Ansari’s Convocation Address
Dr Gull Muhammad Wani
The fact that Vice President of the Republic of India concluded his convocation address by quoting Edmund Burke that “the only thing necessary for triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” is an intellectual provocation to people in the arena of public life, academia and other sectors to explore multiple meanings of his convocation address.
The central idea of Hamid Ansari’s convocation address was to chalk out a vision for India in 21st century in which he found that smaller identities have to coexist with the larger identity that India constitutes. He believes that in a composite nationalism, the smaller identities can only be integrated with the larger identity and there is no scope for assimilation. He examined the issues of deprivation and alienation and found that it is the powerlessness which drives out the smaller identities and pushes them into the alienation trap.
Srinagar Roads: Hunt and Gather
Tarique A Bhat
Sadak Bijli Paani is what was promised during 2008 elections. We are getting cosmetic touch and not the traffic-infrastructure
I feel like I am you
Shaziya Yousuf
I saw you there in that picture. You were being carried home. There were two bodies wrapped in
I saw you there in that picture. You were being carried home. There were two bodies wrapped in
Taking on the Left, the Right, and Centre
Tarique A Bhat
We are feeling a morbid lack of interest in life and sort of empty inside? Completely lacking in motivation. Reason: We are obsessed with politics and tend to look at the government and politicians as the cause of all problems in our lives.
Yes, we are fed up with politics of more than 75 years now. I am talking of many who don’t neatly fit into the red or green. Kashmir is mired in a whirlpool of uncertainty. Our politicians are without the requisite political will to overcome deliberately designed structural impediments to solving the problem.
We are feeling a morbid lack of interest in life and sort of empty inside? Completely lacking in motivation. Reason: We are obsessed with politics and tend to look at the government and politicians as the cause of all problems in our lives.
Yes, we are fed up with politics of more than 75 years now. I am talking of many who don’t neatly fit into the red or green. Kashmir is mired in a whirlpool of uncertainty. Our politicians are without the requisite political will to overcome deliberately designed structural impediments to solving the problem.
Obama’s oratory: Deeds will have to follow words
Tarique A Bhat
Opening with the greetings of “Shukran” and “As-salaam-alaikum,” his speech was filled with appreciation for Muslim
Has the Governor rule ended?
SHahnawaz Khan
Tell me. Has the Governor rule ended? In January they told me it has. I breathed a sigh of relief. I told my friends, it is over. The six month tenure of the down to earth gentleman governor which saw death of more than fifty civilians, most of them unarmed protestors chanting slogans of freedom, or protesting against an economic blockade of the Valley by Hindu zealots of Jammu.
Tell me. Has the Governor rule ended? In January they told me it has. I breathed a sigh of relief. I told my friends, it is over. The six month tenure of the down to earth gentleman governor which saw death of more than fifty civilians, most of them unarmed protestors chanting slogans of freedom, or protesting against an economic blockade of the Valley by Hindu zealots of Jammu.
Restore hope to the future
Tarique A Bhat
The debate on crime, social evils and moral values in our society has been in public discourse
The debate on crime, social evils and moral values in our society has been in public discourse
SKIMS: Direction is important than motion
Tarique A Bhat
Our apex healthcare Institute has performed more than 10,000 major surgeries in 2008,
Our apex healthcare Institute has performed more than 10,000 major surgeries in 2008,
A bit of this and that
If knowledge is power, we are not doing too well. No one in his right mind would today oppose the need for a high degree
In the name of Manmohan Singh
Naeem Akhtar
Irrespective of the results that must be out by now, one fact came out clearly in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections. That is the complete ideological bankruptcy of National Conference and its near total dysfunction as the premier political organisation of the state.
There was not a single issue of substance the ruling party touched in its campaign. After having declared in the wake of his personal setback in January this year at the hands of his son, Farooq Abdullah was asked as to what would happen to the Autonomy proposal of his party. Farooq who can be brutally honest at times made a plain declaration. The newspapers reported him as saying “it will go with me to my grave”.
Failing to plan is planning to fail
Tarique A Bhat
The one hundredth day of Omar Abdullah led coalition government was a day like any other. 
Shameem, A Pioneer Of Electoral Politics
Naeem Akhtar
His contribution to journalism, oratory, wit, repartee and literature are recounted regularly and they never sound like stale or repetitious. But one aspect of the late Shameem in my opinion remains understated. That is his contribution to making votes relevant in real sense to the electoral politics. And, his role in doing that and creating a consciousness about it is without doubt pioneering.
The Other Sheikh Abdullah
Naeem Akhtar
Around the time in 1905 Sher i Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was born in Srinagar,
Around the time in 1905 Sher i Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was born in Srinagar,
Providing order to chaos
Tarique A Bhat
Today, our schools (mostly, tuition shops) do everything but education. Despair is writ large on the face of our future generation, though in receipt of all directionless education regrettably losing its spirit of enquiry. We are on the edge of the abyss because of an irresponsible education system.
I ask, with this customary education, do we have a clear, firm and precise understanding of what Kashmiri society is to be in times to come? Are we bringing education to life? Are we really longing for meaning and fulfillment of our child’s life? We have lost the real purpose of education. And having a purpose is the difference between making a living and making a life. Obtaining 90 plus percent marks has become a syndrome, more than proving the capabilities of a child, is a status symbol for both the school authorities and the parents, who can flaunt their children’s report cards to put on show their own ‘superiority’.
Today, our schools (mostly, tuition shops) do everything but education. Despair is writ large on the face of our future generation, though in receipt of all directionless education regrettably losing its spirit of enquiry. We are on the edge of the abyss because of an irresponsible education system.
I ask, with this customary education, do we have a clear, firm and precise understanding of what Kashmiri society is to be in times to come? Are we bringing education to life? Are we really longing for meaning and fulfillment of our child’s life? We have lost the real purpose of education. And having a purpose is the difference between making a living and making a life. Obtaining 90 plus percent marks has become a syndrome, more than proving the capabilities of a child, is a status symbol for both the school authorities and the parents, who can flaunt their children’s report cards to put on show their own ‘superiority’.
Remembering Iqbal: beyond the rhetoric
Zamir Ahmed
Iqbal Bhi Iqbal se Aagaah nahi hai,
Iqbal Bhi Iqbal se Aagaah nahi hai,
