She

A Short Story by Shafi Ahmad She mopped up the kitchen floor, rubbed her forehead with the back of her palm and looked towards the sky which was lit up with moonlight. The light emanating from the moon entered the room through the ventilator and spread the shadow of iron … Read more →

My Life, My Kashmir

By Fatima Sultan Syed I grew up in Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir, in a small town adjacent to Dal Lake. If mythology were to be my source, I would tell you that life itself emanated from this lake and that monsters and demons hid deep in its waters. But … Read more →

Kashmir Needs Attention

By Javeed Ahmad Mir Concluding her speech at U.S.-India Business Council’s 34th Anniversary ‘Synergies Summit’ just before her India visit, US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton said, Sixty years ago this October, then-Prime Minister Nehru told a joint session of the United States Congress that, quote, Progress cannot go far … Read more →

The Discontents of Democracy in Kashmir

By Seema Kazi The unexpectedly high voter turnout in the Valley during Kashmir’s recent assembly elections evoked considerable debate and analysis. A number of commentators both in Kashmir and elsewhere noted that the elections reflected citizens’ expectation and demand for good governance and development; they did not represent a mandate … Read more →

Female Drug Addiction in Kashmir

By Jehangir Rashid Kashmir valley has been a witness to the conflict over the past couple of decades and estimates put the number of casualties at one hundred thousand. Thousands of women have been widowed and almost one lakh children have turned out to be orphans. In addition to the … Read more →

They Wait Endlessly To Be Pronounced Widows

by Afsana Rashid Absence of proof of death makes life miserable for half – widows, women whose husbands are missing in a conflict situation in Kashmir. That is the irony they are faced with and continue to live with uncertain hopes. Waiting for twelve years (after the disappearance of her … Read more →

The Rebirth of Kashmir

By David Lepeska They came from Bandipore and Baramulla, Pampore, Rajbagh, Sonmarg, and Uri, three to a scooter, 60 to an overloaded minibus, on foot, by bicycle, truck, rickshaw and horse-pulled tonga. Swinging placards and posters, hoisting banners and waving flags, miles-long convoys coursed through the streets of Srinagar as … Read more →

Paradise on Boil

S Zafar Mehdi Safvi The horrible fears have after all come true. Alas! MK Gandhi’s ‘glimmer of hope’ was not to last any longer. It’s Jammu vs. Kashmir no-holds-barred showdown. Regional and religious sentiments, coupled with parochial and chauvinistic interests rule the roast currently, while the grand old edifice of … Read more →

The Issue of Special Children in Kashmir Conflict

By Afsana Rashid Absence of social support network for special children in Indian administered Kashmir for the last 18 years of conflict has witnessed number of special homes emerge, with no rules to govern them. Though special homes are not considered an ultimate answer to increasing number of special children … Read more →

Diaspora Literature: A Testimony of Realism

By Dr. Shaleen Kumar Singh Diaspora Literature involves an idea of a homeland, a place from where the displacement occurs and narratives of harsh journeys undertaken on account of economic compulsions. Basically Diaspora is a minority community living in exile. The Oxford English Dictionary 1989 Edition (second) traces the etymology … Read more →

Poetry Collection

War by Parvez Ahmad Naqash, Kashmir The soldiers without any personal enmity haunted by some vicious spirit cutting, maiming and killing one another the gory sight bearing a testimony to man’s innate stupidity his cruelty to himself the bombardment above razing to dust buildings along with inmates men women children … Read more →