The tragedy of changes in J&K’s land laws
Muzamil Jaleel A point by point response to the claims made by the government regarding the changes/amendments in J&K’s land laws: The claim that 90 percent of the land cannot be sold to outsiders is completely wrong. The Big Landed Estates Abolition law of 1950 and the Agrarian Reform act … Read more →
Quarantined thoughts: Poetry for the hearts in pain
Shakir Shafiq Qadri’s debut poetry collection “Quarantined Thoughts” is out. Saddam Hussain captures a few aspects of the poet for Kashmir Lit The writer So, I am from Srinagar, Kashmir. I spent my childhood years in Downtown Nowhatta, in Srinagar. It was the most dangerous place to be … Read more →
Graveyard of empires
Syed Jesarat The postman hasn’t Left the post office since Two decades, My Dream’ letters – to the Broken mirror of Himalayas Will never reach you But the scattered carcasses. The pocket letters of Our times’ are hollow shadows of memories snatched away And kept in a dungeon … Read more →
No Lockdown can overcome us
Abdul Azeem* Nothing is new neither this plague nor its lockdown it came with. All along, we’ve been witness to so many plagues and lockdowns. Not only social distancing, the plague of occupation exposed us to communication lockdowns as well. Since the past seven decades, the continuous tribulations, are meddling … Read more →
The Coalman
Gulam Mohammad Khan Barely weeks before the arrival of long winters - when the reaping and binding and threshing is done, when the barns are full, when flocks of swallows migrate to warmer places, when the green foliage slowly wears on a yellowish hue, when the rivers flow low and … Read more →
Language of Resistance
Mudasir Ali Lone & Tajamul Islam Epistemic violence constitutes the very foundation of the pyramid of violence. The reason is that it is much more lethal, and has the power to transform the subjects or to rally an entire community against another based on the distortions scripted in the language in … Read more →
Blurred Hopes
Arfat Shiekh Blurred Hope is a short film about women in the Indian occupied Kashmir who have lost their sons, husbands, and brothers through enforced disappearances between 1989 and 2006. I took the inspiration for the film from an organization known as the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) … Read more →
Your Brother
iKoshur Your brother walks in shadows, roams the land in utter secrecy, his image alive in a multitude of hearts that are far too many to count. His feet touch upon the soil like determined whispers of a man whose voice is louder than any force a million strong. His … Read more →
Zanaan Wanaan release Kashmiri Bella Ciao
New Beginnings, Radical Possibilities Kashmir Lit (KL): What invoked you to adopt this anthem for Kashmir? Please tell us its significance? Zanaan Wanaan (ZW): As the Indian state stripped Kashmir of its partial autonomy on the 5th August by abrogating Article 370 and imposed an arbitrary communications ban, those … Read more →
Survival by Ashaq Hussain
(I) How do you bear the separation While your home is under siege: By recalling an army of metaphors Or dead clichéd caterpillars of hope? How do you bear separation alone While you oscillate between awful Dregs of despair and the hazy Halloweens of commercial ads? (ii) How do you … Read more →
Two Poems by Sayan Aich Bhowmik
Bridges Across the Jehlum A narrow passage Down the hall And I find you seated On a boat That has never been moored. Your fingers move Carelessly across your face Tracing alphabets of a race That swore by the chinars in Kashmir And died by guns of the occupying army. … Read more →
Zoon by Salik Basharat
I sprint down the stairwell and rush through the backdoor to hear the laments of a hundred faithful; while of a hundred thousand more I do not hear, but feel – like an ache in my bones. this veiled support and this willed support has opposed – And so have … Read more →
Verse-journal of the Kashmir Siege
Ather Zia August When I asked if there would be a war, they replied “did it ever end?” and continued their song. 8/4/19, the siege begins next day * our hearts are sinking, but our prayers are rising, Azadi, Azadi, Azadi 4th day of the Kashmir siege, 8/8/19 * … Read more →
I am a Soul by Dr Muhammad Qasim
My origin, presence in body. My departure is mystery I know no bearers, accept no restrictions, I am free I take a journey whenever and wherever I wish to I am beyond time, space and your imagination I am the Soul I am not made for Power, wealth and fame, … Read more →
It’s not safe outside by Azhar Wani
Agar firdous But heaven is an archive. And it has been full Since before us, as the History of man, Fills rooms and lush gardens. Kohl Eyed Virgin Archivers Look around to read, forever, And Cry. Bar royye But Dearest, our faces are left to shine under A moon, so … Read more →
Resistance is our inheritance by Zahida War
Resistance is our inheritance “In the dark of the night – The snare was laid out Prisoned in our own homes, At gunpoint, lips sealed Our hearts silently crying And yet there is no empathy From those who call us their own, Rather, as a Kashmiri woman I am objectified … Read more →
Two poems by Huzaifa Pandit
I am no Yusuf, Father I am no Yusuf, Father My brothers aren’t content to push me down the well. They tear me – tender limb to tender limb with their sleeved hands sharp as the crescent and fling my torn body down the well. I have lain in this … Read more →
Two poems by Mudasir Firdosi
Half Widow My eyes, vacant, gaze into the deep space wondering how did you become a brute? I ask about my beloved, caged in far off places or buried in no man’s land. Does my pain make you conquerer of the realms? Or numb like my heart? The blots on … Read more →
Kashmir for India – A poem by Tapaswinee Mitra
Here we present our case- Kashmir for India: Kashmiris are so beautiful, like foreigners. Like brand ambassadors of a Fair and Lovely ad. Fair like Shashi Kapoor and lovely like Shammi. The only 2 Kashmiris we know, other than Pandit Nehru. Kashmir is the perfect honeymoon destination; Come and experience … Read more →
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