FJ Kashmir

 i nam ul rehman In the year 1991, as Kashmir was slumped into an attritional war against the state of India, apart from bodies falling, strikes and curfew became a new norm in the Valley.  During these days with schools, and colleges closed staying indoors was a perfect recipe. It was during these days that I started to take interest in a sports magazine which my siblings used to relish. It was an Urdu magazine “ Akbar-i-Naujawan ” primarily focused on sports but had a segment on literature, and was published from New Delhi. Although my siblings brought it to read literature I read it for sports feature. The good thing about this magazine was that it provided healthy coverage to the Pakistan cricket team . In one such issue there was an interview of cricketer Ramiz Raja . When asked to name his favourite bowler he names three instead of one, but when he was asked about batsman he replied one and only Viv Richards , and mentions one of a reason of him not wearin...

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...

Book: Interrogating my Chandal life Author: Manoranjan Byapari Translator: Sipra Mukerjee Pages: 356 Inam ul rehman A poor man holds unto no ideology except that of bread. It is the lack of bread that haunts him and his family. But the burden of providing blood for any revolution, or change, is always on the poor men. Manoranjan Byapari’s autobiography is a tale of few decades but it encapsulates centuries of oppression that the upper caste Hindus have wielded on their lower castes . Byapari comes from the lowest caste of Hinduism , and as such is unschooled, and oppressed. He learns lessons of the life on the streets, through punches, humiliation, scares, cheated, stealing food from mongrels, every worse thing except never giving up on the life. He runs away from his family in order to work and feed them, but returns home dust handed a decade later cheated and duped by most of his proprietors. During his runaway a police official rapes him. Male rapes are...

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...

inam ul rehman Now officially it has been declared that the first death of coronavirus has taken place in the Kashmir Valley (March 26). It may have sent a shock wave to the entire Kashmir Valley. Often his death is blamed on the proselytising methods of the Tableeghi Jamaat . The Tj is an offshoot of the Deobandi school of thought . The TJ are known for their non-confrontation ways. They invite everyone toward Islam irrespective of the place where they are. And now the spread of coronavirus in Kashmir is blamed on them. Why, because as per Kashmiri netizens the TJ members refused to disclose their case history, and didn’t abide with the restrictions imposed on congregations!  These are some of the allegations which can easily swoon any man. The TJ ameer has already clarified that he had asked his men not to hold congregation prayers, and no matter how fast the communication is it takes time for any message to reach every individual.  But it doesn’t absolve th...

inam ul rehman Incompetence of any person during his service years can be gauged on number of hurdles he creates for his co-workers. A competent person erases roadblocks because he considers it his professional duty.  I work in the University of Kashmir , an apex educational institution so far. Here we have a number of incompetent persons, who unfortunately are also placed in responsible positions. Many of these persons are in such positions because their fathers, uncles, who were previously working in the University, vied for them. Their incompetence mars not only individuals working with them but hampers the growth of the institution.   In January 2020, the government said that broadband connections would be restored to educational institutions but our man at the information technology and system support refused to act on it. Instead “His Highness” at the ITSS put a form on the intranet of the University, which states that anyone who wants to use the internet ...