Elections in Kashmir have perhaps been as much an issue as the dispute over Kashmir itself. Fact is that elections in Kashmir have hardly been conducted out of any genuine desire to empower the people which is, at least in theory, the purported purpose of elections in a democracy. Alongside this, elections in Kashmir have […]
From the great land of Ching Pingstan, there was this equally great traveller, sickolar, fillosoloafer, IT guru and God knows what who gave this earth-shaking idea of OBOR or One Bone, One Rat. A word about this sickolar, fillosoloafer later. Let’s first see what this OBOR is all about. It is said OBOR is basically […]
Many of you must have seen the documentary recently aired on Al Jazeera, Kashmir: Born to Fight. Although a well-intentioned film, its title seems a little bothersome. It puts an implicating optics on Kashmir and Kashmiris. This title makes it look as though the problem is because Kashmiris are the troublemakers — they “fight” forcing […]
Lately Hafiz Saeed and his many outfits — militant and social welfare — have been in the news. The Pakistan government made several moves against Saeed and his men which were widely reported. These moves generated a fair bit of commentary and analyses both in Indian and Pakistani media. Some analysts thought it was deja […]
Generals shouldn’t get angry. That’s the general rule. And if Generals do get angry, they should try to not speak. Angry words from an angry General can do more harm than the guns under the General’s command. We saw that happening recently. When Generals say things in public, they obviously are interpreted as matters of […]
Is Syed Ali Geelani an overrated leader who has failed the nation? Or, is he the one who kept the resistance alive despite crippling curbs by the State? Will the resistance sink with his departure? Or, will his legacy spur the azadi movement in the times to come? Difficult questions these with no easy answers […]
Getting an interview with pro-freedom leader Syed Ali Geelani has been made next to impossible. Geelani has been under house arrest for several years. He is barred even from offering prayers outside his home. The only time he is allowed out is when he usually goes to Delhi in winter months because of health reasons. […]
May 11 was the birth anniversary of Sadat Hasan Manto – the short-story writer who, among many other afflictions, had a serious predicament. In his imagined after-life he had envisioned himself in a state of perpetual conjecture — whether he or God was a greater story-teller. The matter was never settled probably because of the […]
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. […]