Musharraf’s Formula and Kashmir Leaders
Resurrecting A Dead letter Weave a discourse around the basic framework Punchline Z.G. MUHAMMAD Some days back, I decided not to talk about “them” or their travel to the country that was ‘conjured into statehood by the force of indomitable will’ of a leader – the will that ironically even our towering leadership lacked. I started believing whether, I talk or not, the sweeping winds of politics are there to drift away the vessels with no strong ideological moorings and anchors. Knowing, chronicles are replete with instances, that those suffering from ideological infidelity having been washed away like straws down the streams of history, I started believing that historical forces will throw up a leadership that will ‘significantly alter the course of history and even modify the map of the world’. It was the recent … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take, Kashmir-Talk
Symbolism in Iqbal
The Development of a Symbol A Study of Iqbal’s Poem, Aftab Prof. G.R. Malik Since the word symbol occurs in the title of this presentation, I would like to preface it with an extremely brief account, in general terms, about the use of symbols in poetry. Of course this is one of the weightiest ever subjects and can, by no means, be dismissed in a brief prefatory note. These remarks are, therefore, added only to introduce the present discourse. Broadly speaking symbols may be divided into three categories: a) The Collective or Cultural symbols: The collective symbols have a universal character in that they have acquired a more-or-less common signification amongst the generality of human beings: Two examples of such symbols are the sunrise and the sunset which are considered to be symbolical of birth … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Kashmir-Talk
Indian Women Support Kashmir Cause?
Will the women group take the lead? Z.G. MUHAMMAD Scepticism and disbelieving about anything coming from New Delhi has largely become our second nature. This trust deficit is not needless. It has a history. Sixty-five years long history, dating back to first Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Notwithstanding, my disbelief, I see a recently held one day women convention at Kashmir University by a New Delhi based senior journalist Seema Mustafa as worth noticing. In a way, it … Read entire article »
Filed under: Perspectives
I am Proud! I am a Srinagar Downtown Boy
The Downtown Boy Everyone in Kashmir has a story to tell. The octogenarian has a tale to tell- he has seen towering South Asian leaders at best of their eloquence addressing hundreds of thousands in the Muslim Park and in our own Red Square. The septuagenarian has his stories to tell about the royal river procession and Russian Communist leaders in majestic boats rowed through the Jhelum. And their rehashing the ‘dominant discourse’ and giving it proletarian flavor. That born ‘at the stroke of midnight hour, when world was sleeping and India awoke to freedom’ and when South-Asian Muslims after gusty storms like weaverbirds were dexterously making a home out of straw, has his narrative to share. Moreover, the Young man bubbling with fervor and boiling with fury has his own … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take, Perspectives
13 July 1931 : And Butler Changed Destiny of Slave Nation
And A Butler Change Destiny of A Slave Nation Z. G .Muhammad Some moments are important than epochs in the histories of nations. So holds valid about July 13, 1931, in the history of Kashmir- the day when people of Kashmir scripted their history with scarlet blood. It was not the first day when people laid their lives for just cause- history of Kashmir after 1819 is replete with incidents when ruthless alien rulers brutally murdered … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take, Featured, Kashmir-Talk, Point of view
Edward Said’s Writings and Kashmir
Some years back in my column Punchline published in Greater Kashmir on Monday’s , when I wrote there is no Edward Said on our side to tell our tale with all its objectivity to the world it hurt ego of some “intellectual” friends. Sitting on higher pedestals, floating on the crests of authority they believed that I was belittling their standing as “intellectual Jupiter’s”. The intention was never to demolish the castles of make-believe but … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take, Kashmir-Talk
Our Spirtual Legacy- Hameedah Nayeem
The heart-rending and soul-stirring incident of the devastating fire of Dastageer Sahib mosque, the Shrine dedicated to Syed Abdul Qadir Jeelani, shocked and outraged the entire state both Muslims and non Muslims alike. This is yet another deep psychological blow that our collective consciousness has received in the past two decades of military rule which has wreaked havoc with the living symbols of our history, religion, culture, the sereneness of our environment , forests and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Kashmir-Talk