Peace Watch » Archive
Dynamics of popular Political Sentiment in Kashmir
Z.G. MUHAMMAD Many a time, when I try to read between the lines, approach of the Congress leadership including Jawaharlal Nehru in 1947, towards Jammu and Kashmir, I get convinced, they had blurred understanding of the Kashmir struggle. On September 27, 1947, when Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister of India in his long letter to Sardar Patel wrote to impress upon Maharaja Hari Singh to make friends with the National Conference and release Sheikh Abdullah from … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Kashmir Narrative and Coalation Governments
2014 Elections …….. and the Coalition Politics Z.G. MUHAMMAD My premise, perhaps was faulty. I had started believing, that 2014 Assembly elections in the State will be different in as much as actors’ involved in the electoral politics are concerned. I was not alone, few other political commentators believed so. Since 2012, statements originating from certain political formations, suggested that an MUF type political front would again tumble into political arena of Kashmir to challenge hegemony of the traditional ‘power-politics’ parties’ during coming Assembly elections. At the start of 2014, after these parties had stirred debate over relevance of UN resolutions, more particularly putting question marks on 30 March 1951 and 24 January 1957 resolutions of the Security Council regarding the Constituent Assembly, indications had become more profound. That the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take, Kashmir-Talk
Suppressing Dissent And Suppressors Nemesis
Spent Forces and Trashcans History has lessons for us, provided we learn Z.G. MUHAMMAD Even footnotes of history have great lessons. It depends, how you take them. I was reminded of these lessons, while hearing an important Indian historian, Mridu Rai, author of classical work on Kashmir, Hindu Rulers Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights and History of Kashmir. The author of this iconoclastically honest work on the Dogra rule that ‘contextualizes, scrutinizes the political and regional identity … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Modern Political Temple Of Kashmir: The Blue Gate
Blue Gate’s Strange Client The ‘Blue Gate’ is central to political psyche of Kashmir PUNCHLINE Z.G. MUHAMMAD For over past sixty five years the blue gate, the white and blue building and blue flag, with white emblem showing world map surrounded by two olive branches hoisted on a long pole has been a symbol of hope and despair for people of the state. Hope, as it stands testimony to the promises held out to people of the State … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
2014 Election – Story of simple majority
Question of Simple Majority It triggers an interesting debate about the reality of Kashmir issue Punchline Z. G. MUHAMMAD Couple of days back, five of us sitting around a table in an open air restaurant on banks of the Jhelum sipping tea- reminiscent of old time coffee klatch, talked about everything around from coming up of the skewed bridge on the river to the emerging concrete jungle across the river. Suddenly, a friend started talking about the coming elections for the state assembly. He tried to make a point: ‘Even if only two percent vote in the coming assembly elections, it does not matter but it should not be a fractured mandate. Armed with official figures, he very forcefully tried to make his point that on the development side, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Return of Natives And J&K Constitution
Z.G. MUHAMMAD Sometimes even a single column news item on the back page contains far bigger a message than the screaming front page headlines and calls for a wider and serious debate. Some days back, a hundred and fifty word statement by an advocacy group welcoming initiatives of the government for return of Kashmiri Pandits talked about five major displacements that took place in Jammu and Kashmir after the birth of India and Pakistan as independent dominions. It has also called for ‘major initiatives for honourable return of all those displaced in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1989. Since 1990, only displacement in ‘dominant’ and ‘populist’ discourse has been that of the Kashmir Pandits. It has been categorized as ‘internal displacement’ as overwhelming majority of this community shifted to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take