Dil Se and the Encounter that went wrong

I generally don't like the winter mornings. They are chilling and usually lazy. Two days back, in a similar frost and smoggy setup outside I woke up to grab my morning tea and mandatory Indian Express. To my surprise it was neither the farmers' agitation nor the messed up Parliament sessions on the front page. The headlines read, 'Nagaland: 14 civilians killed by forces.1 Jawan killed as violence breaks out'. the headline took me directly into the flashback and reminded me of the film Dil Se which I saw a long time back. A film which was very much ahead of its time. Why this failed army ambush reminded me of Dil Se is what I am going to tell you in the paragraphs to come.

Dil Se: Straight from the film's heart

Dil Se, is a bollywood film written and directed by one of India's finest filmmakers, Maniratnam. Produced in 1998, the plot of the film depicts the times when there used to be insurgency in Assam (which isn't over yet)  and which increased in the years to follow. The film also was the final dispatch of what is popularly known as Maniratnam's trilogy consisting of Roja and Bombay, films of similar context produced in the years1992 and 1995 respectively. Dil Se was a star studded film which starred Shahrukh Khan, Manisha Koirala and Preity Zinta. The film revolves around Amarkant Varma (Shahrukh Khan) who happens to be a program executive for All India Radio in the film and is sent to cover the festivities in Assam as India prepares to celebrate fifty years of its Independence.

The reason why I said Dil Se was ahead of its time is because whatever the film depicts is still relevant in present day India and yet understood by few. The film through its various characters reveals the hidden (or less talked of) thoughts of the people of North Eastern India. As the film proceeds, Amar (Amarkant Varma) decides to interview the leader of one such insurgent group who is training his people to fight against the Indian establishment. As the conversation begins the rebel leader begins to throw statements which are shocking, surprising, depressing but are realistic to 'some' extent. The liberationist talks of how over the years various governments at the center have discriminated against the region of North East as compared to the rest of India. He says "Through the democratic structure it's not the local tribes and people, but political leaders planted by the establishment who have benefited over the years". The leader also points out the linguistic discrimation which the region has to suffer through. as Amar tries to call the leader and his group as terrorist. the furious rebel leader responds by saying "we are not terrorists but revolutionaries. We are revolutionaries because we are fighting against the promises which were never fulfilled. We are fighting against the oppression that is increasing day by day". When asked about the reason for oppression the leader says "Delhi does the politics of vote bank. They want votes and since we are few in number we are of no use of them".As the interview gets heated up Amar winds up by asking about what was the final goals of the insurgent organization to which the leader responds "Azadi (Freedom), freedom from the government, freedom from the establishment". The interview above is sufficient enough to give us insights on the ideology of many such insurgent organizations which existed in the past, and of some which continue to exist.

As the film enters its romantic side, Amar encounters Meghna (Manisha Koirala) and begins to look for her at all the places. Meghana whose real name in the film is Moina, is a lady of very strong and dark character possessing a very tumultuous past. She is depicted as a liberationist fighter of ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom) fighting against the Indian sovereignty Contrary to the character of Moina is the character of Amar who is an Army Brat. Unaware about the reality of Moina, Amar begins to follow her to Ladakh followed by Delhi. As the film enters towards its climax, Moina and her insurgent group begin to plan an attack on Rajpath on the occasion of Republic Day. As Amar is striked by the real side of Moina he starts forcing her to reveal her actual plans and what was driving her to do this harm against her very own nation. Broken Moina tells Amar of how she was harassed, oppressed, raped by the people of establishment in her younger days. How she and her people were forced to go through toughest of times in their very own land. With tears in eyes and voice shaking, Moina continues to narrate how she witnessed the horrors of her family getting butchered in front of her own eyes and how she spent all her life between the bullets getting fired left and right. Sad by what Moina has gone through Amar rebut by mentioning how she can't blame the entire nation and the entire establishment for the deeds done by some morally corrupt elements of society. He further tries to bring her in confidence by saying it was due to the Indian establishment her region was still free and intact which otherwise would have doomed itself of infighting. 

Nagaland: The Botched up Army Encounter

Switching to what happened in Nagaland's Mon district a couple of days back was an army ambush which went horribly wrong. As the facts speak, the army ambushed a pickup carrying innocent villagers who were returning to their homes after the day's work from a coal mine located in nearby Teru district. The commandos mistook the unarmed miners as militants and shot them in cold blood of which six died on the spot. As the locals alleged, the soldiers not only killed them illegally but also tried to hide their bodies and clean the visible evidences. Fumed by this the villagers burnt down the army trucks and started attacking them with Dao and Machete they were carrying with them. In retaliation to the attack by villagers the army open fired in its defense which led to the death of another eight individuals bringing the number of casualties to fourteen along with the death of an army commando who unfortunately succumbed to his wounds.

The reason I narrated the 'Dil Se' story above was because it is the same story which repeated itself in Nagaland a couple of days ago. It is the same story, unfortunately, which continues to exist in one of India's most flourishing and culturally diverse regions. No matter how hard a patriot one tries to become, there is always going to be a case of 'us' and 'them' when the matter of the North East is going to be on the table. Even after proving their loyalty to this soil time and time again, you are going to witness elements in society calling them by names of chinese, hakka noodles, momos or as it is in the trends, coronavirus. When personalities like Marykom or Mirabai Chanu bring this nation laurels, we take the credit. But when the same North East asks for moral, developmental and intellectual support we turn our eyes. There is no doubt that a lot of positive change is coming in society towards this flourishing region, but is that change sufficient? Is the pace at which the change is coming sufficient is what one needs to ask himself/herself. 

The Indian Armed forces are often regarded as the 'Guardians of the Soil' which is true in every aspect. It is because of the man in olives we are able to go to the bed peacefully every single night with a belief that there is someone standing guarding our borders from all the adversaries. What happened in Nagaland was unfortunate and should not have happened. But it's the time when one has to express his trust and belief in the forces that a transparent enquiry will be done and the offenders will be punished as there is nothing above the law of the land!