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Understanding the Kashmir Identity

Understanding the Kashmir Identity

Kashmir Identity, (a presentation made in 2002 at IMPA auditorium)    Mr. Chairman, colleagues Good Morning I feel humbled in this gathering of scholars and researchers. Much before I start my talk, with all humility I would request you to bear with me for my shortcomings. At the same time, I would also request you to feel free to point out deficiencies and scantiness of my talk. I very firmly believe that a toddler like me has to learn … Read entire article »

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Kashmir On Backburner?

    Kashmir Missing From Narrative.   Has the stalemate on Kashmir ended? Is there any forward movement towards the resolution of Kashmir? These posers,   gripped the public mind  after the APHC through a statement for the press announced that Pakistan government had  invited Mirwaiz  Umar Farooq and some leaders of his faction of the multi-party combine to Pakistan.  Pakistan High Commissioner, Shahid Malik extended invitation from Foreign Minister, Hina Rabbani to Mirwaiz Umar during their meeting at New Delhi. In the proposed meeting in Islamabad Mirwaiz and his colleagues are expected to hold discussions with Pakistan leadership on prospectus of Kashmir resolution. The Mirwaiz accepted the invitation.   Subsequently,  Pakistan High Commissioner called on Octogenarian Syed Ali Shah Geelani at His Malviya Nagar residence in Delhi along with some other officers and … Read entire article »

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Learning Kashmir History in an Open University

It was the other day, when heavy rainfall had turned the sluggish Jhelum into a raging torrent; I was one amongst a hundred and odd people who had waded their way to sparkling white hall of a local hotel. The occasion was release of a book on chief minister, Omar Abdullah by a young journalist Arjmand Hussein Talib. Sitting in the hall, waiting for the VIP to unwrap the book on a scion of Abdullah family, I was reminded of learning my first lessons on Kashmir politics. I don’t think, in my school days I have read any book on Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah. There was no book on him in our school library. There was no book on the shelves of bookseller in our mohalla. I remember there was a book … Read entire article »

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Summing up SRINAGAR (Book Review)

Summing up SRINAGAR (Book Review)

ZGM’s Nostalgia shapes into a book bringing alive the stories from the city that once was Kashmir in recent years has witnessed a surge of books. Most of the books tell us the grim stories of the two decades. Most of these books have a single theme this one, but this book – Srinagar My City My Dreamland – is a compendium of articles written in Nostalgia column of Greater Kashmir over last few years, touching … Read entire article »

Filed under: Featured, Kashmir-Talk

Islamic Heritage of Kashmir

Islamic Heritage of Kashmir

Islamic Heritage of Kashmir   Kashmir has a rich heritage of manuscripts on Islam. Some Mss of Holy Quran e in many shrines  date to 13th and 4th century- besides there are  many Mss of classical works on Islam like those by Mir Syed Ali Hamadani and Sheikh Yaqoob Sarafi.  Though chronicles suggest that Islam arrived in Kashmir in 6th Century and first mosque was built in 8th century but it took many centuries for this religions … Read entire article »

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Asian Powers in Kashmir

  Asian powers in Kashmir Z.G. MUHAMMAD | ARAB NEWS Some 18 years back British historian Alastair Lamb, in his second book “Birth of Tragedy” raised some important questions about the birth of the “Kashmir Dispute”. In the questions posed, he looked for the attributes for the cause and perpetuation of this dispute.  One of the questions that he raised is about the geographical location of the state: “Had the State of Jammu and Kashmir been situated almost anywhere else in the Subcontinent and had it embraced a lesser area, India-Pakistan argument over its future might not have been conducted with particular intensity. The State, however, lay not only adjacent to both India and Pakistan but also on a key frontier region which gave access to Central Asia, a part of the world which … Read entire article »

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