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For the “greater benefit of the tehreek," corruption and unaccountability were overlooked, confesses SA Geelani in his resignation letter

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His letter validates what Zakir Musa , Qayoom Najar said years ago.   inam ul rehman In June this year, an audio conversation between the then Jaish-e-Mohammad chief of Kashmir , Mufti Waqas , and Ansar Ghazwatul Hind chief, Zakir Musa, was released by al Qaeda ’s media platform. In the said conversation Mufti Waqas tells Musa that he has been to Afghanistan and fought there, “I swear the sacrifices,” he says, “that Kashmiris have given are unparalleled, but this nation has got traitor leaders.” Jaish is a pro- Pakistan militant outfit, and in conflict with the AGH ideology. Here Mufti Waqas is talking in personal capacity because he understood that the Jihadi project run by Pakistan and its proxies in Kashmir is a business for both of them. In the same conversation he raises suspicion on the killing of many Jaish commanders in Kashmir saying that those who understood the tehreek in Kashmir get killed.  Mufti Waqas was killed in 2018. His audio conversation w...
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My colleague the artistic Akhtar was never given institutional recognition

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 inam ul rehman  Like all great artists, and concerned citizen of his community, Akhtar Rasool was a lonely person. He had several friends, was a star of his community, but he held many views which were contrarian. He groomed artists, gave them suggestions, and didn’t shy in saying that Kashmiri artists do not have that perseverance, grit, and imagination to grab the attention of clients.     Akhtar Boss, as I fondly used to call him, belonged to a minority community which is also marginalised in Kashmir. I used to see his artistic work in the Greater Kashmir pullout magazine . It was Urdu weekly Kashmir Uzma , where he changed the view of newspaper editors and layout designers. He designed Kashmir Uzma in his own novel way. His frontpage illustrations combined with Riyaz Masroor ’s editing skills made this weekly a household name.   In 2007, I joined the daily Etalaat , an English newspaper. Here I came to know Akhtar boss’s work. He was the overall...
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Call out all bad teachers and thank a few good ones

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inam ul rehman     On teachers’ day (it is not a universal teacher’s day, different countries celebrate it on different dates) it is normal to see write-ups about teachers, without naming them, or if someone names them s/he makes sure that the teacher has retired. What is the fun of writing such banal stuff. By not naming our teachers (who are still teaching) who inspired us, or taught us in a diligent way we are giving free rein to bad teachers or those who slam down students making them fearful to question or argue anything.     Our writing should remind those bad teachers that you would not get away with your awful teaching. You will be called out.   Our writing should also help good teachers to improve upon and pat them even if their contemporaries try to put them down.        But, how do you say a particular teacher impressed, or inspired you? Myriad reasons, but no particular answers.  In our educational career, only a f...
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5 male vice chancellors came and went. But husband-wife stayed until this VC said no

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  inam ul rehman Breaking 21-year-old institutional monopoly As July 31, 2026, approached, there was only one concern for the employees of the Educational Multimedia Research Centre ( EMRC ): would we see a new director, or would the old regime continue. We went home in a conundrum. The University of Kashmir didn’t issue any notice about who will take charge of our centre. On August 03, as we entered our office premises, rumour was that Prof Syed Muzzaffar Andrabi, dean engineering college, had been nominated as the new director. We waited throughout Monday to receive him but neither did he come, nor was the order issued. My colleagues’ shoulders drooped and they became apprehensive that the old regime had the power to rescind any order of the University! But finally in the afternoon, the University issued an order, and immediately employees began to distribute sweets. We were delirious but it seemed newspapers and online portals were even more elated to see the change as t...
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Book Review: The rage and confusion of Gowhar Geelani

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  Book: Kashmir : Rage and Reason Author: Gowhar Geelani Publisher: Rupa Publication Pages: 288   inam ul rehman The “Rage and Reason”, Gowhar Geelani, believes is because of the Indian state policies toward Kashmir ! Paradoxically he cites an example of a mechanical engineer, Maseehullah , working in Jalandar Punjab , joining militant ranks. It was Maseehullah’s study of Islam that prompted him to join the call of, what he believed, jihad.    The author here, like a skilled politician, spins the narrative, and writes that the protest of 2008 against the grant of land to the Amarnath shrine board made many to think that it was an attempt to change the demography, and it was this event which forced Maseehullah! Although the latter’s father clearly states that it was Islam which made him to pick the gun against the state. Even his father supports that the land belongs to Allah, and His laws should govern people here.    In fact, throughout the book author ne...
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Humans fight humans for justice, but winners demonise losers

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A response to SSP Anantnag, Sandeep Chaudhary, who does not like to humanise militants.   Inam ul rehman After Riyaz Naikoo, pro-Pakistan Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant commander, was killed in an unequal encounter with Indian forces, a number of Indian intellectuals, and members of the Indian police service took umbrage at the reports that mentioned he was a teacher before taking up the gun  ( https://theprint.in/opinion/time-drew-red-x-for-osama-but-western-press-humanised-riyaz-naikoo-with-pre-gun-stories/416743/ )   (  https://www.dailyo.in/politics/riyaz-naikoo-kashmir-terrorism-jihad-hizbul-mujahideen/story/1/32879.html ) . For them Naikoo was a “cold blooded murderer” who killed civilians, and as such does not deserve to be humanised at all!   Does a human cease to be a human because he responds to existential threats in a way that is not compatible to the state? There also comes the important question: why do people pick up the gun...
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Why Songs of Paradise is different from other Kashmir films

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  inam ul rehman   I think the last film I reviewed for any newspaper or portal was Vishal Bhradwaj’s Haider. And it was in 2014. One of my colleagues at that time, and one of the brilliant journalists of Kashmir, Mir Hilal , on reading it said that it is a rant rather than a review. I disagreed and published it. Now I agree with what Mir Hilal said.   Eleven years later here I am reviewing “ Songs of Paradise ” of Danish Renzu . A Kashmiri filmmaker’s inspirational take on the melody queen of music, Raja Begum. Remember, it is not a historical take, but an inspirational one. It is historically as correct as Salim-Anarkali stories of Bollywood , or Padmawat , the Kashmir files, Chhaava movies .  Getting sponsors for a female protagonist film is tough. In Indian cinema only a few commercial films have succeeded with a female lead. These have mostly been driven by the star power of an actress. And some even needed male star power to get wide release. Alia...
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You cannot shame a state into submission

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inam ul Rehman   It has been 30 years since the Kashmiris picked up gun against the Indian system . If someone says nothing has changed then he must be put into a mental asylum. What hasn’t changed is that the Kashmiris fight to redraw the boundary continues.   So, what has the Kashmiri leadership, pro-resistance intellectuals learned in the past 30 years about the Indian state? Apparently, nothing. From trying to physically evict India from Kashmir, the Kashmiri leadership, and pro-resistance intellectuals are now trying to shame the Indian state into submission! No state in the world can be shamed into submission, especially when it comes to secession .   Sadly, there has been no concerted effort to understand the Indian state. No Tehreeki intellectual writes on the Indian state. How does it work? What galvanises it?what riles it?what holds it together?what are its underbellies?what makes it to fear?what will make India to give up its claim on Kashmir? What keeps it u...
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With pro-India, pro-Pakistan constituencies in Kashmir eroded India paves the way for radical ideologies

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inam ul rehman Politics is less based on morals and more on politicking. That is why political class mostly gets away with wrongdoings. In 1636, the Mughal emperor Shahjahan signed a deal with the Deccani states of Golconda, and Bijapur , promising not to conquer these states in future. This promise was reneged by Shahjahan himself.  But Golconda, and Bijapur kingdoms continued to exhibit some sovereignty although they accepted the Mughal suzerainty . Then came emperor Aurangzeb . He wanted both these states to confront Marathas , who were hassling his troops in guerrilla warfare. They refused, and Aurangzeb for the time being lost interest. Bijapur, and Golconda states acted as a buffer zone between the Mughals and Maratha. The latter would plunder these two states, and sometimes join hands with them against the Mughals. Aurangzeb’s repeated offer to Bijapur to join hands with him to destroy the Maratha was not acceptable to Bijapur, as it considered Maratha pow...
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Our neighbours whom we don’t know

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    i nam ul rehman                                      Book: Those who stayed: the Sikhs of Kashmir   Author: Bupinder Singh Bali Publisher: Manjul India   Pages: 285   While reading Siddharth Gigoo’s latest book “ A long season of Ashes ” it came to my mind: why haven’t Kashmiri Sikhs written a book on their survival? Kashmiri Muslims have written on the conflict, so have Pandits. But Kashmiri Sikhs? No way.    As I finished Siddharth’s engaging book, I surfed the net to explore my curiosity, and fortunately “Those who stayed: the Sikhs of Kashmir” came up. Written by a 35-year-old Sikh youth, who returned to Kashmir as a PM package employee in 2011, this candid book is a part memoir, and part historical. It is almost written in the same vein as Siddharth Gigoo’s.   Bupinder Singh Bali starts the book from a phone call he receives on October 7,...
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