Category: Articles
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Traffic Terror !!!!
A lot is happening, a lot more need be done… Earlier I had written two write-ups in these columns on April 26th, 2015 and June 17th, 2015, both titled ‘Traffic Terror’ and this third one in the series touches different aspects of traffic nuisance in Kashmir valley and Srinagar city in particular. After much noise…
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Land to Mafia!
We need to have stringent laws to counter any underhand, illegal deals… Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah’s revolutionary ‘land to tiller’ law in 1950 was a historic step in getting the poor peasants of Kashmir out from the cruel clutches of Jagirdars and Chakdars. Big Landed Estates Abolition Act was a watershed in restoring semblance and sense…
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Open letter to the CM
After all we uphold democracy as principle! Respected Mufti Mohammad Syed Sahib, I am a diehard fan of democracy—a democracy that not only preaches freedom and equality but delivers it too. The beauty of real democracy is that it empowers the people and simultaneously reminds them of their responsibilities. I am not here to lecture…
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I Had A Dream
……… which I have not been able to realise yet! I am Kashmir. I have a written history of more than five thousand years. Several historians have chronicled my plight over the centuries and written marvellous histories. Kalhana’s, Rājataraṃgiṇī, meaning “The river of Kings” is one of the finest chronicles that had documented me, my…
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A brutalised society.
Marriages made in heaven and celebrated in Kashmir end at the burn ward! The demon of materialism has many faces, but its ugliest face is dowry related domestic violence and victimization of women. Oppression of womenfolk in Kashmir has a long history, but brutality for satisfying the materialistic wishes and greed has added a new…
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Is Indian secularism fading?
The way things are happening, fears are getting deeper! In 1947 millions of Muslims decided to stay back in India against the two-nation theory advocated by some towering leaders of the community. It was a collective decision of millions based on an assessment of peace and prosperity as envisaged by certain section of the leadership…
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Is honesty still the best policy?
Given the times we live in, perhaps not! With life changing for worse, the old saying ‘ honesty is the best policy’ seems to have lost its sheen. In the existing inconsistent society dishonesty is no more an intolerable flaw. Alongwith materialism, favoritism and pretentiousness, dishonesty is the most cherished peculiarity in contemporary societal order.…
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Srinagar — The city of joy!
A lot need be done to restore it the beauty… In late eighties a friend of mine gifted me a book titled ‘The City of Joy’ written by Dominique Lapierre. Treating it as another work of fiction, I did not even turn the pages of this book for months as I am not used to…
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Privatised Education
The scene is getting increasingly gloomier! Few decades earlier imparting education was the noblest profession and teachers were very often respected more than the guardians. But, unfortunately the once holy profession of teaching has now become a money-spinning business. Over the period of time, particularly during the last three decades both government administered education system and…
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A story of half-truth!
Aimed to divide, Dulat”s work can unite the leadership! Amarjit Singh Dulat, regarded as India’s leading expert on Jammu and Kashmir has been a familiar face within Kashmir crisis management apparatus. Even after his retirement from active service as super spy his opinion on Kashmir issue is respected more than others. Mr. Dulat’s book on Kashmir crisis…