Peace Watch » Entries tagged with "Sheikh Abdullah"
Of Spin-doctors, Machiavellians and Kashmir
By Z. G. Muhammad Spin-doctors have a field day in Kashmir. Summer 2013, belongs to them. The phrase, first used by New York Times in its editorial is now part of global political jargon. According to New York Times columnist, William Safari ‘spin’ is ‘deliberate shading of news perception.’ Moreover, for decades the spin-doctors have been playing the role of ‘putting slants on information when it is presented to public or in press.’ The spin-doctors have been there through out history, as someone has rightly said the first spin-doctor was the Serpent in the Bible for convincing Adam and Eve that Apples were next big thing. In modern political lexicon, they are called PR pundits but their role in many situations is to put an ‘optimistic face’ in worsening situation. The spin-doctors coin … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take
Geelani, Abdullah and Bakshi- Right To Dissent
Has Dissent Place in Kashmir Z. G. MUHAMMAD Long before. Almost a century back our forefathers had started struggle for right to dissent and free speech. The then feudal rulers who had purchased the land and people as merchandise from the British for making a booty and sharing the same with their lords had denied all freedom to the people of the land. Most disadvantageously placed was the overwhelming Muslim population. ‘There was no touch between the government and the people, no suitable opportunity for representing the grievances..The rulers had no sympathy for people’s wants and grievances. There was no space for public opinion and press was non-existent’. This dismal situation had not only caused our elders to rise in revolt but also even made an important Christen Minister of Maharaja Albion Bannerji … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take, Kashmir-Talk
Kashmir: 1947 Lies Exposed
Kashmir: 1947 Lies Exposed BY Z. G. Muhammad Manufactured narratives’ do not stand the test of the time. Like a soap bubble this burst once put to the litmus test of history. Christopher Snedden, an Australian politico-strategic analyst, author and academic in South Asian studies in his recently released book, “Kashmir: the Unwritten History’ has dismantled much orchestrated ‘dominant discourse’ about the Kashmir ‘dispute.’ For over past sixty six five years New Delhi has been asserting that Kashmir’s ‘conditional … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take, Featured
Distorted Kashmir History And Historians.
History too is elitist. It does not tell the whole story. It tells stories about Czars, Pharaohs, and Moguls but very rarely narrates the stories about the real Spartacus’s- the real heroes. Kashmir is not an exception besides elitism the history of this land more particularly about past seven hundred years has also suffered distortions and largely written with a particular mindset. It is not only, none of the past historians has written what is termed as the ‘people’s history’ but they have been on mainly to use Albert Camus ‘phrase by ‘the side of executioners’. Here, I am not to talk about the narratives of the past that avowedly have been twisted to suit particular discourses but of the contemporary history that I believe after the end of the feudal rule … Read entire article »
Filed under: Editor's Take