Post-unrest, the Kashmiri ‘mainstream’ is courting Pakistan to recover lost ground.
The long summer protest of 2016 had seen a surge in pro- Pakistan sentiment on Kashmir’s streets. Green was the predominant colour of closed shutters, an unambiguous statement in conjunction with the ‘India Go Back’ slogans painted on them and on road surfaces across south Kashmir. In the four months of agitation that erupted after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffer Wani, protesters had freely unfurled the Pakistan flags—even wrapping the bodies of protesters killed by government forces in them. Now with the protest season ebbing, the army and police are wiping away anti-India graffiti and paintings of Pakistan’s flag from walls and signboards on the streets.
The phenomenon was not surprising in itself, except the scale on which it occurred. What’s more interesting is how sentiments on the street affected the mainstream political parties: the rise of pro-Pakistan feelings on the ground has served to exert a kind of gravitational pull on the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its rival National Conference, drawing them to a new outreach towards Islamabad. And Islamabad has not been unresponsive towards their overtures either.
Away from the media focus, Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit held separate meetings with both Suhail Bukhari, media advisor of chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, and the NC’s chief spokesman Junaid Azim Mattu in Lucknow, on the sidelines of a conference organised by the Rajasthan Patrika Group on November 14. One session of the conference was about Kashmir and the Patrika Group had invited speakers from Jammu and Kashmir, including Mattu, Bukhari and Panthers Party leader Bhim Singh. Mattu lets on that Basit sought meetings with him and Bukhari after their keynote addresses.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 12, 2016 من Outlook.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 12, 2016 من Outlook.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
My Secular Mentor
A rare psychologist of Indian culture, Sudhir Kakar leaves behind seminal works that will have relevance for many generations
Battle of the Bahubalis
Gangsters in Bihar no longer enjoy the kind of dominance that they did in the 90s, but that has not kept them away from politics
Memories of Riots
Have frequent communal tensions changed the social fabric of Bihar?
Didi's Achilles Heel
Mamata Banerjee stays the course but her party, plagued by corruption charges, spins out of control
Memory Metamorphosis
What happened on March 14, 2007 in Nandigram? People still ask this question as they take part in the dance of democracy
Minority Report
He has not lost the Dhubri seat in Assam since 2009. Now he is fighting for political survival as Bengali Muslims look to favour the Congress
THE POWER OF PURPOSE
Doing good is good business as it transcends bottom lines and impacts lives positively, yielding profits that go beyond numbers.
CURRENT FARMING METHODS ARE EXACERBATING CLIMATE CHANGE
Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) project is supporting transition of 850,000 farmers covering 377,801 hectares of land and operating in 3730 villages. \"Natural farming is in harmony with nature. It is a holistic land management practice that leverages the power of photosynthesis in plants\", says Mr. T Vijay Kumar, a retired IAS officer, who is the Executive Vice Chairman of Rythu Sadhikara Samstha, a non-profit organization set up by the Andhra Pradesh government in 2014. Since 2016, this platform has been utilized to integrate and promote APCNF activities, aimed at fostering the overall development and empowerment of farmers. Excerpts from an interview with Mr T Vijay Kumar:
IN PURSUIT OF SUSTAINABILITY
Harshavardhana Gourineni, Executive Director, Amara Raja Energy & Mobility Ltd, in an interview shares how through its products and operations the company is helping reduce carbon footprints and meet SDGs. Excerpts:
COOLING NO MORE A LUXURY, BUT A NECESSITY
With the rise in demand of air conditioners due to heat stress, sustainable air conditioning is the way forward to bring relief to people as well as manage emissions
