Author: Kashmir Newsline

From being a pariah in Kashmir to completely running it now, how the Sangh parivar’s journey in the Himalayan valley has unfolded in the last seven decades. Shome Basu A plane landed at Dum Dum Airport where a large number of people thronged to see the body of a man who died in ‘mysterious circumstances’ in Kashmir. It was 23 June, 1953. Calcutta was blazing with heat. At the airport was an octogenarian in white saree. She was there to receive the body of her son Syama Prasad Mookerjee who had died miles away from the blazing sun of Calcutta summers. But why in Kashmir…

by Naveed Bukhtiyar Your Excellency, I am an advocate by profession and a campaigner of transparency and accountability by conviction. I have been working on governance issues through Right to Information Act for almost 6 years. I have also been a busy student activist having founded a student union at Kashmir University to raise students’ issues peacefully and democratically. I was at the forefront of serving people during the Covid crisis as well. Last year, in the month of September, in recognition of my efforts, I was given the Young Leadership Award 21 for social activism and RTI Activism and…

Traffic blockade, freakish weather trends, spurious chemicals and an indifferent attitude of the authorities are all adding to the woes of the apple growers of Kashmir. Firdous Parray/Basharat Akhoon Kashmir’s precious apple industry is facing an extraordinarily turbulent phase. A slew of events, ranging from climate disasters to a recent transportation mess, is now shaping into an existential threat for the industry which has been contributing a phenomenal eight percent to Jammu and Kashmir’s gross domestic product. The sheer size and contribution of the apple industry, which is the pivot of Kashmir’s horticulture sector, is extraordinary considering the scant revenue…

It has now been more than four years since the last elected government in Jammu and Kashmir fell. The ruling alliance between PDP and BJP ended in June 2018 when Jammu and Kashmir was still a state with its own constitution and flag. The last four years have been as much politically tumultuous as they have been stagnant. A deep political vacuum has existed since Articles 370 and 35-A were abrogated on August 5, 2019. In 2019, the region’s political parties remained dormant as their top leadership was either incarcerated or rendered incommunicado. This has led to a deepened political…

Some of the finest film songs of yore have errors that went unnoticed. by Ajay Mankotia Sometimes mistakes stare us in the face, but we don’t notice — even obvious ones. Recently, during a weekly zoom music get-together, I was singing the popular Mohammed Rafi paean to beauty, pehle mile the sapnon mein (Zindagi, 1964), sung on screen by Rajendra Kumar to Vyjayanthimala. It has lilting music by Shankar-Jaikishan and romance-drenched lyrics by Hasrat Jaipuri in which he uses his signature style of ending song lines — in this case hai qurbaan jaaoon. The first antara begins with ae Saanwali haseena, dil mera…

Here is why Surya Kumar Yadav draws comparisons with the South African great AB de Villiers. Bilal Ahsan Dar The ICC T20I World Cup 2022 is just round the corner. While all the participating nations are busy finalizing their teams and plans, while Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan continue to pile up runs in the home series against England and lead the ICC ranking charts, there is one man who stands out attracting all the limelight before the mega event – Surya Kumar Yadav aka SKY. Surya – sun in Hindi – is shining bright at the right time for…

by Shome Basu The military balance between India and Pakistan has always been a matter of great debate. With the presence of China, a global power bordering both the countries, the equation in the subcontinent becomes more serious. China now places itself as the powerful political and military player globally as was evident after the Anchorage talks in March 2021 in Alaska where the China-US negotiations broke down as China wanted to be seen as equal to the US which the US is unwilling to acknowledge. With China’s muscular power, wolf diplomacy and Asian hegemony – especially in Taiwan straits, Ladakh and Arunachal –…

There is a need to revisit the issue of women’s rights not only in Iran but also in several other countries.   Dr. Sadaf Munshi In her book ‘Iran Awakening: One Woman’s Journey to Reclaim Her Life and Country’, Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian political activist, lawyer, former judge and founder of Defender of Human Rights Center in Iran, explains her politico-religious views on Islam, democracy and gender equality. She writes: “In the last 23 years, from the day I was stripped of my judgeship to the years of doing battle in the revolutionary courts of Tehran, I had repeated one…

The falling rupee translates into increased overseas education expenses as a dollar would cost more than earlier in terms of a rupee. Sajjad Bazaz Continuous fall of the rupee to a new record low against the US dollar every other day is emerging as a main concern among students who are studying abroad on the back of an education loan. The weakening of the rupee will continue to deeply impact students’ overseas education plans and add to their financial burden. The rupee has already crossed the 80 mark against the US dollar and if market experts are to be believed, its…