Declassify Kashmir: Let people in India Know the Whole Truth
PUNCHLINE Declassify Kashmir By Z. G. Muhammad Thirty-five years back, like Banquo’s ghost, a couple of questions haunted my mind at regular intervals. Why Sheikh Abdullah, the man Friday of Jawaharlal Nehru who had greeted Indian troops on their landing at Srinagar airport on October 27, 1947, and made the “accession” of the State possible was six years later unceremoniously dismissed as Prime Minister of the State and imprisoned. Moreover, if there was something outside … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take, Perspectives
Peace in South Asia- New Delhi Should Not in American Trap
Punchline Peace in South-Asia By Z.G. Muhammad For quite some time, there have been extensive debates about the peace and stability in South-Asia. Many have been seeing it in danger – a nuclear flashpoint- and a threat to world peace. These speculations have become louder after President Donald Trump in his Tweet on the eve of New Year ‘chastised Pakistan for receiving 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years from his country and in … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Kashmir Resolution and Christopher Snedden’s New Book
PUNCHLINE Christopher Snedden’s Second Book By Z. G. Muhammad Four years back Christopher Snedden, an Australian political scientist, politico-strategic analyst, academic researcher and author instantly became a familiar name in media and academia in Jammu and Kashmir – on both sides of the dividing line. Moreover, his book, ‘Kashmir the Unwritten History, published in India by Harper Collins, caused a flutter in New Delhi. For its diplomatic and political import internationally, and significance to the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take, Kashmir-Talk
Kashmir Conflict and International Literature
Punchline Fiction Also Has A Role Resistance, Conflict, dispute and aspiration -fiction has it all By Z.G. Muhammad Someone has said it and said it beautifully, ‘words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.’ Truly, once the stories of the resistance movements or the fallouts of the political conflicts become part of the international literature, it makes a difference. It very … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take, Kashmir-Talk
Treaty of Amritsar De-legitimized- All Actions Thereafter Invalid?
PUNCHLINE Britain’s Injustice To Kashmir By Z.G. Muhammad In our history, there are lots of gaps and missing links. That, in fact, have left scope for conjectures and befuddled our narrative. For the nations in the struggle, a candid narrative is very important for achieving their goal. Nonetheless, it is history that provides sinews to the narrative of a nation. To quote a top British historian George Macaulay Trevelyan author of “History of England: “If one could make alive again for other people some cobwebbed skein of old dead intrigues and breathe breath and character into dead names and stiff portraits. That is history!” There is a need for breathing a fresh breath in our narrative by resurrecting our history from the cobwebbed pages of our history. This, I realized while filliping through pages … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take, Kashmir-Talk
Howard Schaffer’s Kashmir Connection
PUNCHLINE Howard Schaffer’s Kashmir Connection By Z.G. Muhammad Small obituary notes published inside newspapers sometimes tell a big story. On past Monday, a few Srinagar based newspapers carried a two-column story with dateline Washington headlined, ‘American diplomat Howard Schaffer passes away.’ The news about his death had been confirmed on Twitter by Richard Rossow, who is a senior fellow and holds the chair for Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies. ‘Schaffer spent much of his 36-year career dealing with U.S. relations with South Asia. Most of the obituary notes read, ‘He had previously served as ambassador to Bangladesh, political counselor at American embassies in India and Pakistan. He was the author of biographies of two American diplomats who served as ambassadors to India at … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take, Point of view
Muslim Leaders of Jammu and The Valley’s Apathy
PUNCHLINE He Believed in Unity By Z.G. Muhammad Irrespective of our political beliefs and political affiliations, we as people are averse to remembering the sacrifices offered by our forefathers in the past. For our apathy towards the selfless leadership of the State that articulated the cause of the sufferings of the people from 1924, before the mighty powers we have failed to pass on the narrative to the generation next. This harsh reality about our failure not to pass on our story to the generation next, dawned on me some days back when two young journalists wanted to know about the availability of some authentic source material about the November 1947, Jammu holocaust- the worst ever in the history of our land. Minus, a couple of works by some Western writers and scattered columns … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take