FJ Kashmir

   inam ul rehman   Book: A life in the shadows: A memoir Author: A S Dulat Publisher: Harper Collins India Pages: 264 pages     As the author of the book Dulat comes across a person of considerate, tolerant, knowledgeable, fun loving, and a great listener. The latter quality makes him a special person to develop rapport in Kashmir. And boy, his CV is full of North and South Pole people in Kashmir.  Dulat, as his books testify, knows all the important persons of Jammu and Kashmir.    He has already penned down two books, “ The Vajpayee Years ”, and “The Spy Chronicles” written in partnership with his ISI counterpart Assad Durrani . The latter one showed his subtility in nudging Durrani to talk more.  However, the book under review is a memoir, and is not restricted to Kashmir though the latter has occupied many pages. I have a strong hunch that the Bollywood movie Lamhaa , released in 2010, was based on Dulat’s experience in Kashmir just...

Book: Sultan: A memoir  Author: Wasim Akram and Gideon Haigh Publisher: Harper Collins   Pages: 297     inam ul rehman    During the launch of his book Wasim Akram went around the town trying to gain sympathy by stating his countrymen accuse him of being a match-fixer elsewhere he is loved for his cricketing achievements. What Akram forgets is that despite these allegations he has the highest endorsements in Pakistan. And is invited in most TV shows! Primarily it seems that he has penned this book to clear himself from match-fixing scandals that he was alleged to be involved. And the ire of his falls on the crusader against match fixers-­– Rashid Latif .    Wasim details why he didn’t play in the 1996 quarter-final match against India , which Pakistan lost. According to Wasim, not disclosing his injury in that crucial game in Bengaluru was “for fear of buoying India and dismaying our own players”. But, why didn’t he reveal the same thing to his ...

  inam ul rehman   As we start to grow up our desires become solid. Having a car was one of the desires that fortified with age, but I was always certain that I will not bring it from my father’s pocket, take an interest-based loan from any bank, or sell a piece of land for it. Although I would drive the vehicles of my friends and cousins. This too stopped in 2005, after some innocuous thing became prickly.    Finally last year I was able to bring one.    Owning a vehicle is a dream that only a small population can fulfill. Then having a license to drive is what one desires. And here in Kashmir licenses were distributed like freebies. I remember in my clan some had licenses before owning a vehicle. This was not a strange thing exclusive to our clan only, I saw many people who had licenses before driving anything.    In 2021, a new regional transport officer, Kashmir, Sajid Yahya Naqash took charge and he immediately shot a message for the p...

  inam ul rehman A decade earlier there was a great hype given to “The road to stability in Pakistan and Afghanistan runs through the Valley of Kashmir .” It was a hyperbole then, and it proved so. Ever since the Taliban stormed Kabul and won it without a fight, most think tanks, intellectuals, analysts of the Indian state are wary that they will come to the disputed territory of Kashmir and wreak havoc! But why would the Taliban come to Kashmir?   What enmity does the Taliban have toward the state of India? What has the state of India done that the Taliban would cross the borders of Pakistan and start guerrilla war in Kashmir?   Of course, what prompts these speculations is the age-old trust deficit of India on the Islamic republic of Pakistan, and treating the Taliban as its proxy. While the former is a genuine concern the latter is a bloated view. The Taliban, in fact, most of the Afghans refuse to become proxies of anyone, and the former more so with its v...

  Why are Indo-Pak making the bodies of Kashmiris as their battleground?   inam ul rehman                     A couple of top army commanders that include Srinagar based 15 Corps , Lt Gen D P Pandey , and director-general of the Defence Intelligence Agency and deputy chief of the Integrated Defence Staff, Lt Gen. KJS Dhillon , chided Kashmiris for remaining silent on civilian killings that took place in the month of October. The latter used the words “selective dementia” and “silent majority” while referring to civilian killings in the Valley   ( https://www.aninews.in/news/national/general-news/why-selective-dementia-happens-to-silent-majority-when-theres-terrorist-killing-in-kashmir-lt-gen-kanwal-jeet-singh20211021001143/ ).    Since the army does straight talk, I will say it point blank.  When the Sikh pogrom took place in 1984, it was expected that the s...

 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...