"The Invisible War" and "In Shopian"

          I attended both "The Invisible War" and "In Shopian" which were screened in the Human Rights Film Festival. 

         "In Shopian" was about the Kashmir area that is legally part of India, but there have been attacks against the Kashmir people because they have protested against the Indian government and seek independence. The specific case that the film focused on was a wife and a sister that were raped by the Indian military, killed and left in a nearby river, and the police investigation was covered up to protect the Indian government. The husband and brother of the women has become an advocate of human rights to prevent further incidents. 

         I had heard about the Kashmir conflict in a politics class, but never went into any specifics. The people there basically have no government to protect them and they can't constitute their own. They are in limbo and their efforts have proved futile. They protest by word and by actions. When the conflict gets violent, the people and the police throw rocks at each other. It was notes that the policemen thought of the fights as a game of cricket, a plaything when they have the guns. I can see the perspective from India, where they don’t want to lose territory, but if they wish to keep peace with the Kashmir people, they should treat them as citizens, equal to other Indian counterparts.
         The invisible war related to what Anu had come to talk to us in class. Violence in the military affects everyone. There were many examples where women were raped and their perpetrators were not charged with criminal charges. Most of the things we covered in class, but it really hit me when I connected the faces of these women with their stories and seeing how they reacted to the government. One thing that struck me was the fact that, legally, the military has to do something when cases are presented, but they don’t in order to protect the “divine quality” of the establishment. Nothing is perfect and the military is not even close. Also, the Veterans Department is so inefficient and inconsiderate with women’s cases that they spend unnecessary money on useless medical tests and take more than 14 months in one case.