Past Write Ups

Here do you express and unwind yourself Net users are to be tamed and trained in a way that they should understand the values of freedom of speech and expression in the right perspective After the arrival of television and advancement in information technology, many of our tech-savvy friends and colleagues would often mention about the possibility of audiovisual telephony. And then the day arrived when the whole world overcoming all physical and political barriers turned into a virtual global …

The United Nations unites against US The thumping UN vote created a new world order of positive thinking and say a big ‘No’ to intimidation. From the day go Donald Trump as president of United States of America tried to attract world and American people’s attention habitually for wrong reasons. Starting with a team to tread on a path of confrontation of his choice, interestingly after almost a year, his administrative setup appears getting cracks. Out of his White House appointments and cabinet …

The whole administration is about two things- Respect and Justice Open Letter to President, Kashmir Administrative Officers Association. Anyways, whatever your agenda and guiding force to unite, I am here to have a positive interaction with you regarding recent incidents of unpleasant confrontation between officers of your fraternity and staff of other departments It is a privilege to converse with the leader of an elite group of officers of the state administration. Many people out of malice …

Let private sector flourish, but not as a money-minting industry. It has to be a mission to teach and learn These statements of the honorable education minister in the context of existing monstrous tuition scenario in the state has opened a whole new debate and made the task of streamlining the existing education set-up more challenging. Any state with flawed education is a nation with no real wealth to shine. People lacking prospects of quality education are more often vulnerable to abuse and …

The recent happenings make us revise the text of democracy The worst conflict, particularly during last more than two decades has brought Kashmir to a perilous situation of death and destruction. Indian democracy is now seven decades old. In comparison to its immediate neighbours, it has flourished swiftly with the active participation of common man. However, even after seventy years, Indian democracy cannot be termed yet complete and perfect. Lack of education and poverty are the main reasons …

Is our healthcare system crumbling? In the absence of proper facilities most of our doctors avoid working in rural areas and for last seven decades, we are unable to provide a conducive working atmosphere for doctors and health workers in places other than big hospitals. Last month I skipped a routine appointment with cardiology department at SKIMS because of the prevailing N1H1 virus scare. No doubt the situation of swine flu was not that bad then, but recent deaths and rising number patients …

Join hands to guard the precious capital The present condition of these two structures is a best case study to assess our negligence levels towards our heritage. World Heritage Week was celebrated from 19th to 25th November to increase the awareness and inspire the people about the conservation and protection of the cultural heritage and monuments inherited from our ancestors. Here in Kashmir at the government level, the activity remains confined to debates, whereas as people we are least …

Is Srinagar waiting patiently for another flood? The whole Kashmir valley particularly the Srinagar basin with main water carrying (draining) structures passing through its middle is sitting on a ticking ‘flood bomb’ that can explode any time with no or very little warning time. Srinagar and flood management are the two inseparable subjects and the two can’t be taken in isolation. Instead, the whole Srinagar basin stretched beyond the populated areas and including the adjoining water bodies, …

Kashmir requires a well-defined roadmap with clearly identified parameters and stakeholders to whom the interlocuter should relate. Optimism can be the only way to counter apprehensions. And at this point in Kashmir when bells of dialogue have started ringing virtually out of the blue, all have to be optimistic but careful. let me also embrace little optimism and hope for a while! Kashmir is an issue and that too a political one and has been acknowledged by almost every political entity in the …

Is District Budgam heading towards an ecological disaster! Now the current falling environmental status of Kashmir is known to almost everyone! We are losing precious forest and other soil covers because of greed and vandalization. Until a few decades back, the valley of Kashmir was synonymous with untouched lofty mountain ranges, rolling meadows, virgin forest cover, crystal clear melodic streams, and a set of magnificently synchronized mesmeric seasons.  Now the current falling …

The Bank is not just a department that deals with money, it’s a socio-economic institution At present it is is one of the prominent banks in the country with huge deposits and investments and has diversified beyond traditional banking operations The Jammu and Kashmir Bank founded by late Maharaja Hari Singh in 1938 was a watershed in state’s financial and banking sector. Prior to this state-owned public-private partnership banking initiative, the financial scenario of Jammu and Kashmir …

Deadly driving machines and killer roads! Our traffic system is not in good and sound shape and mainly four reasons are squarely responsible for gridlocks and never-ending death on roads. I don’t know what made us so heartless; filming painful death of a budding soul in a traffic accident and uploading it on social media is not sensible! Anyways, today I am not here about the insensitivity of Kashmiri people but the way modern vehicular traffic along with bad roads and our negligence kill the …

Psychological war or just a political stunt!! If we dissect the present braid chopping ploy it seems to have succeeded in its agenda of creating an atmosphere of extreme fear and helplessness among the people mostly the rural folk. In Kashmir we are in the middle of a conflict and unrest, so expecting rot from any of the warring groups is not surprising. A seven-decade-old issue—an offshoot of the bloody partition, catalyzed more forcefully for the last two decades has exposed this tiny …

Unless these loopholes are plugged properly, the monster of corruption will haunt us. (An open letter To Mehbooba Mufti) It’s good you reach people and listen to them. Hope you continue the momentum and come heavy on corruption so that we get a clean system After remaining engaged with political disturbance for quite some time you have rightly started concentrating more on approachable governance. In this direction, your recent visits to far-off areas of the state to personally reach and …

…….. and humanity bleeds amid unconcern and indifference of the world Suu Kyi should not only condemn the killings and ethnic cleansing unequivocally but use her authority to prevent this shameful situation. Having many problems in and around this part of the subcontinent the suffering of more than a million Rohingya in Rakhine province of Myanmar was negligible until the oppression turned into well-planned state-sponsored ethnic cleansing involving plunder and gruesome killings. …

Activism is essentially an inborn trait and fewer people turn to activism after experiencing injustice in their own life. Kashmir because of its fluid political situation has suffered a lot on almost all fronts of life, particularly for impartiality and equality. May be inappropriate, but I am constrained to put a rider of genuineness with our version of activism because very few people crusade genuinely in this land of devious mindset. Activism is essentially an inborn trait and fewer people …

Kashmir politics at crossroads? The present and earlier few attempts of vested interests to take the judicial route for abolishing exclusive rights of people of Jammu and Kashmir has now become a tricky situation for different political entities within the state and outside. God knows who cursed Kashmir! Since ages the psyche and soul of Kashmiri people have never been at peace; exploitation and unkindness always haunted them. Kashmiri people are often made to believe about a possible change to …

We need to perceive the issue logically Providing just a peep into the history of Horticulture in Kashmir and a glimpse of the metamorphosis of present day advanced Horticulture sector we should firmly believe that people of Sopore and adjoining areas have a solid case with logic to plead for hosting the proposed Horticulture university. For the last more than a month, a debate about the establishment of proposed Horticulture university has been going on in newspapers and other forums. An …

Is Kashmir the subcontinent’s political fodder? Within Kashmir, various political entities have always described the Kashmir issue to the best of their ideological comforts, except the so-called mainstream political groups, who always deal Kashmir issue proportionally to their own political interests. Only British and their collaborators know better why they facilitated the creation of Kashmir problem in the first instance! A lot has been said about their intentional unjustified division …

Unrest taking a heavy toll on fair administration! Explanation and accountability are the worst victims of unrest culminating into exploitation, corruption and vested interest of favouritism. It is almost seven decades now that Kashmir has not been politically as calm as most other parts of the subcontinent are. With earlier occasional voices of dissent, Kashmir conflict has changed to its worst form since 1988. The unrest in Kashmir has now passed on to the fourth generation with totally …

Towards a corruption-free system where a common man doesn’t suffer Our state against all odds has succeeded in establishing institutions to safeguard impartiality and accountability within the administration and for the last more than a decade, these institutions have evolved to the level of credible organizations of fairness. As a humble Kashmiri with very little access to higher echelons of administration and corridors of power,  I know very little how efficient and genuine …

Draft Srinagar Master Plan (2015-2035) We have to have a holistic approach and plan that can accommodate its culture, heritage and specified patches of its unique olericulture and micro-horticulture activities within and on the peripheries of the city. Last week I had a chance to attend a function at The Institute of Engineers (Srinagar Chapter) regarding the subsequent presentation of the Draft Master Plan (2015-2035) for Srinagar city. It was interesting to watch the detailed presentation and …

It’s the new political bait in Kashmir Whether in present shape or with some modifications GST is not going to deliver wonders and change the plight of people of Kashmir.. Tax paying is as old as civilization. The only thing that matters and at times worries is the intent and quantum of taxation.  GST (Goods and Services Tax) as claimed by its protagonists is a reformed and simplified tax regime that was in pipeline for last thirteen years. Even after some voices of dissent in …

This tragic chapter urges us to think about our survival. Sooner the better We have to have a strategy where we will make way for resolution of long-pending Kashmir conflict through peaceful means Ashtangoo is a beautiful hamlet located on the banks of Wular Lake—Asia’s one of the largest freshwater lakes. Most of the habitations in Bandipora district are situated in the catchment area of Wular Lake and villages like Ashtangoo are a part of earlier popular tourist circuit— ‘ride around the …

The Indo-Pak antagonism can be rightly known as seven decades old rot but not so deep a conflict that cannot be settled amicably with the proper application of mind and negotiating skills. India and Pakistan exist with a complete hostile mindset against each other for the last seven decades—from the day of their emergence in 1947. Several overt and covert wars, numerous inimical undercover operations and bashing each other at almost every international forums has been a routine for the last …