Author: Kashmir Newsline

Once the internet is restored, we could be in for an avalanche of visuals flowing into social media. Sanjay Kapoor The viral Manipur video of two women being paraded naked and molested by men amid public frenzy generated widespread outrage not just in India but around the world as well. Human rights organisations and India observers are raising serious questions on how such barbaric acts could be allowed. But, for the BJP government at the Centre, and in Manipur, the major issue isn’t the horrific incident but how the video made its way to social media. Media Gag Did the…

A tribute to cricketer Salim Durani by friend Partha Chatterjee. Salim Durani, who died on April 2, 2023, at the age of 88, was one of the most entertaining cricketers in independent India. He batted and bowled left-handed with complete ease and fluctuating interest — inexplicably so. His batting average of 25.04 in 29 Tests and 75 wickets at 35.42 runs per wicket would be considered moderate at best, but those who saw him playing in the ’right mood’, as did this writer, first, in the 1962 Calcutta Test versus  Ted Dexter’s Englishmen, would vouch for his prodigious gifts with…

The family played a key role in shaping the politics of the Indian subcontinent.  Jaspreet Kaur The Nawab of Dhaka (originally spelt in English as Nawab of Dacca) was the title of the head of the largest Muslim zamindar family in British Bengal and Assam, based in present-day Dhaka, Bangladesh. The title of nawab, similar to the British peerage, was conferred upon the head of the family by Queen Victoria as a recognition of the first Nawab’s loyalty and contribution to the social welfare activities. Though they had nothing to do with the Mughal Nawabs of Dhaka or Murshidabad, they…

T.N. Bharti Aligarh: Professor Syed Ziaur Rehman, Department  of  Pharmacology J N Medical College and Hospital  Aligarh Muslim University has been appointed  as coordinator  of the Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Centre (A M C) and Medical Devices Adverse Events Monitoring  Centre  (M D M C) at J N Medical  College  A MU. Both AMC and MDMC  works under the National Pharmocovigilance  Program 0f India ( PvPI) and Metriovigilance Program  of India  ( MVPI ) under the Ministry of Health and  Family welfare , Govt  of India . Professor  Rehman has been working in the field of Pharmacovigilance  for the last 23 years . He…

The book begins with the experiences of the author as an entitled American who sets out to find answers to questions in the wake of 9/11 and ends with his understanding, through his stay in Kashmir and Turkey, of the predicament of the persecuted peoples.  Jaspreet Kaur January of 2019 was my first visit to Kashmir. While I was soaking in the wintry black, white and grey, with the occasional day of bright blue sky when the sun shone at its brightest, what struck me were the heavily armed men in uniform dotting the entire landscape. I have since referred…

I contemplate how a specific word and situations associated with it, and our willingness to till our inner being towards a better self, create a learning path towards self-progression.  Debatri Das May 01, 2006. When Bengal offices were closed on the Labour Day, I joined my new work place – the Consulate General of Japan in the city of joy- on a two year contract. As I was entering the main entrance of the Consulate, a Japanese gentleman welcomed me with a charming smile. He introduced himself as one of the Vice Consuls who too joined his office that very…

If Modi manages a third term, there will be plenty for other authoritarians around the world to learn from him. Sanjay Kapoor Mevlana in the Turkish neighborhood of Mulheim at Cologne, Germany is teeming with people a day before the runoff to the Turkish Presidential elections. There is a perceptible levity in the air. A waiter helpfully explains the reason: “Recep Erdogan will win the Presidential polls tomorrow; that is why his supporters are celebrating.” Next day, expectedly, the results are declared, Erdogan’s supporters won by a handsome margin. In Germany alone, which has a large population of Turks -…

Like the classical nudes and seminude sculptures of the West, Daagh infused his poetry with an element of eroticism. Salim Arif Known as the poet of love, Daagh Dehlvi remains the last of the classical Urdu poets who traversed various shades of ishq-e-majaazi (physical love), leaving behind a body of work that carries an underlying ocean of feelings and emotions. Shayar-e-Mashriq Allama Iqbal commemorated and acknowledged this master of Modern Urdu Poetry as his mentor in transmission of sensibility and sensitivity. He said:  Janaab-e-Daagh Ki Iqbal Ye Saari Karamat Hai Tere Jaise Ko Kar Dala Sukhandaan Bhi Sukhanwar Bhi (It…

Staff Reporter National Investigation Agency (NIA) has approached the Delhi High Court seeking death sentence for Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik. Malik is lodged in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail. The petition is listed for hearing on May 29 before a Division Bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Talwant Singh. Malik, who had pleaded guilty in a terror funding case, was awarded a life sentence by a special NIA court in May 2022. The investigation agency had sought capital punishment for Malik before the trial court as well. However, it was turned down by the special…

With people still reeling under the impact of the 2016 demonetization, this could be yet another bolt from the blue. Shome Basu 2016: I was in Calcutta, waiting in an ATM queue to withdraw Rs 10,000 for my mother’s medical tests. It was 7:30 in the evening when my wife called me from Delhi saying that Prime Minister Modi would be on TV in a while for some urgent announcement. Okay, but suddenly? I got my cash, went home and turned the television on. At 8 pm came a firman that changed India forever. Demonetisation. I had only read about this…