Award winning American actress Tina Fey is of the opinion that “confidence is 10% work and 90 % delusion”, but one suspects that had she been exposed to the bizarre psychology of the orange haired buffoon a little earlier she would have been forced to revise the 10% to an even more insignificant figure. History has yet to see a likeness in a position of such authority who while suffering […]
Since last three days we are witnessing a lot of events happening. This is no less than an actual war. Everyone in India is on high ‘Josh.’ We see suggestions, war cries, patriotism overflowing on social media and social groups. Some sitting in their lavish air conditioned living rooms and forwarding Whats app messages to every possible person they know. For many its a a thrill while travelling or in […]
There were two major developments in Jammu and Kashmir in the past couple of days. The Ramazan ceasefire was not extended and two days after that, the BJP pulled out from the PDP led government. The state is currently under Governor’s rule and President of India approved of the same. With the rule of the Governor in place, the Army is expected to be tougher in a bid to flush […]
March 21 is celebrated as Navroz in many parts of the world as the beginning of the new year. People in Kashmir too celebrate it as the beginning of the new agricultural season with seeds being sown and farms made ready. On this day some Kashmiris go for a “new” life, they start a course of “leech therapy”. Many people think attaching live leeches to the human body can cure […]
On Saturday, May 27, Kashmir was tense after 31-year-old Sabzar Ahmad Bhat, a top commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed in an encounter with security forces in Tral in Pulwama district. But another militant also died with him, 16-year-old Faizan Muzaffar Bhat, armed to the teeth, ready to die and to kill. Faizan Muzaffar Bhat’s death brings a grim fact into focus: minors in Kashmir are taking up arms […]
As India’s most restive region stares down the abyss of what a commentator calls another “hot summer of violence”, the doom-laden headline has returned with a vengeance: Is India losing Kashmir? Last summer was one of the bloodiest in the Muslim-dominated valley in recent years. Following the killing of influential militant Burhan Wani by Indian forces last July, more than 100 civilians lost their lives in clashes during a four-month-long […]
In a spirit of brotherhood, villagers clean Nand Kishore temple in Bandipora for puja. Muslims have cleaned up and organised a puja at a temple and 1,000 specially-designed ‘Herath’ greeting cards have been produced: this Sivaratri, Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims are bonding strongly, and social media is providing the platform to relive past memories. For the first time since hundreds of Pandit families migrated out of the Valley in the […]
Pinpricks India by lauding Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani as a “vibrant and charismatic leader.” Claiming that Kashmir was an “integral part” of Pakistan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday needled India yet again by praising slain Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani as a “vibrant and charismatic leader.” Addressing the inaugural ceremony of a two-day international parliamentary seminar on Kashmir here, Mr. Sharif also praised the spirit and determination of the Kashmiri […]
There have been many books depicting the Kashmir issue from a man’s perspective but hardly any from the women’s point of view. Kashmir is on the boil; the “Azadi” chant reverberates from every corner; normal life is at a halt. A young, educated, career-oriented woman’s life gets entangled amidst all this. The result is Nayeema Mahjoor’s debut book “Lost in Terror” (Penguin, Rs 299, pp 305). There have been many […]
I remember a very interesting conversation with my grandfather about Kashmir relating with the remarkable speech made by K Krishna Menon at the United Nations in January 1957. Menon was at that time commanding the Indian delegation to the United Nations. Menon in a marathon 8-hour address to the world body had left Pakistan stumped and red faced as he presented the Indian defence point by point, tearing into the […]
