FJ Kashmir

inam ul rehman   On November 14 two teenagers were killed in a road rage accident, and as expected, no one wants to take the responsibility. Eight days prior to a teenager was killed and two other teens injured in a similar case of road rage at Lawaypora, Srinagar (https://www.greaterkashmir.com/city/teenager-killed-2-injured-in-road-accident-at-lawaypora).    Responsibility is something we Kashmiris often shy away from. Our officials are not ready to own up their failures. In this high-profile case of road rage, the buck is being passed around without any resolution.  Lack of traffic policing?  According to the SSP traffic police Srinagar , one of the accused in the road rage incident was counselled many times, yet there was no change in his behaviour. It should make the traffic police introspect: why is their counselling not taken seriously? And why would anyone take its counselling seriously when lax law implementation is a norm here?  I commute 35 ki...

Book: This our paradise Author: Karan Mujoo Publisher: Penguin Random House Pages: 240  Reviewer: inam ul rehman It is never, never easy for any deracinated writer to have a sympathetic look at the place where there community was forced to live a life of exile. Then to expect them to rationally find answers why things happened is not possible from mere mortals.   Karan Mujoo’s novel, set in the Kashmir Valley , sweeps away stereotypes with his characters. A fictional book where the author juxtaposes two communities of Kashmir to explore what went wrong. We have Shahid , living in a distant land where life has remained fossilised, refuse to take up a government job, believing he is destined for extraordinary things that will shape history. Our protagonist is 8-years-old when the novel commences. He is deeply attached to his uncle, Vicky , a Marxist in the making. The premonition of things to come starts right when our protagonist moves to his new home in Bagh-i-Mehtab in...

Book: City as memory: a short biography of Srinagar    Author: Safaf Wani Publisher: Aleph book company Pages: 180 Reviewer: inam ul rehman  If you look at the mesmerising cover illustration of Zainab Tambawalla, evocative and detailed that it visually tells a silent introduction to the book. The city of Srinagar has been described in myriad ways. Basharat Peer referred Srinagar as a medieval town caught in the modern warfare. For Khalid Mir it induces the memory of Jaffna Street .  For the author of the book, Srinagar or Sirinagar, as she uses it, evokes a feeling of undefined relationship, which she is unable to communicate.  To define her relationship with Srinagar city she seeks help of many people. Shahar-i-Khas is an important but a small part of Srinagar city. It was this Shahar-i-Khas which was responsible for making Kashmir famous for its hospitality. And every community extended hospitality to travellers.   However, the author brings up th...