ATHER ZIA Kashmiris were mourning the hanging of Afzal, a freedom fighter (previously armed) and a Mirza Ghalib aficionado, at India’s Tihar jail. They were shaking off the last vestiges of a coma-inducing curfew which was imposed to numb any arm-shaking, leg-moving, tongue-wagging or neck-raising reaction and the perpetual pain … Read more →
Three Lovers Of Night
Arif Ayaz Parrey At first glance, there was nothing ordinary about Roqsaan. Her skin had the sheen of February snow and her eyes were winter nights. She had the attitude of Chilla-i-Kalaan and a pout which warmed men’s hearts like the sun must in Chilla-i-Kalaan, leaving them with an afterglow … Read more →
Art of Protest in Kashmir
Written and Curated by Wasim Mushtaq Wani MOHAMMAD ABDULLAH MEHBOOB (1943) Mehboob’s most powerful and dynamically effective painting during the turmoil is interestingly a self-conscious quote from Picasso’s Guernica, 1937. There cannot be a better reference to quote from the history of modern art which makes such a significant relevance as … Read more →
Maet Kath translated by Mohammad Junaid
by Akhtar Mohiuddin Translated by Mohammad Junaid Translators Note This last June, which I spent in Kashmir, I looked through some old Kashmiri texts in my parent’s tiny library–sadly the books are slowly being eaten away by insects–and found an old anthology of Kashmiri literature. While there were several remarkable … Read more →
Taliban In Context of Kashmir
Syed Zafar Mehdi A palpable buzz in the town is that after the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, the hard-bitten Talibani guerillas may trickle over to the Indian-occupied-Kashmir. Local media has been sent into a tizzy as seasoned political pundits discuss its possible repercussions. … Read more →
Spectacle of Indian National Project
Ather Zia Why Afzal was killed in custody without even a patina of a fair trial? Why did India, which masquerades as a democracy in Kashmir, give in to a ‘murderous’ due process? I will not go into the nitty-gritty of the case which was cooked to kill Afzal. I … Read more →
The Eyewitness – [The Return of Rahima? ]
By Sheikh Saaliq The darkness has already crept in—stars glitter like emerald diamonds. I hear the whispers of air outside. I can smell the freshness of air, which it brings with it for the morning to come—the morning of summer. The hush outside is no longer mute. It brings a … Read more →
Loving, Dying (or being Killed)
Ather Zia The young girl in this story is looking out from the window, of what at one point must have been a large house, now divided into slim columns, probably amongst its heirs. Built with tiny scorched bricks that are held together by mud, the partitions are discernible by … Read more →
Prisoner No. 100: An Account Of My Nights And Days In An Indian Prison Gowhar Fazili
Book Title: Prisoner No. 100: An Account Of My Nights And Days In An Indian Prison Author: Anjum Zamarud Habib Published : 2011 by Zubaan Books Reviewer: Gowhar Fazili Prisoner No. 100 is Anjum Zamarud Habib’s personal account of five years in jail, nearly all of them as an under … Read more →
Carpentry
Ashfaq Saraf When she wakes up panting in the middle of night, he is wakened too; mostly without delay and sometimes only after she [heaves] Rasheed’s name. He lights on the torch, navigates the glow across the span of the room to locate her trembling face, moves it further to … Read more →
Faux Democracy
By Dibyesh Anand We do not like to ring you We do not like to come to you We do not like to listen to you We will hang your husband Under due process of law Dangle his body for 30 minutes To ensure he speaks no longer To ensure … Read more →
Cordoba
By Allama Iqbal Written in 1932 on Spanish soil, mainly in the Mosque of Cordoba I Chain of day and night Fashioner of events Basis of life and death Two tone silken thread Fiber of attributes Pitch of prospects Chain of day and night Sitting in judgment Setting a value … Read more →
Wanai Kyah – A Ghazal in Kashmiri with translation
by Rumuz e Bekhudi (Please scroll down for the English translation) WANAI KYAH Tim chaen qasam waad bay shumaar wanai kyah Tann harud kulen aav nov bahaar wanai kyah Aab e hayaat zaanha latti haavtam tchi roi Chaanen vattan hyund taap chum shehjaar wanai kyah Zulf e khaman roozith andar … Read more →
“Until My Freedom Has Come” – Sanjay Kak in Conversation with Nawaz Gul Qanungo
Sanjay Kak is an independent documentary filmmaker whose work includes Jashn e Azadi How we celebrate freedom (2007), a feature-length film about Kashmir. Nawaz Gul Qanungo is a journalist based in Srinagar. His essay “Languages of a Security State” appeared in the anthology under discussion. Here they are in conversation about … Read more →
India & Kashmir: Breaking the Silence
Pankaj Mishra in Conversation with David Barsamian Pankaj Mishra writes for The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Book Review, and The Guardian. He is the author Butter Chicken in Ludhiana, An End to Suffering, Temptations of the West and From the Ruins of … Read more →
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