Peace Watch » Archive
War Cannot Dissolve or Resolve Kashmir
PUNCHLINE War Cannot Dissolve The Kashmir Dispute Z .G. Muhammad Saturday morning, I woke up to many a disturbing news on the grapevine. From the Masjid door to long waiting at the bakers’ shop for hot loaves of traditional bread, lots of news about frightening rattling of aeroplanes and helicopters from 2 A.M in Srinagar, deployment of hundreds of additional companies’ of paramilitary troops in Kashmir to the mid-night crackdown on the cadres of the Jamat-e-Islamia and other organization was making … Read entire article »
Filed under: Kashmir-Talk
Prison Tales: Watching Them From Hillock
Some old black and white photographs are evocative as scent, years after having been clicked they fill the air with fresh fragrance and bring a blush even on cheeks crumpled as withered leaves. Of late, posting pictures of Kashmir clicked long ago by European travellers and photojournalists on social media and microblogs is a new hobby that is catching up with some friends as an expression of their love for the land. Many of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Kashmir-Talk
Suicide Attack: War Is No Option Dialogue Is Way Forward
PUNCHLINE Let Us Talk Peace Z. G. Muhammad There is war talk all around. The war cries that have been an intrinsic feature of some television studios for about the past five years have become shriller during the past couple of days. Calling for a full-fledged war including the use of nuclear weapons is expected of some television anchors, hatemongers and shouting brigades know for screaming, screeching and yelling from the safe harbours of television … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Hassan My Younger Sibling- An Obituary On My Childhood —
Nostalgia Hassan My Younger Sibling An Obituary on My Childhood ZGM He is gone. My other half of me, my younger sibling Hassan, like white and puffy dandelion disappeared in the thin of air without a whispering breeze blowing across. He left so fast and forgot even to jot down a parting note- some reminiscences of the whole childhood and boyhood we had lived together- if he had forgiven me for breaking his terracotta toys, ripping … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take, Featured
LOOKING BEYOND THE STREET NARRATIVES
PUNCHLINE Looking Beyond The ‘Shop-Front Narratives’ By Z.G. Muhammad Let me begin my today’s column, with one of my favourite quotes of Mahmoud Darwish; “He who writes his story, Inherits the land of that Story.” The reason for this couplet buried somewhere in the subconscious resonating in my mind has been an ongoing debate on the social media the Facebook for a past couple days on some posts by historian Dr Abdul Ahad, author of ‘Kashmir … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
PRISON TALES: LEADERS AND PICKPOCKETS
Nostalgia Prison Tales Leaders and Pickpockets As someone has said coffee connects us in so many ways, so did the hubble-bubble connect generation ahead of us in our childhood. Those days’ many tailor shops in our downtown, were no less than the fashionable Coffee House, on the Residency Road were wits, poets and “politicians” met in the morning to enjoy hot cups of coffee and talk politics- of course pooh-poohing the resistance movement used to be … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Kashmir: ‘Electoral Politicians and Polo Ponies.’
Punchline Kashmir: Electoral Politics and ‘Polo Ponies’ Z.G. Muhammad Sometimes meeting an embittered politician, enables one to peep into a domain of politics that otherwise remains obscure. Moreover, on occasions sharing experiences about such meetings helps in analysing the games behind popping up of new characters like mushrooms during rains with alternative narratives for fortifying the ‘hegemonic discourses’ at the time of elections in the State. More it also helps to understand how multiple forces, ostensibly … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take