WRITE-UPS

Suhail Dar The Kashmir valley in 2018 was gripped by deadly violence as the toll of deaths of civilians, Militants, and Government Forces kept on rising and it tarnished thousands of lives, many mothers losing their sole bread-earning sons and many fathers shouldering the coffin of their young sons. The raging violence has cut short the dreams of thousands of families and youth, who have become a victim of the decade’s long violence in the region claimed by both India and Pakistan, A teenager, Numan Bhat killed in the firing of Government Forces in Shopian on November 25, 2018, made news one month after his death, when the results of class 10th were declared, has passed the matriculation exams. The simmering conflict has left a seemingly catastrophic effect on mothers in Kashmir. ...

Irshad Hussain/ Jaskamal Bains On Monday, scores of residents from south Kashmir's Kakapora Oukhoo, the Pencil village of Kashmir staged a protest, in Srinagar's Press Enclave against the transfer of their land for the construction of CRPF camp in their village. Srinagar's Press Enclave reverberated with the slogans "We Want Justice" and "End Oppression." Almost a year ago, the village made Headlines in several leading media organizations after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a mention of the 'Pencil Village' in his radio talk show 'Mann Ki Baat.' The village is known to produce 60% of India's pencils. However, the village has been protesting against the transfer of their agricultural land for the construction of CRPF Camp, for over a month now. Protesting for over a month now Th...

"Gifted it to my daughter"- Father of four children writes Quran-Sharif by hand in nine months in Kashmir valley Bhat Yasir Rayees Ahmed Khan, a pharmacy owner, is a resident of Tangdhar Karnah – a border area of the Kashmir valley, approximately 150 kilometers away from Srinagar. Rayees said that he developed an interest in writing Quran-Sharif by hand during childhood when he was a student of a cleric, who taught him Quran. Rayees, however, couldn't write back then. He started writing in October 2020 and completed it this year. Due to some illness, Rayees couldn't write for approximately three months. It took him nine months to finish writing Quran Sharif in his own hand. "I started writing Quran-Sharif by hand in October 2020 and completed it by 07 November 2021," Rayees ...

Jaskamal Bains During the onset of protests against Hyderpora civilian killings, a picture of Advocate Amreen participating in the sit-in protest organized by the Bar Association, Anantnag, went viral over social media. Adv. Amreen, also a member of the Bar Association, Anantnag, was seen holding a placard reading 'We want justice for my brother Imran Qayoom.' ALSO READ: ‘My Son was a Civilian, Not a Militant’- Father of Imran Killed in Kulgam Encounter Writes to Officials Four months ago, on July 25, Amreen's elder brother Imran Qayoom Dar was shot dead in Kulgam district's Munar. The security forces claimed that Imran was a militant and that he was killed during a 'gunfight' in the wee hours. The family, however, denied the claims outright and said that Imran was a civilian, who had...

Mohammad Yaseen Malik The recent data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) revealed that Jammu Kashmir has recorded a 15% increase in cognisable crimes in 2020 as compared to 2019. Cases of women being subjected to eve-teasing and stalking may have witnessed a sharp rise in the Kashmir valley, but we do not talk about it. Very few instances have been reported where women have had to go through harassment in various public spheres, as well. ALSO READ: ‘He Touched Me All Over and Then his Private Parts’- What Kashmiri Women Undergo Travelling in Public Transport Among those women is Nazia (name changed), a student of 12th class from north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, who narrated her ordeal of the past seven months to The Kashmiriyat. "One day, I was having tea in a vacant...

Manan Shah “Autumn cannot be measured in days or hours. Autumn is a period of weather, a state of mind, a feeling in the blood and the bone” - Medford Mail Tribune, Oregon, August 30, 1954 Harud: Autumn- the fall, a season following the summer starts in September, first greeted by paddy fields turning pale from lush green to crimson and gold whereas, falling leaves in mid-November from a tall standing chinar is mesmerising. Mornings, usually cold and misty with a cup of nun-chai (Salt tea) adds to the flavour of the season while evenings, generally warm, dusk brings a cold breeze along. People start to collect firewood for Hamam, a traditional heating system found in Kashmiri households. Whereas, Smoke coming out of chimneys and children playing and crushing the leaves beneath is a s...

Bhat Yasir In June 2005, a gunman barged inside Lateef Magray's house at Thatharka in Ramban's Gool area and shot his cousin dead. The gunman also shot at Magray, who retaliated and hit the gunman on his head with a huge rock. The gunman named Yasir Bhat of Lashkar-e-Taiba died there, on the spot, Magray recalls. After the incident, Magray was awarded by the Indian Army. Magray recalls post that incident, he worked as an informer for the Indian Army for the next six years. In 2011, the then Governor N.N. Vohra awarded Magray a gold medal for his work in combating militancy. ALSO READ: Alienation grows in Kashmir as bodies of the dead aren't returned to families Ten years later, Magray's videos requesting the authorities to return his son's dead body are doing rounds on social me...

Insha Mushtaq Dar In wake of the recent civilian killings at Hyderpora area of Central Kashmir’s Srinagar on Monday evening, the family members of Mohammad Altaf and Dr. Mudasir Gul have continued their protest despite extremely cold conditions at Press Enclave, Srinagar. The activists of the Jammu and Kashmir Youth National Conference (JKYNC) along with its president, Salman Sagar, also joined the sit-in candlelight protest, demanding justice for the victims and the return of the dead bodies to their family members. Peerzada Mohammad Shafi, and other activists joined in, too. The participants in the candlelight protest held placards which read “Justice for Dr. Mudassar and Mohd. Altaf” “We Want Justice”. On Monday, the police had claimed that an "encounter" had erupted betwee...

Bhat Yasir On Monday evening, the Jammu Kashmir police claimed that an encounter had broken out between militants and the government forces in Hyderpora area of Srinagar city of central Kashmir, where 2 militants and a "militant associate" were killed. The next morning, however, it emerged that another "Over Ground Worker (O.G.W.)" was killed along with the three slain. The four, as per the police, were identified as: Haider, (alleged foreign militant) Mohammad Amir from Ramban (alleged militant) Mudasir Gul from Srinagar (alleged OGW) And Mohammad Altaf Bhat from Srinagar (the owner of the complex and alleged militant associate) Immediately after the incident, reports started emerging that the building-owner's family and relatives protested against the police, pleading Mohd...

Bhat Yasir Winters are almost here and there has been an alarming spike in positive cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the erstwhile state of Jammu Kashmir. Since the past few days, positive cases are being continuously reported in three-digit numbers in the valley, raising concern among the people. The experts have blamed people for their careless behavior towards COVID-19. It's a fact that when cases started to dip and a low number of cases started to be reported, public spaces in Kashmir saw an influx of people roaming without face masks. Ironically, the administration also turned a blind eye towards it. At several locations, 'Manoranjan Melas' were organized where people gathered and violated COVID-19 SOPs. Parents were expecting the opening of schools for all classes...