By Asma Khan Lone Kashmir has erupted once again, engulfed by yet another cycle of conflict and violence—its Sisyphean bane. The trigger this time is the killing of rebel commander, Burhan Wani, the tech-savvy poster boy of the militant organization Hizb Ul Mujahideen. His killing led to an outpour of emotions and anger on the
People in Indian-administered Kashmir aim their anger at security forces as death toll and eye injuries mount. Human rights activists say the security forces enjoy impunity from prosecution [EPA] By Elizabeth Puranam Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir – For Abdul Rehman Mir, the grief over the death of his son has turned to anger. He is sitting
By Shome Basu A look at the lives of locals and those affected by pellet guns during the weeks of violence and protests in the Valley, before the curfew was finally lifted after 51 days. On August 5, Umar Yousuf, a class 11 student from Budgam, was hit by pellets in his left eye in
Apart from causing anxiety and depression, the enforced lockdown has made people angrier, say residents. By Rayan Naqash and Ipsita Chakravarty On July 8, Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district, bringing a new regime of curfews to the Valley. As protests against Wani’s
For days after the killing of Burhan Wani, every TV channel rang with acrimonious debate. Wani was described by India as a terrorist and by Pakistan as a martyr. The media resounded to argument and indignation. The number of dead and injured continued to rise relentlessly. Among the earliest to be killed was Yasmina of
By Amitava Kar The turbulence following the July 8 killing of Burhan Wani by Indian security forces is a blow to peace in the long-troubled region claimed by both India and Pakistan, where an insurgency movement peaked in the 1990s, then dwindled, but never completely melted away. Can deep loss, once it finds utterance, be
By Ishaal Zehra While it’s been four years that the United Nations has asked India to repeal the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, the Indian Army has continued with its horrendous practice of killing innocent, un-armed Kashmiris taking the death toll to 64 in a recent strife that hit the valley of Kashmir after
By Basharat Peer SRINAGAR, Kashmir — On July 8, Burhan Wani, a 22-year-old rebel, was shot dead by Indian soldiers and police officers in a small village in the central part of Indian-controlled Kashmir. News of his killing spread as fast as the bullets that had hit him. Cellphones, emails, social media went wild: “They’ve
The upsurge of anti-Kashmiri hatred in India reveal that the impulse to identify, ostracize and eliminate various supposed enemies is increasingly licensed everywhere by popular sentiment. The Muslim-majority valley of Kashmir has been under curfew since 8 July, when Indian security forces killed a popular young separatist named Burhan Muzaffar Wani. Since then, security forces
By TM Krishna If we pride ourselves on our diversity, we need to accept that there are some who question the idea of our nation. Maut is an Urdu word of Arabic origin meaning death. But the moment I enunciate it with the little acoustic twirl around the “au”, I can feel myself in a