Articles Archives | Page 42 of 51

Modi visit: At cost of people’s freedom

November 16, 2015 Editor

Kashoo Tawseef Right to live that too in one’s own place is an inalienable birth and basic human right of any individual anywhere in the world as Nelson Mandela said, “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.” Jammu Kashmir is an example of such challenge to humanity where this right is being violated every day and night. This time, Prime Minster Narendra Modi was visiting Jammu Kashmir to attend various meetings and address few rallies, good for him. But question remains why people of Jammu…

In Kashmir’s Blood politics, the innocent is always the loser

November 16, 2015 Editor

By Raqib Hameed Naik The death of a young man in Kashmir no longer bothers the mainstream media, even if it happens in the wake of PM Modi’s visit to the Valley. Even for the Kashmiri people, such news have become so common, that it would take weeks to calculate similar, unaccounted murders of civilians at the hands of security forces over a given period. Gowher Nazir Dar, 22, had all the traits of a ‘common’ Indian youth: he was studying engineering, his family had high hopes from him and…

Kashmiriyat, Jamhuriyat, Insaniat

November 14, 2015 Editor

Zafar Choudhary On the early morning of November 16, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed will be in Goa presenting a ‘special address’ at an ‘India Ideas Conclave’ on the much talked about but little understood subject of ‘Kashmiriyat, Jamhuriyat, Insaniat’. The conclave is host¬ed by India Foundation, a newly emerged powerful think tank run mainly by BJP members, including Ministers, and ideologues. Past its sell by date long ago, the ‘Kashmiriyat, Jamhuriyat, Insaniat’ slogan was coined in bits and pieces between 2000 and 2002 by the BJP veteran Atal Behari…

1947: First Blood

November 9, 2015 Editor

Within 24 hours after Kashmir acceded to India in 1947, the Srinagar airport was not only the epicentre of the first war that India and Pakistan fought over the Vale but a stage for Kashmir’s first cordon and a massacre. Bilal Handoo traces the survivors of Kashmir first post-partition massacre to tell the story of dusky Gogo hamlet, that was obliterated from history He remembers everything as if that dark horror shook him only yesterday… Dusk had barely taken over when soldiers knocked at their doors, asking them to come…

Neither Modi’s visit nor Geelani’s million man march will help Kashmir

November 7, 2015 Editor

For Muslims and Hindus alike, New Delhi’s response is similar: ‘We are willing to give you bribes, but don’t expect justice, not ever.’ Omair Ahmad On November 7, Mr Narendra Modi will visit the Kashmir Valley. The hardline Kashmiri ideologue, and former MLA, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, has called a “Million Man March” to protest Mr Modi’s presence – although none of us know what the prime minister has to say. In response, dozens of people have been put under “preventive detention” aka arrested, and the police and security forces…

Why GoI’s packages fail in Kashmir?

November 6, 2015 Editor

Faisul Yaseen From free rice in 1953 to Manmohan Singh’s Rs 24,000 crore package in 2004, from Rajiv Gandhi’s proposed Rs 10,000 crore package in 1987 to H D Deve Gowda’s Rs 301 crore package in 1996, Government of India (GoI) has been pumping money into Jammu Kashmir but failed to get the results it desired. Why did all these financial packages fail? Noted Kashmiri economist, Prof. Nisar Ali said these packages had been unsuccessful as the amount announced by the GoI for Jammu Kashmir had been pumped into its…

‘Innocents suffer with the guilty’: How Delhi Police Special Cell ruined young Kashmiri lives

October 30, 2015 Editor

A report prepared by Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association looks at cases of youth arrested on terror charges, tortured, jailed and eventually acquitted by courts. Sumegha Gulati On September 12, 2006, Parvez Ahmed Radoo left home in Sopore, a hotbed of militancy for decades, to return to his university in Pune. A postgraduate in zoology, Radoo had received a scholarship to pursue a PhD in South Korea. He was to catch a connecting flight to Pune to appear for his TOEFL exam when he was arrested at the international airport by…

Quietly, a piece of Kashmir culture withers away

October 30, 2015 Editor

Kani Shawls dying a slow & sure death As is so imminent in every sense, Kashmir is known for its art and crafts. Be it papier mâché, wood work, stone carving, metal work or the traditional shawl weaving and embroidery work, the ingenuity and craftsmanship of the local populace has been globally lauded. Kanihama, a small village on Srinagar-Gulmarg highway is the serene abode of Kani Shawls, a craft which demands patience, practice and great amount of skill in order to write mastery over a piece of special cloth. The…

Kanger: Symbol of our heritage

October 29, 2015 Editor

Dr Qayum Hamid Changal I was born and brought up in Kashmir. I have seen, heard and felt a lot of it. Magnificently crafted, it is an embodiment of Kashmiri art and culture. A fire pot with hot embers, it’s kept at ease beneath the traditional clothing Pheran to keep cold away. We call it Kanger, the name itself manifesting the chain of emotions attached to it. About six inches in diameter, it reaches a temperature of about 70 degree celsius, thus is a dominant provision during chilling winters to…