Author: Kashmir Newsline

The party, along with its allies, needs to get the electoral arithmetic right rather than dabbling in soft Hindutva. Sanjay Kapoor Immediately after Congress’ humiliating defeat at the hands of the BJP in 2014, senior leader A K Antony was given the task to ascertain the reasons. His advice was succinct: Congress was perceived to be anti-Hindu and it should do something to correct that impression. There were also suggestions that the party should celebrate Hindu festivals in the party offices around the country. In other words, conduct itself the way BJP did. Interestingly, Antony, who had an incorruptible lily…

Although the café is known for its quality and delectability across delicacies, the aromatic, succulent kebab remains its pièce de résistance.  Farooq Shah There are kebabs, and then there’s the Kashmiri kebab – uniquely different in taste, texture and the lingering aftertaste that it leaves you with. No gathering in Kashmir is complete without the mouth-watering kebab and as one of the seven authentic elements of the traditional wazwan cuisine, it garnishes the platter, known as traem, like no other dish. A restaurant menu in Kashmir is considered incomplete if it doesn’t have kebab on it. Almost every single restaurant…

This is the first chapter from Dr. Qazi Ashraf’s forthcoming book, Religion: A Brief Story from Big Bang to Baghdad, that examines God, religion and history. This is a story of the long walk of the humankind on the edge of uncertainty and invention of religion.    Religion – Its Divine Origin The Universe is big. Very big. And old. Roughly 14 billion years. In comparison, our planet Earth is young. Only 4.5 billion years old. For the best part of more than 4 billion years, Earth was undergoing Evolution. The conditions were harsh. Only rudimentary life forms could exist.…

District-level projections from 2021-2050 indicate a warmer and wetter future, marked by extreme events.  Rasheed Kappan  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) synthesis report is due for release this month. The report will collate the contents of the three Working Group (WG) reports released during 2021–2022 on science. The WG reports have already highlighted that “climate change is impacting all parts of the world, and more severe impacts can be expected in the future if greenhouse gas emissions are not cut down by half in this decade.” Adaptation actions are the need of the hour, says Dr Indu K…

How a young poet-podcaster from Chandigarh is celebrating love, healing wounds and bridging gaps.  Lily Swarn Amy is a French female name meaning ‘beloved’. Though I have known Amy since long, I felt a strong urge to write about this spunky ‘beloved’ after a longish telephonic conversation with her. I have always admired her never-say-die spirit, but I know that very few people are aware of her traumas and what she has been through – she has been through fire and water. “I haven’t spoken about myself to anyone since 2018. I was never after recognition, but when it came my way,…

The China-brokered deal heralds a new era in West Asia. Saurabh Kumar Shahi             It’s a balmy February morning in the Middle East as the United States, with the UK in tow, brings together a motley group of countries to counter the influence of an upcoming superpower. Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Pakistan sign on the dotted lines as a militarily alliance takes shape. It is seen as a major diplomatic victory for the US as it entrenches itself in the region. The year is 1955 and the Baghdad Pact has come into being as an alliance against the Soviet Union.…

Editorial Staff Dubai-based Kashmiri author Sana Altaf has been nominated for AutHer Awards for her debut book, Forgotten Tales: Stories from the Kashmir Valley. Set in the Kashmir of the conflict-riven 1990s, the book is a collection of short stories. The anthology was released in 2022 and was widely acclaimed. A journalist by profession, Sana moved from Kashmir to Dubai in 2014 when the book was a work in progress. Her book is a work of fiction based on the traumas and experiences of the author, as she puts it, while growing up through the tumultuous 1990s in Kashmir. “My book is about…

There is a dire need to preserve the vernacular architecture, not only for its traditional character but also for being earthquake-resistant. Jaspreet Kaur On February 06, 2023, two major earthquakes – measuring 7.8 and 7.5 on the magnitude scale – flattened several buildings and killed thousands of people across southern Turkey and northern Syria. It was also one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded in the Levant. It was felt as far as Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Cyprus, and the Black Sea coast of Turkey. In less than two weeks, another massive quake ripped through an adjacent region. Shortly after…

Shaped by life’s trials and tribulations, Sahir worked on his own terms. Remembering the people’s poet on his 102nd birth anniversary.  Salim Arif Enamoured by a couplet of Allama Iqbal, a young Abdul Hayee adopted Sahir (wizard) as his takhallus – nom de plume. True to the word, Sahir rose to become a wizard of words, overcoming several setbacks in his early life, including a troubled childhood inflicted upon him by his depraved feudal father.  Duniya Ne Tajurbaat-o-Havaadis Ki Shakl Mein Jo Kuchh Mujhe Diya Hai Wo Lauta Raha Hoon Main (Whatever the world threw at me I am only…

In the coming days, efforts to wean India away from its traditional friend Russia will intensify. by Sanjay Kapoor From the very outset, it was apparent that in a world deeply divided due to Ukraine-Russia conflict, for the host of G20 summit, India, it would be well-nigh impossible to get all the 20 ministers of this elite grouping to come together for even a group photo, let alone issue a joint statement. However, the managers tasked to get all the ducks in a row seemed to have grossly miscalculated the differences between US and its European allies on one side…