DDC Elections: My experience as a contestant
Kashmir valley has always been a very challenging place for electoral politics. For most of its historic existence, Kashmir has been governed under monarchial system led by both native and outside elite just like most parts of the world and South Asia. However, unlike other regions, the peculiar post-colonial modern history of Kashmir valley has […]
Grassroots democracy and Kashmir’s political elite
To be fair to all players, Kashmir is one of the trickiest places in the world for political operations. Given the modern history of Kashmir and the evolution of mainstream politics in Kashmir valley, it is not easy to maneuver mainstream politics here in the wake of contradictory aspirations of the people of various constituents […]
KASHMIRI YOUTH & DDC ELECTIONS
Kashmir valley is the most youthful administrative units of India, wherein according to the last census, 63% of population is under the age of 30 years and nearly 70% is under the age of 35 years, a staggering number, which gives a prominent role to this segment of Kashmiri society to make any dramatic changes […]
THE ENIGMA OF GILGIT BALTISTAN
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan Niazi’s recent declaration of making Gilgit Baltistan as Pakistan’s “provisional” province has once again brought global attention to this mysterious region. While we Kashmiri people have detailed knowledge about Jammu region, Ladakh and Mirpur-Muzaffarabad (erstwhile constituents of the princely state of J&K), not much is known about Gilgit Baltistan in […]
DDC ELECTIONS: A step towards grassroot democracy
There is much noise emanating from Kashmir centric mainstream political parties criticizing the implementation of amended Panchayat Raj Act that is to create the third tier of grassroot governance in the form of the establishment of District Development Council (DDC) at district level for which there will be direct elections in the UT of Jammu […]
Shattered Dreams of Sir Syed and Ataturk
South Asian countries recently observed birth anniversary of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, legendary 19th century Muslim social reformer of British India. But unfortunately, the present generation of Muslim men and women in South Asian region including Kashmir valley know little about the difficult conditions under which Sir Syed Ahmed Khan initiated his path breaking social […]
Dilemma of being a policeman
Recently an unusual phenomenon occurred in Kashmir valley when thousands of Kashmiri Muslims, most of whom were from Sunni Sect turned at the funeral event of a slain Shia Muslim policeman in downtown Srinagar, who died on duty while protecting a Kashmiri Muslim political leader associated with a national party with Hindu ideology. This was […]
HARI-PARBAT – KOH-E-MARAN: KASHMIR’S HISTORIC SUFI TRAIL OF KASHMIRYAT
Kashmir is one of the rare places on the earth, which is associated with nearly all major faiths of the world in some form or the other. The valley of Kashmir and its people have been linked with not only ancient Zoroastrian, Rig Vedic faith and pre-biblical Judaism but also older Shaivite Hinduism and Buddhism […]
Babar Qadri’s murder raises questions
In one of the recent TV debates, a Pakistani Punjabi female news anchor asked Babar Qadri, a well-known Kashmiri TV commentator, a heavily loaded question about the condition of “oppressed Muslims” of Kashmir valley post abrogation of Article 370 and 35-A of Indian constitution on August 5, 2019. Babar Qadri very politely reminded her that […]
PAKISTAN’S SHIA PROBLEM!
In 2015, Fatima Bhutto niece of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto wrote that in a predominantly Muslim country (of Pakistan), it is no longer Hindus or Christians who face the largest threat of violence from orthodox and radicalized groups but Shias. Her prophetic words became once again true, when recently, a large crowd of […]
