Spilling The Beans: Analysis with Difference
Z.G. MUHAMMAD It is like proverbial mosquito entering into snout of an elephant and the aftermath thereof. That is how best one can describe the controversy sparked after The Indian Express in its 20 September 2013 issue carried a report about findings of an army probe into ‘misusing’ of funds by former Army Chief General V. K. Singh. In the long list of startling revelations, three directly concerned Jammu and Kashmir: One, Rs 19 million given to Ghulam Hassan Mir, presently Agriculture Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, to engineer a change of Government in Jammu and Kashmir. Two, Rs.24 million given to an NGO named “Jammu and Kashmir Humanitarian Service Organisation (JKHSO),” which was linked to “Yes Kashmir.” and third buying off-air interception equipment, to conduct “unauthorized” covert operations. ’ Should I … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Weeping Wounds And My Leaders
Do not get me wrong. I am contemptuous towards none. With all their sacrifices, political gaucheries and foibles, I hold all my leaders, dwarfs and towering in high esteem. Shopian happenings have set me thinking. On Saturday morning, when I am pushing keys of my computer to write this column, the newspaper headline reads, “Shopian remains caged for 14th day.” On the face of it, this seven words headline is an innocuous statement of facts … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Sovergenity Of Kashmir Assembly….
Z. G. Muhammad Hypothetically let me believe, there is no Kashmir dispute. There are no United Nations Resolutions guaranteeing right to self-determination to entire state of Jammu and Kashmir as it existed on August 14, 1947. India and Pakistan are not signatory to the international agreement for holding of plebiscite in the state under the aegis of the United Nations. Indian parliament has not resonated with pledges and promises of living by international commitments and agreements … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Doda Has Tale to Tell
Z.G. MUHAMMAD Tell me! Who is going to tell an honest story of Doda? For over two decades, it has been story of deaths, destructions, barbarities, brutalities, and mayhems- remembering them freezes blood in my veins even today. Did you or any other valley-based writer or historian ever dare to tell macabre tales of life in the Chenab Valley? I was confronted with these question two days earlier, when I engaged in a discussions with a friend from the Chenab Valley on some recent happenings in the erstwhile Doda district. These included the killing of four persons in a small hamlet in the Gool and recent communal disturbances in Kishtwar and role of the VDCs. Continuous dangerous vibes coming from Kishtwar and other two districts. News reports about migration of around 200 … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
German Ambassdor Dabbles in Kashmir Politics?
The event -after all – is in conflict with Kashmir narrative Z.G. MUHAMMAD Michael Steiner will be the first German who will make it to the footnotes of contemporary Kashmir history. If it could be for good or bad reasons, judgment may be left to history. During the past sixty-five years, he is the first German Ambassador in South Asia who for his “contentious” activities in Kashmir- an internationally recognized nuclear flashpoint and “oldest dispute” on UNSC agenda, has made it to the headlines in the Srinagar press and caused editorials and number of opinion columns in newspapers. Historically American, British and Russian ambassadors and diplomats in New Delhi so far enjoyed the privilege of making to the headlines in the Srinagar press and becoming part of the peoples discourse. Diplomats of these … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Sub-Contient on precipice
Z.G. MUHAMMAD The relations between India-Pakistan are on the rocks. It is not hyperbole; the two countries are on a collision course. The year 2013- perhaps for unlucky thirteen in it did not augur well for the two countries. Having largely plugged muzzles of their guns for nearly a decade the year started at a very bad note with the two countries entering into yet another phase of war of attrition. The escalation began on January … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Riots in Kishtwar- A Historical Perspectibe
ABDUL MAJID ZARGAR If the Muslim Junior Home Minster of a Muslim Majority State, otherwise supposed to be under a thick cover of security, says that he was chased by a fifteen thousand strong armed mob and had to take shelter in a Government Dak Bunglow to escape a bid on his life or ordinary citizens are raped, killed & burnt alive or dragged from Police Stations and murdered in broad daylight, there is something seriously wrong with the whole system. We will have to ponder at this question in the context of recent communal clashes in Kishtwar. While the Central Govt. has admitted that Bajrang Dal, a blackshirt member of the fascist Sangh Parivar, instigated & organized the clashes, the question is – how come these tyrannous organizations have travelled so … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take