Angana Chatterji Atta Mohammad (1940-2016) was a gravedigger and caretaker of the unknown, unmarked and some mass graves at Chehal Bimyar located in the Northern Kashmir district of Baramulla. For those seeking to locate persons missing and disappeared and to access local knowledge and the events of history, Atta Mohammad’s … Read more →
An Open (Love) Letter to Kashmir from a Koshur Gobur
Dear Kashmir, It seems to be the season of open letters, so I too will hop on and instead of wasting my breath on writing open letters to people who do not deserve my attention and much less my words, I am writing you this long due (love) letter. I … Read more →
In Kashmir, ‘fearless mobs’ help militants escape
Parvaiz Bukhari. In a graveyard at his school in Indian Kashmir, principal Ghulam Ahmed Bhat stares sadly at a mound of freshly dug earth after another former pupil was killed in the region’s conflict. University student Shaista Hameed was caught in crossfire during a gun battle between soldiers and militants … Read more →
Language without a Nation
Mir Hilal A year ago, when my son was 18 months old, he began to speak in chaste Kashmiri, and instantly became an oddity. He would draw a blank when people tried to charm him in Urdu spoken with a distinctly Kashmiri flavour. And when I would say he speaks … Read more →
The Rebel’s Silhouette and Shahid’s treatment to translation
Dhaar Mehak | Faizaan Bhat Call me a poet Dear editor They call this my alien language I am a dealer in words That mix cultures And leave me rootless BACK-DROP Having a Kashmiri … Read more →
Concerned Faculty on the JNU crisis
In the wake of events around the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the crackdown on students, a group of female faculty in various disciplines who work in/on Kashmir remind us why the focus on the Kashmiri right to self-determination should not be negated. We are scholars of Kashmir from different … Read more →
The Leftist from Downtown
Khalid Mir In 2014 visiting home for Eid just before the floods ravaged much of Srinagar City and the vale, I found myself sipping coffee with a couple of acquaintances at the famed city restaurant ‘The Hideout’. Call me a cynic, even as the discussion hovered around how the society … Read more →
Lehra Aey Kashmir Key Jhandey Lehra
Engineer Rashid It was Saturday, 7th June 1952 when the Constituent Assembly met in the Assembly Chamber Rajgarh Palaces Srinagar at 11o clock. Mr. Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq, then President Assembly (Speaker used to be called as President Assembly) began proceedings of the day by calling Hon’ble Prime Minister Shiekh Mohammad … Read more →
The Walnut Orchard
Khalid Fayaz Javed slept after finishing the dawn prayers during the Ramadan of 2003. No sooner than an hour or so of that autumn morning sleep, his newly bought phone rang. He woke up just when the ringing was about to die. Half asleep, Javed said gruffly ‘Hello!’ The unknown … Read more →
To bury a martyr is not a thing to be forgotten
Irfan Meraj A beautiful winding stretch of road leads to Atta Mohammad’s home in Boniyar, Uri. The beautiful landscape is in sharp contrast to what it holds beneath. Atta Mohammad died a week ago at his home after a prolonged illness. The sole gravedigger of his village for several … Read more →
An Open (Love) Letter to the People of Kashmir
By Amjad Majid This letter is for those of you who I have had the fortune of meeting here in Kashmir, during my visit this summer of 2015. This is not for all of you. Some of you will feel excluded, but know that inspite of that, I love you, … Read more →
Kashmir – Of Occupation and Casbah-ization
Umar Lateef Misgar Kashmir has been subject to a state of untold persecution for the last 500 years. Lately, India, Pakistan and China have all annexed and occupied some part of the historic Kashmiri nation. The country, as we live in it now, feels no better than Occupied Palestine or … Read more →
Witness from a funeral in Kashmir
Rouf Dar Every occupied nation undergoes different phases in a liberation movement. Kashmir, which became the hotbed of armed militancy in 1990s, is yet again amidst a refreshed phase of armed militancy which has gripped the entire valley. The rise of a teen commander Burhan Wani, from the ashes of … Read more →
India’s Dubious Games in Kashmir
Shafkat Raina In New Delhi before visiting Indian controlled Kashmir, the Indian Defence Minister issued a controversial statement that, “terrorists in the state (Kashmir) can be neutralised with the help of terrorists, why should we do it, why my soldiers have to do it”. The people who are well aware … Read more →
Remembering Kamil
Majid Maqbool ‘Tikta lagith ta band lifaafa-n manz Be-patah khat chi daak-khana-ikaesi’ (Stamped and sealed in envelopes, We’re a post office’s letters without an address) Celebrated Kashmiri-American poet Agha Shahid Ali was 18 or younger, most likely a student in the University of Kashmir, when Amin Kamil wrote this famous … Read more →
Deluge, a narrative from Lelhar
Tavseef Mairaj It was the forenoon of Friday, 5 September and the network connectivity stands badly affected for the past couple of days. A text message somehow came through, from my mama. I replied, “Agricultural land is already under water and it is advancing.” This would be the last communication … Read more →
Journey of an activist in Azad Jammu & Kashmir
Tanveer Ahmed Having spent over 28 years of my life in Britain from the age of 4 as a 3rd generation immigrant, I decided to venture out to my roots at the age of 33 to Pakistani-administered Kashmir (Azad Jammu & Kashmir or AJK for short – described in English as … Read more →
Kashmir, Indian Army and the election farce
Ashfaq Saraf “The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them.” ― Karl Marx Since its troops landed in Srinagar Indian state’s modus operandi in Kashmir has been in the likeness of a military expedition. From … Read more →
Kashmir Beyond Platitudes: The Responsibility to Protect
Dr. Gulam Nabi Fai Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream / I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been / To sit with elders of the gentle race, this world has seldom seen / They … Read more →
Apathetic masses in between shameless elite and uninspiring resistance
Khaufzad Kashur An unguided mass of people, stricken with unemployment, cultural delirium and dependence on supplies for survival, works as ballast for the stability of the military occupation. People of Kashmir, the atomized masses appear to be in a race among themselves for becoming good consumers of everything ranging from … Read more →