Is Kashmir Not Even That Big?
In my last post I explained how Kashmir is a small area of J&K, holding the whole state and region to ransom. I explained that Kashmir valley is about 6,000 square miles in area. It is indisputable that Muslims are a majority in J&K, but the separatist Muslims are concentrated in a fraction of the [...]
Kashmir Is Too Small For Azadi
Headline on CNN about Leh floods: Death toll from Kashmir flooding rises to 112 Correction: Leh is not in Kashmir. There was no flooding in Kashmir. A Vaishno Devi Pilgrim: I just returned from Kashmir. Things are peaceful there. Correction: Jammu is not in Kashmir. There is no jehad in Jammu. A University of Texas [...]
Arguing About Kashmir
Even though Kashmir is lost to our community (the Kashmiri Hindu community), it is impossible for people of our generation not to get riled up when the issue of Kashmir comes up. A detailed post on Kashmir has been on my mind for a long time, but numerous resolutions for this blog’s upkeep have resulted [...]
Dr. Shah Faesal from Kupwara tops Indian Civil Service Exam
Got this news from Twitter. @FreeKashmir reported that Dr. Shah Faesal from Kashmir topped the IAS, and was complaining that “the news didn’t make it to the Indian media”. It would indeed have been surprising and disgusting if Indian media had ignored this, so I immediately googled the topic, and there it was — on [...]
Kashmir's War with Plastic Bags
While reading the e-paper edition of Greater Kashmir (a daily newspaper published from Srinagar, Kashmir) today, I saw an interesting front page advertizement from Srinagar Municipal Corporation.
Farah Pandith, the Kashmir Connection
News! Now US State Department has an office of Special Representative to Muslim Communities (SRMC), and Hillary Clinton has appointed Farah Pandith as its head. So, who is Farah Pandith? According to the State Department press release, Pandith, a Muslim, immigrated to the United States with her parents from Srinagar, India. She has said that [...]
Led Zeppelin's mis-titled Kashmir
“Kashmir” is one of the words I google quite frequently for news and other information, since this refers to my lost motherland. Everytime I google it, one or two links to English rock band Led Zeppelin’s song titled Kashmir always appear on the first page. Since I am not a great connoisseur of Western music [...]
Kashmir Dispute Solved
This is awesome. I didn’t know Khushwant Singh’s column still regularly appeared on the Hindustan Times. I used to be a regular reader of his column “Malice Towards One and All“, and particularly liked the joke at the end of the column. Turns out, at 94, he is still at the top of his game. [...]
Pheran, another Blanket with Sleeves
Everytime I watch the infomercial about the Snuggie, a “blanket with sleeves”, it reminds me of the pheran, which was the basic garment and an essential part of my life growing up in Kashmir (North India). Nobody in Kashmir can live without a pheran, and it must have existed there for centuries, if not millenia. And here in the US, I see several companies claiming the blanket with sleeves was their idea.
Will the next Indian Idol be a Kashmiri?
Today, an enthusiastic member of my community sent a link to this BBC news item around: Indian Idol creates Kashmir stir. Her accompanying message said, “This is great news!”. It made me happy too. Hundreds of Kashmiri kids had lined up for a chance to be the next Indian Idol. They had flocked to the [...]
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