SAR Geelani’s daughter Nusrat Geelani recalls her ordeal in and out of jail It was the holy month of Ramazan, 13 December 2001 — a day that seemed ordinary, but turned out to be the one that would change our lives forever. We had some relatives visiting us who were to leave for Kashmir next […]
After some 40 days in jail, this man is having his moment with a family reunion that seemed ever so elusive. As he slouches in a sofa, his son and daughter stand behind him clutching his shoulders as if to say, “No, Abbu we won’t let them take you away again.” But Syed Abdul Rehman […]
Imagine this. A nine-year-old girl along with her five-year-old brother are thrown into jail and held captive there. Then one day the door of the dingy room, where they are held, is left open. In the facing room their father, who is also under arrest, is walked in. His body is bruised out of torture. […]
In a detailed interview SAR Geelani spoke to Imran Muzaffar at his residence in New Delhi on Kashmir, his political beliefs, why the state wants to ‘eliminate’ him, his time in jail and a host of other issues The Indian state is against me. It has always been against me. It is not just […]
As the rocking events of the JNU story move out of the news cycle, a stream of sub textual themes is slowly making itself felt. The way the Indian government dealt with slogan-raising students makes a bitter commentary on the Indian state. The slogans may have been unacceptable to most Indians, but they were just […]
‘These curbs could now extend to the classrooms’ What happened on 9 February and onwards does not constitute a crime and in no way sedition. There have been some alleged slogans in bad taste but that should have been dealt with at the internal level. A university is a place where different ideas, opinions and […]
It is never easy to write about a person who is no more. It was never easy to write about Mufti Mohammad Sayeed even when he was living. The man had a method to his brand of politics–leave a wide enough room for ambiguity; never give out your mind on critical issues; keep the folks […]
Acting snobbish after having watched a lot of western art movies, I once superciliously dismissed Bollywood as trash. A very wise friend, a maven of many disciplines, cinema among them, corrected me saying that Bollywood movies were an altogether different genre that should not be judged by the analyses one would apply while appreciating the […]
Nasir Mirza Journalism teacher There are many grey shades in this respect. Mufti’s image was severely dented when he joined hands with BJP. It was like the North Pole joining the South Pole. Power is not the final objective of great leaders. His long cherished dream to be the Chief Minister was not only short […]
Journalist Somebody said this about the Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat: He is an enigma, inside a riddle, wrapped in a puzzle. This description exactly befits Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. We could never understand what actually was on his mind when he would speak on a particular issue. He would speak in half sentences. For example, he […]
