Author: Kashmir Newsline

Intelligence throws up sordid truths that the innocent common man, smug in his mundane, pathetically mediocre existence is gloriously oblivious to. By Lily Swarn “Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know,” pronounced Ernest Hemingway. Have you seen a brilliant scientist looking radiant and chirpy? Not often enough! Or a reputed poet, grinning from ear to ear? There is an air of laden sombreness, like a pall of gloom hovering over their whole being; almost like an extended aura, that has become a part of their mysterious persona. Intellectuals and the creme -de- la creme of society have an…

Mainstream media’s connivance with the Hindu right has drawn widespread condemnation and alarm around the world. By Sanjay Kapoor While the hatred of religious supremacists for minorities has never been hidden in India or elsewhere, the manner in which some members of the clergy with godliness exuding from their long beards and flowing saffron robes converged at Haridwar, Uttrakhand, late last year to give a call, bizarrely and wantonly, for genocide of Muslims as a recompense for country’s bloodied past where Muslim invaders and rulers allegedly caused untold atrocities and destroyed Hindu temples. This congregation relied on expected historical distortions…

India’s wicketkeeper-batsman has taken the cricket world by storm with a Gilchrist-like blistering approach to decimate oppositions. Bilal Ahsan Dar Indian wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh pant is the hottest property of Indian cricket these days. An emerging superstar is fascinating everyone in the cricket world with his flamboyance and talent complemented with some phenomenal performances and game changing innings. The 24-year old dasher made his T20I debut in January 2017 and his ODI and Test debut in 2018. He was quick to make his mark in the international cricket and was named the ICC Men’s Emerging Cricketer of the year at…

Smart City Mission was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) GoI in which 100 cities were to be selected for Urban renewal and retrofitting to promote cities that provide core infrastructure, give a decent quality of life to their citizens and apply smart solutions to improve services and infrastructure. The main objective is to make life of the citizens comfortable. Some of the town planners argue that a city smart on paper must be smart on the ground also. In Srinagar, there is much room for improvement. The concept of a smart city began at a…

The ethereal trekking expedition to Mawarnag is to be experienced to be believed. Shahnawaz Khanday I expected it to be a routine weekend trek to yet another Alpine Lake. It turned out to be unlike all other trekking expeditions I had undertaken. Mawarnag expedition left all of us in the team – including many seasoned trekkers – spellbound and pleasantly surprised. Starting immediately after morning prayers, our team comprising some from Shopian and others from Srinagar, reached Ahlan Gadol in the Breng Valley of Kukarnag by 8 am.  After parking our vehicles right in the forests of Upper Ahlan amid barely…

How the closing of the mind continues to harm the Muslim world. Faheem Gundroo The beginnings of Islam were extraordinary. Its rise even more so. Perhaps, with no parallel in the human history. In 732 CE, its expansionist troops came close to making the entire Europe Muslim. Edward Gibbons had famously stated: “Had the battle of Poitiers been won by the Caliph, and not the Franks, the interpretations of Quran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford and her pulpit might demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Muhammad.” If I was…

July 4 – 10