1. The Valley of the Blind- A crow chronicle. a pellet is a precious pearl. soft as a grain of rice. kisses the eye like a lover. caresses the pupil like your mom. crows are vile birds, traitors, who predict the arrival of armed guests in riot gear and armoured … Read more →
Kasheer by Mrinalini Harchandrai
You are that mansion allowed to evanesce still the innocence of light seeps through your chandeliered heart nature’s cashmere façade creeps on your silken carpets the Himalayas landscape your upper storeys, they sweep and staircase around you grandly like bannisters your roses sit embroidered with ballroom grandeur ghostly sweetness against … Read more →
Curfew the Night by Amjad Majid
Curfew the streets, the schools, our homes, curfew the news, the newspapers, the radio, the internet, the television channels Curfew our speech, our movement, our protests, our mourning, our plight Curfew the truth Curfew the night Curfew freedom itself if you will if you dare Curfew hope Curfew life and … Read more →
Long Live Resistance, Long Live Freedom
An Open Letter Muhammad Yasin Malik This letter has been released by the family of Muhammad Yasin Malik, Kashmiri Resistance Leader, who is currently incarcerated in Tihar Jail No: 7, New Delhi, India. In protest of his illegal detention and trumped-up charges, Malik will begin a fast unto death from 1st April 2020. … Read more →
Quick Recollection of the Kashmir Siege
Abdul Azeem* #Death of a neighbor We witnessed the death of a neighbor, it was 8th August 2019. Not many knew about it because of the communication blackout. No mobile or internet services were available. The family had to make an announcement in Masjid for her burial and funeral prayers. … Read more →
The obstacle in the path of justice is State itself
Umer Beigh in conversation with Asiya Andrabi’s youngest son Ahmed Bin Qasim On July 10, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) attached the house of incarcerated 56-year-old Asiya Andrabi, a senior pro-freedom leader heading Dukhtaraan-e-Millat under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Though “no searches were conducted” but investigators maintained … Read more →
Asiya Andrabi: A Lifetime of Fighting for Freedom
Rahiba R Parveen From the archives [ First published here in 2014] – Asiya Andrabi is currently jailed You may agree or disagree with her ideology but the founder of the first women’s organization of Kashmir, Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughter of the nation) Asiya Andrabi remains one of the most important women … Read more →
A Kashmiri Woman’s Lifetime Struggle for Azadi
Conversation with Anjum Zamarud Habib Faizaan Bhat Anjum Zamarud Habib is a social and political activist, senior executive member of Hurriyat [Geelani] and author of two books, including Nigha-E-Anjum, her autobiography, published by Kitaab Mehal and Qaidi number 100 published by Pharos Books, which is a journal of her days … Read more →
Kashmir – The Invisible and the Damned
Aijaz Zaka Syed You can look away now The Vale of tears has dried up And a deathly silence stalks the Dal Deserted towns, burnt orchards and shadows everywhere. Paradise will ne’er be the same again Nothing will ever be the same again We, the invisible and the … Read more →
Ghazalnama: Poems from Delhi, Belfast, and Urdu
A selection from a book of poems by Maaz bin Bilal. Maaz lived in Old Delhi for most of his life before leaving for a doctorate in literary studies at the Queen’s University of Belfast. He now teaches at Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities in Sonipat where he … Read more →
Response Poetry
We called poets to write us “Response Poems” We asked them to recall any favorite poem that spoke to them or inspired them or was a companion to them when no one else is. Then we asked if they ever have written a response to it in the form of … Read more →
Abandonment
Daaniyal Hassan At Srinagar Airport The waiting furniture has grown roots in the frosted floor. The carpenter’s chisel runs smooth blade in my palms. Grape leaves are carved on walnut wood. This is the anatomy of deficient hands without you. From door to door of … Read more →
Resisting the Language of Occupation
Tajamul Islam & Mudasir Ali Lone “We cannot allow the occupier to dictate what to speak and when to speak. Being free is our religion and its consciousness is our survival” – Manan Wani, former doctoral student, militant (Hizb-ul-Mujahideen); martyred on 11th October 2018 When you are under occupation, the first … Read more →
The number “four”
Yogesh Mishra On the way to school Zuni counts One barricade, two barricades, three barricades Green is Pakistan Saffron is India And blood is red It is little Zuni’s new charade The way she learns counting and recalls a color’s name I do not know whom to blame … Read more →
A poem for Aasif Sultan
Omer Sultan I wrote this poem to address the illegal imprisonment of Aasif Sultan, the Assistant Editor of Kashmir Narrator, a monthly magazine. Aasif, my brother was arrested on the intervening night of 27th and 28th of August 2018. He dropped me to the airport a day before his arrest. … Read more →
Wayfaring by Tikuli Dogra
Reviewer: Shabir Ahmed Mir “Wayfaring” published by The Leaky Boot press (2017, 136 pages) is the second collection of poems by Tikuli Dogra. The collection is divided into seven asymmetric sections. Despite the thematic difference between the sections as well as within the sections, Tikuli Dogra emerges as a poet … Read more →
Won’t the soil suffocate you, my son?
Benish Meraj Searching amidst the best of attire, she found the warmest pheran (woollen robe). She piled his every belonging and took one, just one. The mothers living under oppression knows how to bury the pain deep in their chests, they know how to bury their beloved, they know how to … Read more →
Words Matter! Mannan Wani writes a second letter
Mannan Wani یہ فیضانِ نظر تھا یا کے مکتب کی کرامت سکھاے کس نے اسمعیل کو آدابِ فرزندی …. To the digital audience, mostly educated, I had written a piece in CNS Kashmir, calling for contemplation and the revision of views. But within a span of 6 hours, the … Read more →
Words Matter! Mannan Wani writes an open letter
Mannan Wani Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you send him to the cemetery. – Malcolm X Occupation is not easy to understand, it’s a very complex and multifaceted phenomenon. The decade’s long bloody conflict has turned Kashmir into one … Read more →
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