Peace Watch » Archive
Why Kashmir Failed Solutions?
Move Beyond ‘Cricket Diplomacy’ Even if it breathes some fresh air into the relations between the two countries PUNCHLINE Z.G. MUHAMMAD Smaller Default Larger The relations between India and Pakistan are more brittle than glass. Even if put in a steal frame of agreements, they breakdown on a slight touch. In May last year at the swearing in ceremony of Narendra Modi grand bonhomie was seen between newly elected Prime Minister and Nawaz Sharif. But it took just a meeting between Kashmir leaders and Pakistan, High Commissioner to turn this cordiality sour. There was nothing unusual about this meeting. Meeting between Kashmir leaders and Pakistan diplomats on the eve of India-Pakistan dialogues on Kashmir have a history. In fact such meetings were greatly encouraged by New Delhi after the 2004 composite dialogue. For meeting President … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take, Kashmir-Talk
Amdist War Cries- Why Durrani was in New Delhi.
Z.G. Muhammad India and Pakistan relations are on the rocks. This not a new phenomenon. Since their birth, history of the two nations is plagued with suspicion, trust-deficit, skirmishes and wars. Principal cause for the war of attrition between the two countries has been Kashmir. Throughout, their history international community has nudged them to resolve the dispute and write an essay in harmony. The current phase of strained relations between the two counties have cast thick … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Tell Children Their Story
Of all the stories we have, this one is for you Z.G. MUHAMMAD Then hues of sky had a meaning. Every shade had its own connotation. Every colour had a story to tell- different tinges told different stories. Different shades of dawn and dusk had different meanings. It was not the aesthetics of the colours that filled people’s hearts with joys – but it was the fear that had become part of their psyche for centuries that … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Unpardonable Sins – And Our Tragedy
PUNCHLINE Unpardonable Sins Z.G. Muhammad Have I committed an unpardonable sin? This has been my predicament for quite some time. Two of my college time bosom friends Abdul Majid and Ghulam Hassan, have not been talking to me for almost forty years. For their deeply entrenched annoyance with me, they did not even invite me to the marriages of their children. In our college days, that were as turbulent as the years of dissent 2008-2010, we exchanged lots … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Not born with Blue blood but Red Blood in Veins- Story of My Birth
Story of My Birth I was not born in some granite-floored nursing home. No Anglo-Indian nurse rocked my cradle in the British missionary hospital near the foothill of Koh-I-Maran. I did not tumble into this world in the maternity ward of the State Hospital- the hospital that has been witness to the macabre of 1856, when needle workers and shawl weavers were chased by the cavalry of the Dogra rulers for protesting against brutal and bigoted … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Our Songester Ahad- Pied Piper of Downtown
Ahad- the Pied Piper I knew no Kashmiri poet in my primary school days. I had not heard of any poet or poetaster. There was no poet teacher in the primary department of our school; even if there might have been one he was living a life of anonymity. I think, I only knew one songster and some troubadours- who passed through lanes of our Mohalla. The songster lived somewhere near my birth burg and the troubadours (Ladishah)– arrived into the city from some nearby villages. The only poet, I knew was lean, fair-complexioned, bespectacled teacher Pitamaber Nath Fani. One of his poems was sung by us at the morning assembly. Yes, like many other friends knew names of many Urdu poets. Allama Iqbal and Altaf Hussain Hali topped- their poems were … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Kashmir Dispute And Washington – Story of Hope and Despair
It is history. No American president, no Secretary of State has ever visited Kashmir. Not even former Presidents and Secretaries of State have ever chosen Kashmir as tourist destination. And whenever, any US top official including Ambassadors in India visited Kashmir it made a news- sometimes left behind a trail of controversies that impacted Kashmir politics. But, the Soviet leaders Nikolai A Bulganin and Nikita S Khrushchev at the invitation of India visited Kashmir. The … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take