Author: Kashmir Newsline

The government order last week that imposed a blanket ban on storage, sale, possession and use of heavy heating appliances such as blowers, heaters and radiators in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal was so ill-conceived that it was withdrawn within hours following a barrage of criticism. A corrigendum was soon issued by the Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal, the officer who had issued the order earlier, which now prohibits sale, purchase and use of “banned nichrome coil based crude water heaters and crude cooking heaters, which do not conform to the relevant specifications of the Bureau of India Standards.” The two orders – the…

Credit must be given to a visionary board. Faheem Gundroo In the late August of 1999, Nasser Hussain, the newly appointed England captain, was booed by The Oval crowd when he took his place in the balcony with its ash brown bricks in the background. The grim truth of the English cricket hitting rock bottom gritted through his teeth. New Zealand had beaten England 2-1 in the Test series, which was followed by disastrous World cup campaign – England bowing out in the preliminary round, failing to proceed to the Super Six. Cornhill Insurance—the official sponsors of test cricket in…

The progressive devaluation of Urdu is part of a greater design to rewrite our history. Sanjay Kapoor This year, Urdu journalism turned 200 (years) at a difficult time in its tumultuous evolution. As the language is being identified with a religion, the majoritarian beliefs and flawed perception about what can foster nationalism are smothering Urdu in a manner that the study and understanding of our collective past is getting increasingly threatened. The progressive devaluation of Urdu is part of a greater design to rewrite our history and make light of the contribution of people belonging to the minority community in our fight against the…

Syed Ahmad Sayeed Naqshbandi is the Imam-e-Hai of Jamia Masjid, the historic grand mosque of Kashmir. He talks to Bilal Bashir Bhat about his life, religion, Kashmiri society and the role of preachers and religious scholars among other things.   Could you please provide a brief overview of your scholarly journey? Initially, I studied Arabic at the Oriental College, Srinagar. There, I acquired a Maulvi Alim degree. After that, I went on to study at Madinat-ul- Uloom where I had the honour of being in the company of the great scholar Maulvi Abdul Kabir. It was followed by Maulvi Fazil course.…

Why the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots need closure. Shome Basu A stone’s throw from French cafes and posh restaurants at Delhi’s Bikaner House, situated at a corner of the India Gate hexagon, Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) operated from a small room at the building’s annex. The founder secretary of R&AW, R N Kao, was tasked by Indira Gandhi to run his operations from the room number 7 for a special job. One of the main assignments of Kao’s team was to analyse and talk with the newly growing threat in the northern state of Punjab – The…

Click on the text below to open the pdf of the weekly print edition. Issue 21

Abdul Rashid aka Reshma died on Sunday morning, bringing an end to a life of struggle. Reshma, a trans woman who achieved fame by singing at weddings, used it to highlight the struggles of Kashmir’s transgender community. While Reshma is dead, she left behind a void in the community that is hard to fill. Reshma was forthcoming and talkative and knew the concerns and issues of her community and was sensitive about them. She represented the socially stigmatised transgender community of Kashmir and gave it a voice. Reshma’s rise to fame was powered by social media, where the clips…

Mindless consumption is overly stressful.  Sajjad Bazaz All is not well with the economy across geographies since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. After the deadly spells of the virus at regular intervals, which caused massive economic miseries worldwide, it’s the eruption of a full-fledged war between Russia and Ukraine in the beginning of the current year, which has complicated the economic recovery efforts. It’s worth mentioning that global economic recovery, after receiving a sharp setback due to the virulent Delta variant of the coronavirus, had regained some traction in the beginning of 2021 owing to monetary…

 Edited by Sehyr Mirza, a new anthology of short stories, The Other in the Mirror, features a story by noted lyricist and filmmaker Gulzar among others.  By Sheharyar Rizwan The Indian subcontinent may have divided into Pakistan and India over 75 years ago, but the large-scale trauma, pain, bloodshed and displacement lingers on in the minds of those who experienced the events surrounding the Partition. These people still yearn for their homes they had to leave in an instant to save their lives and migrate to the other side of the border. They still recall their loved ones they…

The sufi songstress will always be remembered for her unforgettable folk songs.  Lily Swarn Whenever the strains of Reshma ‘s arresting, unabashed voice cut through the borders and reached people’s hearts, no one could help being moved by its pure passion. It was as if the desert sands had shifted around us when her haunting voice came with its rustic richness of timbre which was embossed with raw emotion. Generations of her banjara tribesmen forefathers must have crooned in the same manner as they crossed the silent desert. Known as Bulbul-e-Sehra–Nightingale of the Desert–Reshma was born in 1947 in…