Just like you, my name is also Mehbooba. Just like you, I am also a daughter of Jammu & Kashmir living in the incomparable city of Srinagar. And just like you, I have also spent my life living in the shadow of men in this manly world of men. To the naked eye, those are the similarities we both share. Unlike you, I am a commoner. Someone, who has accepted to bow to practicalities and realities, which – unfortunately for you and me – have become too common. Unlike you,…
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Articles
Kashmir, a rudderless ship!
M. Ashraf It is not for the first time that there is an uncertainty about not only the ultimate fate of this land but even about its day to day governance. This always happens when a ship is set on an uncharted course without any definite goal. Unfortunately, the leaders of all the streams do not outline a definite and a practically achievable goal. It is like a ship sailing from a port to port without an ultimate destination. Probably, the main problem in putting the ship on a definite…
Read MoreCome Winter, Come Diabetes
Diabetes is like a fruit that grows bitter in Winter Kashmir valley becomes a beautiful painting of white snow and light shades of green in the winters, as compared to the famous canopy greens and the tulips of summer and spring. It’s a lovely sight in its own right. But looking at it from the medical perspective, it has now become clear that the winter with its core – the ‘ chillae kalaan’- is the breeding ground of metabolic diseases, like increased cholesterol, and the metabolic menace called diabetes. Thus,…
Read MoreOpen letter to Mehbooba Mufti
Prof. M Y Ganai Respected Mehboobaji Assalam-u-Aliakum From the core of my heart, I offer condolence to you on the sad demise of your beloved father. May God grant eternal peace to the departed soul. I do realize that it is not the proper time to write an open letter to you. But, being the son of the soil I consider it my moral obligation to make a sincere suggestion to you. The main purpose is that if you want your organization should live long and should address the people’s…
Read MoreKashmiri Mehman-Navazi : An Intrinsic Beauty
“Gar Bar-ru-e-Zamin Ast; Hamin Ast, Hamin Ast Hamin Ast”. Nidhi Soni In the north of the Kashmir, an immense stretch of mountain ranges of the Himalayas-Karakoram, Zaskar and Pir Panjal, running from northwest to northeast makes it part of the world’s one of the most beautiful places. These snow capped ranges makes Kashmir look like the “paradise on earth” or jannat. Dazzling and mesmerizing rivers, serene lakes, splendiferous gardens, flowering and peerless meadows, etc are some other fascinating magnificent features of the landscape of the Kashmir valley. The breathtaking beauty…
Read MoreDemystify Kashmir
Show them the reality and let them judge Z. G. Muhammad In India’s 1.25 billion population not even .0005 percent people are familiar with the story of the Kashmir Dispute. ‘India’s middle class according to Global Wealth Report 2015 stands at 2 to 3 percent of the adult or total population when measured by wealth or income. The definition of middle class here is income between 10 to 20 dollars a day adjusted for purchasing power parity.’ That indicates ninety-seven percent Indians are poor of which about thirty percent live…
Read MoreModern Kashmiri Poetry and Mysticism
Rediscovering Rashid Nazki Sufi Showkat The tradition of Kashmiri poetry lies deep into the realms of Mysticism. If one accounts the beginning of Kashmiri poetry then we come across the unique way of expression of Shuti Kanth, Lal Ded, and Sheikh Noor-u-Din (RA), followed by a galaxy of poets and saint poets and consequently a unique tradition of poetry mingled with Mysticism. One cannot think Kashmiri poetry without the amalgamation of Mysticism. Even the most (may be the only) Romantic poet of Kashmir Rasool Mir could not resist giving his…
Read MoreCan Mehbooba be the Indira Gandhi of Kashmir?
Daanish Bin Nabi The life and times of Nehru-Indira and Mufti-Mehbooba appear to bear likeness in many ways. Indira was shadow of her father from mid-1930s till Nehru breathed his last. Indira learnt every trick and trade of politics from her father. When Nehru was ill there were talks on who was going to replace Nehru after he is gone. Speculations were rife that Indira would take over Nehru once he escapes the political landscape. However, Indira did not and waited for appropriate time to do so. She went on…
Read MoreNo Kashmir, no Kashmiris!
Ghulam Nabi Khayal Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sudden air dash to Lahore on December 25 took even his own India by surprise. This was indeed a great gesture of mutual understanding demonstrated by Modi, earning laurels for himself as a seasoned statesman and capable of any action he intends to take in a larger interest. The wisdom demands that one should read much more beyond Modi having lunch with daal, saag, Kashmiri tea, his touching feet of Nawaz Sharif’s mother or Nawaz donning Modi’s present, a pink turban. By and…
Read MoreModi: Reducing the Art of Diplomacy to What Matters Most
Modi: Reducing the Art of Diplomacy to What Matters Most Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai December 30, 2015 “The most difficult thing in any negotiation, almost, is making sure that you strip it of the emotion and deal with the facts.” SenatorHoward Baker There’s a lot to be surprised about in the recent visit by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Lahore. The summer-long problems at Kashmir’s Cease-fire Line, persistent efforts by the BJP to usurp political…
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