Category: News and Politics
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Dirty Old Man of Indian Journalism
Even though I grew up reading Khushwant Singh’s columns in the 70s and 80s, for recent years I had not read much from or about him. For a short period I wondered if he was even alive — until my last trip to India in August when I laid my hands on what may have…
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7 Myths Broken for Pro-377 Indians
In 1861, the British created Article 377 of the Indian Penal Code, criminalizing homosexual behavior. A century and a half later, our attempts to get rid of this archaic law have come to a naught. Most of my friends on social networks have had something to say about the situation, and very few of them…
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God, Jerusalem and Democrats
In the Democratic National Convention yesterday, rationalism died a painful death, just in order to keep God alive. In spite of two evenings of great speeches, the DNC’s decision to sneak God back onto the platform, that too via the back-door, did not win any fans. Briefly, this is what happened. Democratic party’s “platform” (party…
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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…
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Kashmir Is Too Small For Azadi
[हिंदी में पढ़ने के लिए यहाँ क्लिक करें] Note: This article was written in 2010, when rock throwing incidents by Kashmiri youth were at their peak. This was much before the reorganization of the state and removal of Article 370 in Kashmir, therefore the facts in this article apply to that period. Headline on CNN…
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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…
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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…
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Faisal Shahzad – Another Pakistan Connection
Whenever a new terrorist plot unravels in the US in these times, it does not take too much to bet that it will have a Pakistani connection. In India, the phrase “Pakistani connection” has had to be so much overused, that it has become almost a joke and acquired the same meaning as “crying wolf”.…
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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.