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Kashmir valley

A Visit to Kashmir~II

In the highly nuanced political discourse in the Kashmir Valley, one factor that is often overlooked is the rapid indoctrination, radicalisation, Arabisation and Islamisation of a liberal Kashmiri society which had carefully nurtured a syncretic Sufi tradition throughout history and achieved a rare assimilation between Shaivism and Islam, making the society a truly liberal, secular and progressive one.

A Visit to Kashmir~I

But the picture of the ebb and flow of near normal life that we had seen was far from mass civil disobedience or resolute civil curfew; instead it looks like resilient life adjusting to the new realities without many hiccups. Now with J&K becoming a Union Territory, the state police have finally got the liberty to function autonomously as a professional force.

Let truth be told

The press can well do without the homilies of the DM, Anurag Patel, specifically that a print journalist is not authorised to shoot a video and extensively circulate the same.

Baloney of ISIS ‘province’

The report by Amaq News Agency of ISIS to the effect that it's supposed affiliate in the Kashmir Valley has established a 'province' or 'Wilayah of Hind', belies the ground realities. The ISIS claim was a follow-up to the killing of a local militant, who had professed his allegiance to the entity. India needs to investigate the ISIS claim of having set up a 'province' from the perspective of its ideological appeal, as opposed to an organisational or geographical construct.