What next?
The situation is really bad in Kashmir. If not more but certainly as bad as it was during this time last year (April 09, 2017) when eight civilians fell to government forces’ bullets during bypolls to the Srinagar parliamentary constituency . On this day last year two videos also grabbed headlines. Of these one showed […]
Beyond abstract symbolism
Any serious commentary on the politics of Kashmir tends to be disdainful of the political elite; and more than their ‘person’, of their politicizing the mundane for selfish ends. There are reasons for it. At a place where even the bare essentials of life are packaged and passed on as favours to the ordinary have-nots, […]
‘Hollow rhetorical pyrotechnics’
When Barack Obama first ran for office in 1995, he argued that politicians should not see voters “as mere recipients or beneficiaries”. He urged the politicians and other leaders, “to take the next step and to see voters, residents or citizens as producers of change.” Obviously in saying so, Obama was underlining the importance of […]
Think better ways of protest
In the midst of the gassing and violence by the Chicago Police and National Guard during the 1968 Democratic Convention, many students found themselves at the receiving end of the police violence. And when they narrated their experiences to one of the great organizational gurus of the time, they hurled choicest abuses and invectives at […]
Planning matters
In 1961, diamond-rich Botswana and Sierra Leone had approximately the same per capita income of about US$1,070, when both these countries in Africa adopted and experienced extremely different paths of economic development. While diamonds caused an economic miracle in Botswana, the same diamonds led to a total state collapse in Sierra Leone. In Botswana the […]
Ending stalemate
History is a great teacher, a huge repository of events and happenings of past that are an important source of knowledge and wisdom. The trick to learn from the history lies in reading and interpreting it so as to be able to draw something from it, something which makes sense with at least identical situations […]
Kashmir calls for restraint
What happened on Sunday in south Kashmir is very scary. Scary not only because twenty lives were lost to the unbridled violence and hundreds of others were injured, but more because there is an unfortunate tendency of “celebrating” these deaths as a “success”. People in the security establishment as well as certain elements in the […]
Medical Mafia
Kashmir is really a gold mine, and everybody is busy milking the society and its systems to the best possible advantage and that too without any hassles. Although like elsewhere laws are here as well, but unlike anywhere else, nobody bothers to heed these laws as there is no mechanism for their implementation as well. […]
Rhetorical garbage!
Many of the conflicts dotting the world’s political landscape, particularly the ‘internationalized internal conflicts’ are seen as violent manifestations of the political grievances of the populations against the state or the ruling elites. But they are also about the economics. Thanks to the globalization, and the pressures it has been and is putting on the […]
Beyond TDAs
Having Tourism Development Authorities (TDAs) for promotion of tourism in picturesque areas of the state with immense tourism potential could do wonders. At least on paper, the basic aim of such nodal agencies is not only the speedy development of basic infrastructure at a particular tourist spot — road connectivity, creating facilities for comfortable stay […]
