“The manufactured, yet reluctant certainty & the unrelenting desire of there being yet another day to live keeps us tormenting more than the threat of the so called Indian ‘security forces’ hounding us like sniffer dogs”, my uncle grumbled, gazing toward me holding a face that seemed bloodless & a heart that kept beating with preternatural sounds. We had been[Read More…]
At the outset, I offer my apologies to the readers for selecting a title to this article which may taste sour and bitter to their literary taste buds or be repugnant to their aesthetic sense. But please do carry on with reading to know why I chose this title. This article is about arrest of Khurram Parvez, the human[Read More…]
The uprising which resulted after the killing of Burhan Wani has entered into the fifth month. Everything continues to be virtuallyat a standstill. The massive and spontaneous uprising throughout the valley has sent a clear message to the world that everything is not alright in Kashmir as claimed by some ultra-nationalists in India. In the meantime, the two neighbouring countries[Read More…]
Before one can dream of independence, one has to deserve to be independent and that can happen only when one is honest and sincere about the goal as well as the movement leading to it in the first instance! The present mass uprising in Kashmir has crossed 100 days and is still going on. Everything has been virtually at a[Read More…]
Today is 6th November, the day we commemorate in memory of victims of Jammu massacre 1947 , many of whom even didn’t know their fault to go to grave. A people which had faithfully obeyed & served the whole clan of Hindu Dogra rulers for almost a century, fell to the evil plans & contrived machinations of the same very[Read More…]
The reality of the ground situation in Kashmir cannot be hidden by using some activities as barometers of Political Normalcy. Kashmir has been facing a perennial situation of political uncertainty right from 1947. Various activities projected as normalcy have always failed to hide the ground reality which has a habit of bursting out off and on. After the dethroning of[Read More…]
We, the undersigned, are dismayed over the ongoing crisis in Kashmir. We have watched in horror and shock the repetitive cycle of state aggression leading to violence, deteriorating state of civil liberties, violation of fundamental rights and ever escalating loss of human life and dignity in Kashmir.[Read More…]
India has yet again denounced Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) call to settle Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN resolution, a stand which the organization has consistently taken and regularly renewed . In the past also, India has treated such calls with disdain either by charging the organization to act at the behest of Pakistan or on the[Read More…]
On 27th October 2016 several organisations in Delhi came together in protest at Jantar Mantar demanding restoration of civil liberties and democratic rights in Kashmir. People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) affirms its solidarity with the people of Kashmir who have been battling a state of siege for over 100 days. In 111 days, since July 8th, the aged, the infants,[Read More…]
The Chief Executive of the State having all the residuary powers under the constitution and presiding over the destiny of the millions of the state subjects has to be honest and decisive rather than apologetic and demeaning The Chief Minister, who is at present the Chief Executive of the State, in a Police function “pleaded” before the Police to spare[Read More…]
An all India team of the PUCL visited the Kashmir valley after the 100th day of people’s protests beginning 9th July and the government clampdown that were taking place there. The team was led by Dr. V Suresh, General Secretary of the PUCL and included Kavita Srivastava (National Secretary), Ramdas Rao (National Council Member) and Pragnya Joshi (National Council Member).[Read More…]
Be it conventional or non-conventional, the war in both terms is a great catastrophe for the humanity. When we turn the annals of human history great wars have been fought to colonize and conquer the territories but all ended up with the massive humanitarian crisis. The first and second world war may have redrawn the world map and christened new[Read More…]
The longest mass uprising in Kashmir has conveyed a definite “Message” to India and to the World at large! The mass uprising which was triggered by the killing of Burhan Wani has already crossed 100 days. The uprising had resulted in total shutdown throughout the valley with massive protest marches. To prevent the marches and public meetings for “Azadi”, the[Read More…]
People’s Union for Civil Liberties condemns the ongoing attack on civilians by Indian security forces in Kashmir which has resulted in the killings of more than 80 young people, causing injuries to nearly 9000 people and the loss of vision of more than 500 people. PUCL condemns the impunity exercised by Indian Security Forces in perpetrating large-scale human rights violations[Read More…]
The recent Kashmir uprising, furious speeches at UN, threatening statements by politicians and the subsequent escalation of tensions on ‘Line of Control’, has brought yet another conflict wave with regard to India and Pakistan. The new cycle of tension between the two countries has increased resentment and worry particularly among the masses in Kashmir. Their hopes of peaceful settlement of[Read More…]
This past summer witnessed yet another people’s uprising in one of the longest running, and most ruthless, military occupations in modern times: the Indian occupation of Kashmir. The callous indifference to decades-old Indian atrocities against the people of Kashmir, including well-documented incidences of torture, disappearances, ‘encounter killings,’ rapes, and outright massacres, ought to put the international community to shame. This,[Read More…]
(The widely projected “Surgical Strikes”according to many commentators have political objectives within the country rather than military objectives across the border!) Recently Captain Amrinder Singh, the Congress leader from Punjab took a TV team to the border to show that everything was normal and there was no war like situation. A video about the visit has been posted on the[Read More…]
The political resolution of the crisis warrants discussions with all the stake holders after the Government of India first unilaterally announces a period of ‘truce’ and ‘amnesty’
From the days of yore I continue to run through the vast chest of a paradise, nestled in the lap of tall and guarding mountains. The wheels of time keep running, albeit without bringing a healing- balm to the bleeding wounds of my countrymen. The long shores that guide my waters have been helplessly watching the cyclones of[Read More…]
Kashmir is in international news once again. The killing of Burhan Wani followed by fresh mass uprising has provided a fresh impetus to the issue locally as well as internationally. The Fidayeen attack on Indian brigade headquarters at Uri and the subsequent alleged Indian surgical strike across LOC has stirred the hornet’s nest once again. Though the two Countries[Read More…]
Kashmir is a complicated problem and it is not what I individually believe in but it is what anyone who has seen the ground reality of Kashmir will agree to. As I understand, caught amidst their respective egos, India and Pakistan are absolutely not ready to compromise on Kashmir. It seems to be a political compulsion for both of them[Read More…]
Sometime back it was announced that one full division of the Army is being inducted into South Kashmir. This additional deployment was given the name of “Operation Calm Down”. Keeping in view the objective which was to prevent and control the freedom marches emanating from every village in Kashmir, the operation should have been named as the “Operation Cow Down”[Read More…]
We know Mr Khurram Parvez, through his work with the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society to be a diligent worker for peace and human rights, and we see his incarceration as a gross violation of basic human rights in the country
Kashmir has seen a proliferation of conflict, yet responsible leadership is not yet understood by many of the leaders representing us. Rather, the so called ‘electoral leaders’ are trying to project Kashmir, through their manufactured representative democracy, from a ‘conflict state’ to a ‘post conflict state.’ The rationality given towards this exercise is the relevance of economic prosperity replacing the[Read More…]
Parvez Khurram, the noted human rights defender has finally been booked under Public safety Act (PSA) and sent to Kotbalwal jail 300 Kms away from his native place in an alien weather, hostile environment and intimidating conditions. Many Kashmiri detunes lodged earlier in this jail have complained of highly communalized atmosphere prevailing there. It is the same jail where few[Read More…]
My Dear Prime Minister, I am constrained to write to you, because of the recent developments in Jammu and Kashmir, the attack on our air station in Pathankot , and now in Uri, where we have lost precious lives not to mention the many injured. The lack of response by India to the latest attack, has clearly been due in[Read More…]
The so called“leaders” of Kashmir have always behaved like vultures waiting one upon the other to feed on the dead bodies of the innocent Kashmiris! A general observation made by most of the Kashmir watchers is that there has so far been no sincere and upright leader who could lead the people to salvation. Since 1586 the country of[Read More…]
The pellets fired by the so called security forces on the 15 year old Insha has not only left her physically crippled but unveiled the masque of state brutality and its systematic saga of oppression. To keep its geographical lust kicking violence in the valley has always been used as a last resort to quell the popular sentiment even at[Read More…]
The armed conflict in Kashmir has reached a dangerous point. The killing of 17 Indian soldiers in the Uri camp, 6 kilometres from the Line of Control (LoC) that separates the two state protagonists, India and Pakistan, could lead to a further deterioration of a volatile situation that threatens to spiral into a much larger conflagration. Indian authorities allege[Read More…]
The journey of young people in Kashmir from childhood to adulthood nowadays is rumbling around Prison. These young people are meeting on this journey with probation officers, instead of teacher; they are going to court dates instead of class; they are emerging from their 20s not with degrees in business and science, but with criminal records. In Kashmir peaceful[Read More…]
Four militants stormed an Army base barely 50 metres from the Brigade Headquarters in Uri sector, 6 km from the Line of Control (LoC), killing 17 soldiers and wounding 23, nine of them critically, at 4.30 am Sunday morning. It is the highest casualty suffered by the Army in a single attack in Kashmir in the past two decades. The[Read More…]
On most Indian news channels at prime time, one may find comedy, drama, action, political propaganda, advertisements, war rhetoric and what not. Be it ‘Comedy Nights With Kapil’, dramas of Star Plus or Colours, dance shows like ‘Natch baliye’ etc, Bollywood gossip, funny news like presence of ghosts or treasures somewhere, noise of pseudo analysts, furious debates (where most anchors[Read More…]
26 years ago in the summer of 1989, the Kashmir Valley was in the grip of full-fledged rebel insurrection. Hordes of young, Kalashnikov-wielding men were roaming the streets and neighbourhoods of Srinagar capital and the valley’s other towns like Baramulla, Anantnag and Sopore. The sound of gunfires and explosions mingled with chants of azaadi emanating from demonstrations large and small.[Read More…]
The worst fears of human rights advocates were realized on 15th September when noted human rights defender from Kashmir, Khurram Parvez, was prevented at Delhi Airport from boarding a flight to Geneva, where he was scheduled to attend the ongoing United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) session. The next day he was illegally detained in a Srinagar Police Station[Read More…]
(Putting the entire valley of Kashmir under curfew on the most important Muslim religious festival of Eid-ul-Adah is the first event of its kind in the entire recorded history of Kashmir!) Eid-ul-Adah is the most pious and revered festival in the Muslim world. It is in remembrance to the symbolic sacrifice which God asked Prophet Ibrahim to offer. Well, Kashmiris[Read More…]
Coordination of Democratic Rights Organization denounces the arrest of Khurram Parvez on the intervening night of 15-16 September at 12.30 AM from his house at Srinagar. He had returned from Delhi in the very morning of 15th September after being detained for nearly two hours and prevented from travelling to Geneva for the UN Human Rights Council’s meeting. Khurram Parvez[Read More…]
Born out of cataclysm in 1948, the Kashmir problem remains alive and unwell. In the latest iteration of the long self-determination struggle, 75 protesters have been killed by Indian security forces firing pellet loaded shotguns to control the demonstrations; over 7000 have been injured including 117 who have fully or partially lost eyesight, a tragedy worsened by their young[Read More…]
“This is day 70 of the brutal military siege in Kashmir. The number of fatalities differs from one source to the next but estimates are between 84 & 90 as of today. Up to 11,000 have been injured, nearly 500 of them by live ammunition, many with head & spinal cord injuries from bullets, pellets, & grenades, many are disfigured[Read More…]
The festival of Eid turned out to be a day of mourning for many Kashmiris as curfew was clamped across the Kashmir valley. Two youth were killed in clashes and scores injured. Police said as many as 44 stone pelting incidents were reported across the valley. Mustafa Mir, 22, son of Hameed Mir of Dachigam village of Bandipora died during[Read More…]
It’s moment of victory given the way incumbent Hon’ble Chief Justice of India has reacted to many a pleas and taken up the matter of ‘judicial clerkships’ in Jammu & Kashmir and by directions from Hon’ble Supreme Court, Jammu & Kashmir High Court has eventually[Read More…]
If we examine Kashmir’s history, notorious events like the Kashmir Conspiracy Case of 1958-1959 were events when leaders like Sheikh Abdullah became hypocritical double agents and were interestingly bailed later on. It actually fueled a proxy war and questioned the character of our leaders. These events were actually not good examples of serving the nation one belonged to. They were[Read More…]
Day 64 of Kashmir shut down. One more youth died of pellet firing. A 23-year-old was killed in forces action in Batengoo village of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Saturday, taking the overall death toll in the current uprising to 78. The deceased has been identified as Yawar Ahmad, son of Mushtaq Ahmad. Medical Superintendent District Hospital Anantnag Dr Majeed[Read More…]
(The constitutional provision of “Freedom of Expression” has been modified to“Suppression of freedom of expression by the State” in Kashmir!) Article 19, in part III of the Constitution, about Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech, states, (1) All citizens shall have the right :- (a) to freedom of speech and expression. (b) to assemble peaceably and without arms.[Read More…]
On an average about 200 people have been injured per day or about eight per hour. The number of injured over a period of sixty days is frightening and calls for a comparison with other conflict situations in the last hundred years where the Indian army/ British Indian Army was engaged with an uprising within the country or a conflict with a neighbouring country.
A month has passed and peace seems to be an unimaginable thing in the valley of Kashmir. Burning in the political inferno, only the people of Kashmir are at the suffering end while the Indian state seems to be busy in drafting the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Amendments. With hundreds of deaths, thousands of injuries, brutalities and torture, the[Read More…]
Centuries ago, public armies replaced private ones as the dominant tool of warfare. Today also the world has regressed to it’s old system and mercenaries are back. If we look at international conflicts, many countries hire contractors, some of whom are armed, to support it’s war effort in a foreign land. Sometimes however the mercenaries are also used to crush[Read More…]
In 1846, the then British government in India, who were not the owners of Kashmir, made a deal with Gulab singh Dogra, a feudatory of the Sikh kingdom in Punjab. His official and moral duty was to support the Sikhs in their war against British. But instead of doing his duty, he was trying to cultivate a relationship with the[Read More…]
The Kashmir experienced most difficult challenge in present time due to conflict. The conflict broughtcataclysmic impact on the entire Kashmir related to large scale economic loss,societal disorder , Educational Backwardness , Mass psychological Depression , forced Brutalization , oppressionetc.The conditions of everyday life are in threat.Consequently, the generation was gone astray in this social inferno. Conflict affects all segments among[Read More…]
While there may be no real evidence of a historical Moses (for the Egyptians were obsessive about recording significant events, as an exodus of 2 M people would have been), the Hollywood version with Charlton Heston demanding, “Let my people go,” tells us not much has changed in human nature. Human lives and economic damage notwithstanding, India clings on to[Read More…]
It’s pitch dark outside as I write this as though life has decided this day to be last one. Army patrols on deserted lane outside my house are silhouettes laced with arms. Dogs are howling at a distance across street in repeated rhythms adding wilderness to imprisoned night. A faint light at a distance meets my eye as I peep[Read More…]
We live in times when Indian military establishment has been given a privilege. It is been tamed by the forces of nationalism, an entity that wants to entail its dogma. An irony indeed. After two lakh people attending a militant’s funeral, the historical anger, army colonies and beef ban controversy; it has once again proved to the world that Kashmiri[Read More…]
The author of the ‘vision document’, “Achievable Nationhood” has modified it to become the “Chewable Nationhood”! Sajjad Lone, a minister in the ruling coalition, in an interview to NDTV’s Burkha Dutt said that only 5 percent people are involved in the present uprising in Kashmir. According to him 95 percent people are sitting inside their homes. He also added that[Read More…]
Kashmir is the age old dispute between India and Pakistan, yet its history and problems are remarkably little known to other than a small group of concerned people. The unitary structure and centralizing ideological belief of the Indian system of blotted democracy gave shape to ethnic separatism in the chronically restive state of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmir have been[Read More…]
Kashmir has been continuously on the boil ever since Burhan Wani was killed 44 days ago. Appeals by the BJP-PDP state government and the union government to Kashmiri youth to not agitate, have been predictably ineffective. That the problem is political at its root has been pointed out by many, who have (again predictably) been dubbed by the ruling dispensation[Read More…]
‘Only Kashmir is ray of hope in the time when the subcontinent is in darkness’ – Gandhi (Aug, 1947) During the time of partition, when communal riots were erupted at every place, valley of Kashmir remained calm and no communal violence erupted in Kashmir among Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. Mahatma Gandhi saw it as an example that could be torch[Read More…]
I cry! The people of Kashmir cry! We cry for the future of our children. We cry in pain and agony but our suffering and misery goes unnoticed rather people pretend to deaf and blind. Our screams annoy our own brothers and sisters and we are looked down as damned and evil mongers.
Kashmir can be pacified by sincere and honest efforts for sorting out the basic political problem through dialogue and not by sending more and more soldiers to brutalize the people! According to a report in the Citizen, New Delhi had been planning to unleash a special program in Kashmir. It has been reported that the intention was to handover the[Read More…]
Peoples Union for Democratic Rights is horrified that the Rajya Sabha which debated the situation in Jammu and Kashmir on August 10, could not muster resolve to call for an immediate halt to use of pellet guns, which is not used anywhere in either India or the world for policing. Since the killing of Burhan Muzzafar Wani on July 8,[Read More…]
Sitting comfortably in my hostel room in the campus, I wonder what is transpiring there in the valley, back at home. Of course I know what I get to know through mainstream media, alternate media but they usually speak of the numbers. What they don’t tell us is what goes on in the mind of a person who is living[Read More…]
“In the shade of fallen chinar” is a short documentary that was shot in kashmir valley a few days before the current unrest began, It takes a peep into the lives of a group of young kashmiri artist’s who are also University students. It talks about the factors that inspires their art and how it takes the form of resistance[Read More…]
Insha Malik, the 14 year old victim of Indian Army’s use of indiscriminate pellet attack on protesters in Kashmir valley, may be suffering from deadly brain infection. Kashmir Observer report quoting unnamed doctors in AIIMS New Delhi where she is undergoing treatment said “some of the pellets, which pierced her body particularly face couldn’t be timely removed from the nasal[Read More…]
What we witnessed after the killing of Hizb commander Burhan Wani in Kashmir, is literally the rape of democracy by those who claim to be the largest democracy in world. Whether it is in terms of firing at unarmed protesters, use of dangerous pellets, choking political space, banning newspaper publication, cutting all means of communication and continuous curfews, India[Read More…]
For over a month practically the entire Kashmir valley has been under a state of curfew. The innocuous term curfew camouflages the extreme torture and suffering inflicted on the people; curfew actually is ‘house arrest’ of every citizen from a newborn to a person in his nineties
Last Sunday when I logged into the Facebook, it came up with my memory of the year 2010. It was an article titled “The Stubborn Delhi” which I had written for my column, Kashmir First, in Greater Kashmir. Somehow the software in the Facebook seemed to have very good intelligence as the article was very much relevant to the present[Read More…]
I am very much shocked to see how you made U turn in your statements. When 2008, 2010 unrest was on peak, you came out on streets, ragged, screamed even locked the secretariat, roared with your party members that people are being brutally supressed and then killed.
The Kashmir unrest refuses to show any signs of decline. Innocent Kashmiris are getting caught unawares to the incessant sprinkling of pellets toward them. The hyper patriot news channels look all but certain to mobilize people to attack the numero uno rogue State of South Asia. And in response, the equally genuflecting audience for this baying-for-the-others-blood journalism is gearing up[Read More…]
The more I read or listen to the debates & discourses on Indian media, both print & electronic, the more I am bemused at the ignorance or deliberate attempt to ignore the fundamental question of Kashmir dispute. That question is simply a political one created by an international promise of right of self determination to people of J&K upon partition[Read More…]
Dear Mr. Prime Minister, I write to you today because like so many of my fellow Sikhs from Kashmir, I am both rejected and dejected. No one can deny the stark truth that the Sikhs in Kashmir – a prominent community that remained very much upright at every peril in the past is passing through trying times. Sikhs in Kashmir[Read More…]
Right from the earliest times Kashmir has had some women rulers. There are three womenwho have made an imprint on Kashmir’s history Pandit Kalhana in Rajatarangini, his treatise on the Kashmiri Kings from the ancient times,which was written in twelfth century AD mentions about some of the women rulers of Kashmir. The most famous ruler has been Rani Didda who[Read More…]
As expected, authorities on Wednesday imposed strict curfew in South Kashmir districts and in parts of Srinagar city to thwart a march to Kulgam called by the separatist leadership. Earlier on Monday also, this is what was done to thwart a march to Anantnag, and this is what they did on Friday to stop people from converging at the Srinagar’s[Read More…]
It was when I saw a comment on my FB page from an old friend who asked me if I would like to spare a kind word for ‘them’ – those who lost their lives in Kargil – that I realised how deep was the yawning chasm between my worldview and my interpretations about current affairs , role of the[Read More…]
The dream of a free nation made Muhammad Salman Yusuf sacrifice everything he possessed in life. Living a nomadic life since last 20 years this former JeI teacher has documented almost every painful memory of Kashmir’s troubled history.
For last three weeks the entire valley has been converted into a prison and a virtual concentration camp. There is continuous curfew in the entire valley without any relaxation or break. All communication links within Kashmir and with the outside world have been snapped. Nonstop protests are taking place all over the valley. Protesting teenagers, children and women are being showered with bullets and pellets. Over 50 people have been killed and more than 3,000 injured. As per latest reports, the pellets have affected the eyesight of over 185 persons. The newspaper presses and offices were sealed and papers confiscated
The Kashmir death toll has been increasing day by day and stands at 49 on 25th July. More than 5000 people have been injured in the protest that has gone on continuously for many days without let up. Curfew continues in Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama districts while restrictions will continue in parts of Srinagar, Kupwara, Sopore and Baramulla. The[Read More…]
I felt impelled to write this letter after reading your open letter to slain Kashmiri leader Burhan Wani and your subsequent Facebook post on the same topic. I have also seen the Buck Stops Here show in which you appeared on the panel along with General Malik, Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari, Supreme Court lawyer Shabnam Lone and others. I will[Read More…]
Neither it was world earth day, nor there were any nimbo stratus or cumulo nimbus clouds, but still the Kashmir valley witnessed a dark evening on Wednesday, 20th July. The lights suddenly went off, in view of the blackout call given by the pro freedom camp. As the time passed the night appeared to be dressed more like a nightmare[Read More…]
When a small group of people defy the authority of a state, it is called rebellion but if the entire population stands up, it is a revolution! For last two weeks the entire valley has been converted into a prison and a virtual concentration camp. There is continuous curfew in the entire valley without any relaxation or break. Clashes with[Read More…]
The choreography of violence is being staged yet again in Kashmir. This time the spark lighting the accumulated tinder has been the killing of a popular militant leader. And the elected leaders cowering inside their guarded residences bear silent testimony to the cogency of the state’s democracy. Crowd control is not the usual remit of the military. Yet long periods[Read More…]
Several days have gone by since the BJP President Amit Shah blew up a political bombshell on Kashmir. While speaking at a function in the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) in New Delhi, Shah accused Jawaharlal Nehru of having committed a ‘historic blunder’ on Kashmir. Referring to the declaration of ‘ceasefire’ when the Pakistan-backed tribal raiders in 1948[Read More…]
An old man with a red eye standing next to me said, ‘Kashmir was one country. Half was taken by India, the other half by Pakistan. Both by force. We want freedom.’—Arundhati Roy I am a Keralite and I have never been to Kashmir. But the fate of the Kashmir valley which has once been described by Jahangir as: ‘If[Read More…]
The Kashmir issue has crossed decades of violence and unrest. It has, unfortunately, become one of the Asia’s longest and bloodiest conflicts today. Since 1947, when India and Pakistan divided their borders on the basis of “two nation” theory, the final “political settlement” of Kashmir remained an “unsolved” political problem. Although, the problem was brought under UN consideration and more[Read More…]
Co-Written By Dr. P.S. Sahni & Shobha Aggarwal The Kashmiris were promised a plebiscite after India’s independence but it has never come about. There is a U.N. resolution to this effect but it has been given a silent burial. All assurances given to the people of Kashmir by the Government of India and the ruling class parties in India have[Read More…]
Janhastakshep demands immediate end to the repression in Kashmir; strict punishment for the perpetrators of this violence against the people; and immediate resumption of unconditional dialogue with the non-official, but the real leaders of the Kashmiri people in order to find a lasting solution of the problem that takes into account the democratic aspirations of the people of Kashmir
Shahid,
i sent you a postcard
neat 6×4 inch
slab avalanche of grief
disfigured black flag
punched with pellets
the night sky’s
braille ligatures
The news of the killing of Burhan Wani, commander of militant outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, had an electrifying effect on the entire Kashmir. Within no time, streets were transformed into battle fields between angry protestors and state forces. Mosque loudspeakers were blaring out Pro-Burhan slogans and songs. Social Media users made his images as their profile and display pictures. In his early[Read More…]
The on-going protests in Kashmir following the killing of Burhan Wani were met by police firing resulting in over 40 deaths and over 2,000 injured including hundreds of blindings due to pellet-shot. This is of serious concern to every thinking Indian, whichever side of the argument he/she happens to be on, because large-scale social unrest in any part of[Read More…]
It was second day of the Hizbul-Mujahideen commander Burhan WaniKilling and I have to return to my work. So to ensure that I catch the flight I reached Srinagar airport 8 hours before the scheduled departure of my flight.While waiting with a person who happened to work for JK police we noticed a group of tourists which included Yatries ([Read More…]
For the mainstream Indian mindset on Kashmir, the land called Kashmir is an Indian property which should be protected and remain with India at any cost. The use of military is to protect this property. For them it is assumed this property might be grabbed away by the indigenous Kashmiris who are inspired by a neighboring country. It is never[Read More…]
Day 8. Kashmir is curfewed. At least 43 civilians are killed. All of them have been identified by the local media. More than 2200 persons are seriously injured, out of which at least 100 on the verge of losing their eyesight permanently after being hit by the lethal pellet guns. Yes, it is a war-like situation in curfewed Kashmir. Despite[Read More…]
It is not anger or frustration but simple horror and doom that one is immersed in. A non partisan observer is bound to baulk at the ‘colossal waste’ on which every new crop of humanity has been grown on Kashmir’s century after century- only to feed the cannon. So many years of ‘ accumulated’ deaths have left trauma in every[Read More…]
Police on Saturday raided news paper offices and printing presses in Kashmir valley and confiscated already printed copies. In South Kashmir and Kupwara all communication system with the outside world are cut off with telphone lines and cable TV networks blocked. Anuradha Bhasin, Executive Editor of Kashmir Times, said no information is coming out from these areas. She said ”[Read More…]
One more uprising in the Kashmir valley, one more scenario where people suddenly realize the gravity of the issue is here. The political ferment is ubiquitous, the ham handed approach of the State is self evident and the multiple local stakeholders have found themselves in a state of profound chaos and bewilderment. The[Read More…]
Recently there was an alarm and panic because of alleged move for replacement of the Persian script of Kashmiri language by Devanagari or Sanskrit script. There is no doubt that the original Kashmiri language from ancient times was written in Sarada script. However, after the advent of Islam in Kashmir, the Persian script was introduced. Now for almost 7 to[Read More…]
CITIZENS’ STATEMENT ON KASHMIR JULY 12 , 2016 We write this in anguish at another alarming spiral of violence in Kashmir, when a discredited old playbook has yet again been deployed to wreak havoc with civilian life. Kashmir’s escalating violence follows a familiar pattern: a killing, a funeral where rage is vented through slogans and stones, and volleys of lethal[Read More…]
For the popular Indian imagination on Kashmir across India, the land Kashmir acquires more importance than the people Kashmiri. That is how while the land gets adored for its natural beauty, the people Kashmiris are less appreciated. While the travelogues in media start showing the beauty of the land, the same media when it comes to political reporting constructs[Read More…]
Press Release By Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association India and its politicians must introspect as to why there has been such a mass outpouring of grief and support for Burhan Wani, a militant who was killed in an ‘encounter’. Already news reports confirm that over 30 unarmed protestors have been killed by the police and scores more have been injured. The death[Read More…]
The situation across Kashmir is not normal, neither under control, nor is the situation under law and order. It has been third day since this disputed portion of earth started witnessing deserted looks and blood bath started on each street. The situation started remained tense when people were communicated with heart wrenching news that “the local rebel, who at his[Read More…]
Coordination of Democratic Rights Organizations, (CDRO), expresses grave concern at the situation in Kashmir which has seen the death of 23 people and injuries to more than 300 persons over the last three days at the hands of Police and the Para military forces.
The killing of technocrat turned militant from Tral, Burhan Muzaffar Wani has generated a Tsunami which may ultimately engulf the entire sub-continent
Kashmir blessed by rich history & gorgeous geography has always been cursed & abused by its politicians. Its sanctity has been violated times without number & the latest among these is the shelving of the bill aimed at amending certain provisions of law which make it easier to acquire immovable property by non state subjects in Jammu .The nefarious objective[Read More…]
Normal life was hit for the second day today in Kashmir Valley due to curfew and strike following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. The restrictions have been imposed in most of Kashmir Valley as a precautionary measure. According to Kashmir Monitor, the civilian death toll on Sunday rose to 16 after a youth was killed and four other[Read More…]
Burhan Muzaffar Wani, the 22-year-old commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, has been killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir, police have said. Two other militants also were killed in the encounter. J&K police chief K Rajendra confirmed that Wani was killed in the exchange of fire between security personnel and militants in Anantnag. Burhan Wani had emerged as the new[Read More…]
Finally, the outcasts from society seem to be getting a livable place but it needs finishing touches to make it presentable! In the famous HollywoodmovieBen-Hur, Jesus Christ visits a Leper Colony on the outskirts of the city. The lepers lived in the shabbiest conditions totally outcast from the society. Jesus touches them and they are cured. It is a fact[Read More…]
Mehbooba Mufti’s assertion that Horticulture and Handicrafts have more potential than Tourism is a very bold statement based on reality which,if followed up honestly could make Kashmir’s economy self-reliant
Diaspora, deracination, or displacement are chronicled civilisational processes and must not be confused as entirely new burgeoning political or cultural subjects. Sometimes galvanized by national economic catastrophes, sometimes by droughts and famines, sometimes by political instabilities and ‘culture wars’, sometimes by natural calamities, and sometimes by natural human hunger to trade or explore, these processes indeed form a historical subject.[Read More…]
Kashmir’s peculiar identity has influenced its politics, both mainstream and separatists in past as well as in present. Identities are crucial for determining the future course of political process. Slogans like freedom, self rule and autonomy share one thing in common, all want to preserve the Kashmiri Identity. People feel alienated when governments try to mutilate their identities. The alienation[Read More…]
By Dr. P.S. Sahni & Shobha Aggarwal Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Chairman, All Parties Hurriyat Conference has appealed to the people to observe solidarity with the Kashmiri prisoners on Friday the 17 June, 2016. Geelani has called the continuous imprisonment of pro-freedom leader Masarat Alam Bhat since 2010 as extremely cruel. He lamented the silence of the State Government as[Read More…]
Notes on two recent sensations 
A shocking picture of health apathy….. 
Railway accident in Odisha- Are the Railways ready for high-speed trains? Who is to be blamed? 
Teaser of Film on Savarkar: Lies Galore 
Preserving India’s Heritage: The Power of International Collaboration for Natural and Cultural Conservation 
Looking for Home in an Overheating World – If Emissions Continue, Will We All Be Migrants Someday? 
From Ploughshares to Swords—Sudden Militarism of Those Who Once Stood for Peace 
Transreality 
Australia stands to benefit from India only if Indian democracy survives, not from rallies 
Whether Rhetoric or Serious, Arab Diplomacy Can’t Be Ignored! 
Unleashing the Power of Sports: How Sporting Events Drive Tourism Growth 
Black Panther and the need to dream for a better world 
Mexico’s Zapatistas Warn Chiapas Is on “the Verge of Civil War” 
Why distress from railway accidents may be much higher than is commonly believed 
Stop Plastic Pollution as We Commemorate 50th World Environment Day 2023 
Modi Regime should be Called to Account for the Deadliest Triple Train Collision at Balasore 
Thoughts on World Environment Day 
Nuclear Fusion: Eternal Energy = Eternal Damnation 
Why There Should Be A Treaty Against the Use of Weaponized Drones 
Protests in Germany after Anti-fascists sent to five years in prison 
Women Wrestler’s Protests: Exposing Beti Bachao Slogan 
Inauguration of Parliament Building: Coronation Ceremony? 
FBI appears to be continuing investigation of Julian Assange 
And We Are Much More Than Our Uterus. (In Solidarity With the protesting wrestlers) 
Strike ends in Belsonika with reinstatement of 10 suspended workers 
A Man Without a Strategy: How Netanyahu Is Provoking Armed Intifada in the West Bank 
The Ancient Patterns of Migration 
Seven Reasons Why the Present Phase of Imperialism is the Most Dangerous Ever 
Unmasking Tourism’s Roadblocks 
Metro authorities humiliating ordinary commuters 
PLI Scheme- Do subsidies to profit-earning private manufacturers yield commensurate societal benefits? World Environment Day in India: Doing Justice with the Day 
Ben Roberts-Smith: The Breaking of a Plaster Saint 
Do we All need Religion? An Introspection 
Obama, Kissinger and the Nobel Peace Prize 
The Politics of Erdogan and Western Anxieties 
The Compulsion to Intervene – Why Washington Underwrites Violence in Ukraine 
Just War and Just War Theory 
Stolen Heirloom or poppycock 
‘Simply Inconceivable’ to Dump Fukushima Water in Pacific, Critics Say After Latest IAEA Report 
Our beloved K.P.Sasi is no more. Filmmaker, cartoonist, writer, mentor, friend and above all tireless activist championing the cause of every underdog, Sasi breathed his last, mid-afternoon this Christmas day – after battling a medical condition for months. I remember the last time I met him, almost exactly a month before he passed away, at the ayurvedic healing center in[Read More…]
