer further substantiated her argument when she shared a tweet of Khan made on the Indian PM's birthday. “Your 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,” SRK tweeted.

This upset Bhutto as she sarcastically remarked, “Quite 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.” 

On the flip side, Bhutto lauded the Pakistani industry for producing films about “trans love stories, female desire and the toxic societal power of patriarchal fundamentalists,” away from any political agenda, and simultaneously lamented what is happening in India as “doubly strange, where culture is no longer a medium used to extend conversation but rather a means to snuff it out.”

"Pakistan is undergoing a cultural renaissance," the 40-year-old writer asserted. Bhutto continued to highlight the double standards of Modi’s government stating, “at 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, India: The Modi Question.”

Sindh Censor Board stops unauthorised screening of Indian film 'Pathaan'