Author: Kashmir Newsline

 The Islamic emirate has started warming up to several countries in the region, including India.  Saurabh Kumar Shahi A few days ago, Taliban celebrated its first anniversary of the takeover of Kabul and the establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. A video showed Taliban fighters firing projectiles in the sky in the backdrop of a primarily derelict and badly illuminated Kabul. In many ways, that image is representative of what is happening in Afghanistan. The last 12 months have been very difficult for the Taliban. While its victory over the Western forces and their Northern Alliance collaborators was spectacular,…

As India and Pakistan celebrated 75 years of independence in August, Saadat Hassan Manto’s bold and painfully prophetic writings on the partition trauma remain ever-relevant.  Bilal Ahmad Standing at Zero Line, Haji Abdul Rasheed raises his right hand to wave at his cousins from the other side of the border as the refreshing breeze blows his snow white beard. They make some barely audible greeting noises from across the stream—a de facto border for the divided Kashmiris—enquiring about his wellbeing. After exchanging pleasantries with his relatives, Rasheed retreats to the vantage point where Indian and Pakistani troopers can be seen…

What is it about our culture today that makes us unable to admit that we are who we are? Soni Razdan I was ushered into the plush offices of someone or the other in the ITV building as if I was already almost a star. Finally, after a short wait of a few minutes, I was taken in to meet the great man himself, Franco Zeffirelli. Those of you who are my peers will have seen Romeo and Juliet directed by him. It was a rage and a super hit all over the world. That I was actually meeting this…

Series of excerpts from Not Just Cricket by Pradeep Magazine. As I was seeking answers to what had actually transpired during that period and whether Jagmohan, as his detractors said, had facilitated Pandit migration instead of stopping them, I asked Bakaya for his version of the events during that harrowing period. ‘I had hundreds of Pandits who trusted me coming over seeking guarantees for their security and threatening to otherwise move out of the Valley,’ recalls Bakaya, saying that some of the Pandits described a sense of fear caused by chants from mosques asking Pandits to leave. There were anonymous…

At 36, Raza is in the form of his life and a role model for budding cricketers by Bilal Ahsan Dar In a world dominated by the Virat Kohlis, the Babar Azams and the Joe Roots of the game, there will always be some exceptionally talented players around who get overshadowed. More so if they represent sides that aren’t so strong. Zimbabwean all-rounder Sikander Raza is a case in point. Raza scored three centuries in his last six ODI innings, two of them unbeaten.The 95-ball 115 against India in the last ODI was the best of the lot despite coming…

It’s not easy to stay invested in the capital market, and challenges for first-time investors are very stiff.  by Sajjad Bazaz In the modern investment scenario, people are looking for more and more investment opportunities to multiply their savings for future needs. They are curious to know more about lucrative investment platforms. People mostly are lured by capital market and stock investment has become their preferred investment arena with a hope to multiply their money fast. It’s here that they overlook the huge risk which this market is carrying along. Notably, during the two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, millions…

Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) is one of the most unlikely political alliances in the modern history of Kashmir. The member parties of this alliance are former archrivals who, in the past, were causal agents of each other’s downfall. The circumstances created in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir during the last three years have forced these arch-enemies to sit together and lead a joint struggle. National Conference (NC), the grand old political party of Jammu and Kashmir, which has outlived many prophecies signaling its death, remains the key anchor of this alliance and the party’s patriarch Farooq…

The houseboats moored in the Dal or Nigeen go back a long way and the tribe at the helm curiously associates itself with Prophet Noah. by Faheem Gundroo 11 November 1989. Houseboat Billoo Palace. Guest log book: “Professor Sidiq taught me a great deal. Our next visit to Kashmir will be much longer and, of course, we will want to stay at the Biloo Palace. Carolyn and I sincerely wish you all a peaceful prosperous healthy future.” While Ralph and Carolyn must have been admiring the most striking feature associated with the Dal lake – the wonderful mountain amphitheater that…

Nayyara Noor who died of cancer on August 20 was popularly known as Bulbul-e-Pakistan. by Sheharyar Rizwan My earliest memory (or at least one that I clearly remember) of Nayyara Noor and her music would have to be her performing her most popular songs ever: roothe ho tum tum ko kaise manaoon piya and tera saya jahan bhi ho sajna on PTV in the late ‘80s. I also remember my mother being a fan and introducing me to Noor’s music. At that time, this unassuming, demure, woman with simple looks, clad in a modest shalwar-qameez-dupatta combo,looking down mostly and singing…