Lack of resolve
On the occasion of the final demobilization of El Salvador’s FMLN in December 1992, then UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said: “The transition from war to peace does not come spontaneously or easily… years of strife inevitably leave deep scars, bitter memories and rancour. Peace is won only by effort and resolve. There must therefore be […]
Costs of conflicts
Living in a world awash in violent conflict is certainly not a very pleasing thought. Given that the tradition of hatred and capacity for destruction are expanding and surging, and conflicts are playing out in an era when the ability to destroy life and property is without limit. No wonder than that in the early […]
Prioritizing Power
As the Valley is inching towards winter, the power problems are making a steady return to haunt the people here. Hours-long daily power-cuts in the metered areas of the city are back, and the situation in non-metered areas besides in the countryside is obviously much worse. And indeed if the current discharge in various rivers […]
J&K roads: death traps
The frequency of traffic accidents has shot up at an alarming pace much to the shock and scare of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. If one goes by the reported cases of road accidents, the menace is taking a great toll on human lives now than it was ever before. The scene, particularly in […]
Conscientious objection
“The tyrant and his subjects are in somewhat symmetrical positions. They can deny him most of what he wants – they can, that is, if they have the disciplined organization to refuse collaboration. And he can deny them just about everything they want – he can deny it by using force at his command. They […]
Opportunity in difficulty
Jammu and Kashmir is currently passing through a very difficult phase. And of course there are varied reasons for it. First, the violent conflict that has been raging here over the past 30 years now has once against entered an escalation stage. Second, India and Pakistan are yet again involved in verbal war mongering and […]
Remembering Gandhi
Gandhi Jayanti is being observed today. As usual seminars, symposia, debates and discussions and other functions will be held to pay tributes to Gandhi, who is considered to be one of the greatest proponents of non-violence. Although one can argue both for and against the Gandhian philosophy, particularly on whether he really believed in what […]
Responsible governance
“Corruption is deep-seated in Kashmir. The amount of money Kashmir had, if that would have been properly utilised, then Kashmir would have become golden Kashmir.” This is what Governor Satya Pal Malik said Saturday. Talking of his resolve to end corruption, he said there would be no compromise on it in his administration. “We have […]
Turn it to peace frequency
Almost all civil war situations point towards the complicity of international actors in fueling and sustaining these conflicts, sometimes for political and strategic reasons, and times for pure economic interests. Be it the transnational arms dealers or the multinational business corporations or for that matter even the various nation-states — and the extensions of all […]
Questions should be asked
In the year 1994, when militancy in the Valley was at its peak, a group of five women, under the banner of ‘Women’s Initiative on Kashmir’, visited Srinagar and other districts of the Valley as a voluntary fact-finding team. At the end of the visit, the team published a report, ‘Green of My Valley is […]
