Kashmir Halcyon:

MAQBOOL SAHIL has the distinction of being the only Kashmiri author to be twice on the panel of authors at the prestigious Jaipur Literature Festival. Last month, Maqbool, who works with Urdu daily ‘Buland Kashmir’ as sub-editor, was at the Lit Festival for his latest collection of short stories ‘Qadam Qadam Tazeer’, which depicts the ongoing conflict in Kashmir. Earlier in 2012, Maqbool was one of the panelists for a special session held on Kashmiri Prison Dairies for his book ‘Shabistan-e-Wajood’, which recounts the three-and-a half years he spent in prison following accusations of holding secret documents and spying for Pakistan. ‘Shabistan-e-Wajood’ was awarded the 2009 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Prize. DAANISH BIN NABI profiles the man and the experience that shaped his life and career.  Maqbool was born in 1968 in Adhal village of south Kashmir’s Kokernag area in a clan of Khokhar Rajputs. His father Mohammad Jamal-ud-Din Khokhar called him Sahil which would late...

Daanish Bin Nabi, writes on the mysterious attacks on women’s hair in Kashmir Braid chopping incidents continue to be reported from across the Kashmir valley and its peripheries for over a month now. A cabinet minister in Jammu and Kashmir government, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, who is also a senior leader of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), termed the mysterious braid chopping incidents as a “phobia and a kind of hysteria”. State General Secretary of the government’s coalition partner, right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Ashok Koul, termed the incidents as a “disorder”. Apart from the political narrative, the Jammu and Kashmir police, who is supposed to probe the incidents on group, claims to be clueless. It has failed to identify any person or agency behind unabated braid chopping incidents in Kashmir valley. The incidents of braid chopping started from the state’s Jammu division where 252 cases have been registered and the police are yet to make any arres...

Daanish Bin Nabi on why the valley is a ticking time bomb that might explode any second ince the killing of Hizb-ul-Mujahiddin commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani on July 08, 2016, the bloodshed has continued unabated in Kashmir. At least 160 civilians have been killed in state government forces’ action since July 2016. The political dispensation of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has miserably failed to provide any succour to the people of the state. PDP-BJP’s political failure The larger than life image of Agenda of Alliance (AoA) that was stitched by the PDP’s Haseeb Drabu and BJP’s Ram Madhav seems to coming crushing down in face of PDP. While BJP has done everything to keep its bargain of AoA; PDP, on the other hand, has lost big time as BJP is not allowing any breathing space to its coalition partner, as far as Kashmir valley is concerned. Speaking to sbcltr about the failure of AoA, author and political commentator Gowhar Geelani ...

From teaching children to hold pencil and pen in their hands to helping youth operate an AK 47,  Master Ahsan Dar  talks his journey from a teacher to the founder of Kashmir’s biggest indigenous militant outfit, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. Dar unwinds in an in-depth interview, his first since 1999, with Rising Kashmir  Op-ed Editor,  Daanish Bin Nabi . Excerpts The US has designated HM as a “foreign terrorist organisation”. How do you see this development? Designating HM as a “foreign terrorist organisation” is not going to have any impact because public support is the most important aspect of our movement. And HM has the public support. Look at south Kashmir. When did Kashmir dispute get full international support? If we have a look at history, the USA has never supported the Kashmir cause. The US has always used Pakistan for its own benefits. Had Pakistan been a Christian country, every country would have helped it. Remember East Timor, South Sudan, and Balkans...