Peace Watch » Archive
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
Kishtwar- Dangers in Rear
Z. G. Muhammad Most of the prying eyes in Jammu and Kashmir are fixed on the year 2014. For both intelligentsia and common people there are two obvious reasons for the curiosity. One, how the withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan, to be completed by the end 2014 is going to influence relations between India and Pakistan and if the spillover from the troubled country is going to have any impact on Jammu and Kashmir – and what kind of impact that could be. Two, how 2014 assembly elections were going to shape the future political discourse and dispensation in the state. For some recent happenings in the state, the primary concern of this column will be examining the coming assembly elections and their implications for the larger narrative. Nevertheless, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Tinderbox That Is India and Pakistan Relations
Z. G. Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, for past three months has been holding an olive branch high in sky. Bubbling with enthusiasm, at best of his eloquence, he has been talking about improving ties with New Delhi. In mid May, immediately after overwhelming success in 2013 elections, the Muslim League leader, much before the Election Commission of Pakistan notified the results, announced visiting India ‘whether New Delhi invited him or not’. Seen as undiplomatic and apolitical, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take