A group of young boys is sitting around a fire and listening to old Hindi songs on the radio. Suddenly the
quiet of the moment is disrupted by gunshots. When the men who fired the shots are revealed to be
in a military uniform, it becomes clear that the setting is the violence-torn Kashmir valley. The commentary
that follows the bloodshed on screen is poetic. It seems like the voice of an omniscient narrator who is
overlooking the clash, confusion, chaos, as someone both involved and removed from the
scene. His words are meant to offer the contrasting voice of reason, sanity, peace and patience.
However, the film only brushes
through the surface of the conflicting tale it hopes to tell.

Dastak | Short Film Nominee

The film begins with a graphic scene of torture. We are informed by a television news anchor that an unarmed
policeman has been kidnapped by militants/terrorists in the conflict state of Jammu and Kashmir. As
the title explains, from then on ensues a religious war, which in this case is called jihaad. The religion of
the captive is the same as his captors. The film depicts without critical reflection, a view from a
fundamentalist terrorist organisation. However, through narration in the end, it endeavours to redeem itself with a
message of peace.

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