THE DELIMITATION DETAILS

Having on board the Kashmir based political parties in the Prime Minister’s all-party meeting, the Delimitation Commission has started working with renewed vigour. On its 4-day visit, the 3-member Commission tasked to add seven berths to an enlarged but emancipated legislative assembly, saw political parties making their cases. The appeals made and suggestions given to the Commission reflect concerns, similar to the Praja Sabha days

‘PEACE FOLLOWS JUSTICE AND TRUTH'

Farah Bashir, author of Rumours of Spring: A Girlhood in Kashmir that Harper Collins published this spring explains why she is restless and anxious every time it is Eid

‘GOVERNMENT OF INDIA WANTS EVERYONE TO BEG FOR STATEHOOD'

In an interview conducted through Whatsapp – owing to Covid19 protocol, PDP President and former Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti tells Yawar Hussain that offering statehood to Jammu and Kashmir looks like amputating someone’s feet and offering them shoes

RETURN TO RELEVANCE

Government of India apart, the All-party meeting was equally important for the mainstream political leadership in Kashmir, who were feeling completely neglected and victimised, writes Zahoor Malik

BROKEN CONTRACT

Hundreds of contractual lecturers working for years at various higher secondary schools and colleges were abruptly disengaged after August 2019. Now, in their late twenties and thirties, they are jobless and have nowhere to go, reports Khalid Bashir Gura

TALK IS NOT WALKING

There hasn’t been any statement from Delhi and Islamabad in the recent past that indicates some form of an engagement is ongoing between the neighbours, writes Riyaz Wani

A CURIOUS TRANSLATION

British poet journalist, Sir Edwin Arnold (1832-1904) is credited for his book The Light of Asia that is seen as the first serious introduction of Buddhism to the Western world. Jairam Ramesh whose scholarly book The Light of Asia: The Poem That Defined The Buddha was published by Penguin last month has one chapter dedicated to Arnold’s translation of a set of Vakhs of Lalla Ded into English

GOVERNANCE OPTICS ONLY

If we go by the outcome of the PM’s all-party meeting with Jammu and Kashmir politicians, the centre has stayed true to its course on Kashmir, writes Riyaz Wani

BANKING CONTINUED STAGNATION

Even though the JK Bank, the key builder of the Jammu and Kashmir economy managed a good profit on basis of its clean balance sheet, capital infusion and the impressive emotional investment of its staffdespite adverse working conditions, the overall banking sector performance is not as impressive as it might appear, reports Masood Hussain

REVEALING RECORDS

In his latest book, poet historian Khalid Bashir Ahmad has succeeded in deconstructing myths, mysteries, events, individuals and institutions that dominated the troubled twentieth century Kashmir, writes Khalid Bashir Gura

ON TOES

Armless by birth, Irshad Ahmad Ganie uses his toes to compensate for his handicap, reports Hilal Shah

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

The All Party Meeting that Prime Minister, Narendra Modi chaired last week could be a turning point for Kashmir politicians. Yawar Hussain talks to some of the participants to construct a ringside view of the meeting and discern the emerging narrative of democratisation and development but only after delimitation

THOSE 689 DAYS

Between the candle march on the night of August 4, 2019, and the meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 24, 2021, Kashmir unionist politics underwent a lot of developments in 689 days, a Kashmir Life report

THE BRITISH BABUS

Kashmir history owes a lot to a number of British officers who helped the exploited residents to get certain rights that the East India Company literally denied through the Treaty of Amritsar writes M Saleem Beg

‘FOOD CAN BUILD YOUR CAPACITY TO RESIST COVID19'

Beenish Zohra, a practicing dietician and a clinical nutritionist,tells Farzana Nisar that good food plays an important role in building the immune system in the pandemic

ASHA NIRASHA

Overworked, underpaid and vulnerable to infection, around 20,000 ASHA workers are practically the first line of defence against the contagion, especially in the Kashmir periphery. Given that they lack even the basics of rights as workers, they seemingly are an exploited lot, Farzana Nisar reports

GUPKAR IN NEWS

The recent PAGD meeting was symbolic to show its presence but also indicated softening of stand, writes Zahoor Malik

THE QURAN GUJRAAN WASTAY

Mufti Faizul Waheed, the Muslim scholar who died of Covid19 last week, was perhaps the only Gujar scholar who succeeded in translating the Holy Quran into Gojri. He achieved this rare feat, after a series of failures by many scholars in past, while being in jail, reports Masood Hussain

THE SECURITY TOOL

Rakesh Pandita’s killing has prompted police to bar the movement of the politicians and the protected persons without security clearance. Political parties see the measure as an attempt to interrupt their reach out to people, reports Yawar Hussain

YATRA? REALLY

Amarnath pilgrimage could undo the painstaking efforts to control the virus in Kashmir, writes Riyaz Wani

Is Jammu & Kashmir Inching Towards A Debt Trap?

In the Kashmiri language when somebody eats too much, he or she is referred to as Bateh-Jin (glutton). It is very difficult to find the origins of this word. We can however guess that it describes a situation when a person or a nation consumes too much and still the wants are insatiable. The Kashmiri language is full of creative words and idioms that meticulously describe a certain situation. The word Bateh-Jin is one of these wonderful words.

RECLAIMING KHUSHAL SAR

The government avoided any commitment that it will restore the freshwater lake. Eventually, a social activist threw his hat in the ring, handheld the residents, living on its banks, and initiated the first civilian effort to retrieve the water body. Two months in the muck and the lake is visibly clear but authorities require chipping in to help move the mode, reports Yawar Hussain

SOCIAL MEDIA - TWO VIDEOS, TWO STORIES

For the last many years, social media is triggering decision-making within the government and society. Last week demonstrated it yet again when the Jammu and Kashmir administration reacted to two videos, both concerning the education sector

WHITHER CONGRESS

After dominating the history of Jammu and Kashmir for decades, the Congress is completely out of the picture now, writes Zahoor Malik

‘WE ARE TRYING TO TECHNOLOGICALLY EQUIP OUR SCHOOLS'

Director of School Education Kashmir, Tassaduq Hussain Mir is a busy man these days. He has to ensure that the government schools adopt and adapt to the online mode of teaching. In an interview, Mir tells Khalid Bashir Gura that the government schools are better placed in terms of infrastructure and the faculty than the private schools

PAGD NO MORE?

As for the struggle for the restoration of Article 370, it can hardly be pursued within the paradigm of power politics. More so, when such a struggle will not only be a drawn one but also with little chance of success, writes Riyaz Wani

POST-US AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan could easily become the battleground for regional powers trying to safeguard their respective interests in the country, writes Riyaz Wani

GI TAGGING AND ONLINE PLATFORMS CAN TRIGGER A MAJOR SHIFT IN KASHMIR CRAFTS

After being associated with handicrafts for many years before qualifying the administrative service, Mehmood Ahmad has finally been appointed as Director Handicrafts. He told Kashmir Life about the challenges that the sector faces and the opportunities which are within rich

COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND PANDITS

The ongoing pandemic hit the migrant Kashmiri Pandit community in Jammu, UP and Delhi so harshly that many think Covid19 killed more than the militants in 1990

CRUISING THROUGH THE SIND

Like a love affair, the hunt for tracing the source of the Sind river took me years of trekking deep into the gorges and mountains. Finally, I hired boats and sailed through this charming river till it embraced Jhelum at Shadipora,