Kashmir’s other conflict

While the human toll as a consequence of the militancy in Kashmir is well known, little is known about the wildlife plight in the valley. Army and paramilitary forces have set up camps in forests to target militants hiding in the area. Often, wildlife is target of the combat. With their natural habitat under human [...]

ALOHA grooms Kashmir’s math team

Tapping her fingers in air, Hafira Ishaq, a little girl aged 7 from Bemina impresses everyone by cracking intricate problems of addition, subtraction and multiplication, all in just a matter of few seconds. Pose her a difficult arithmetic problem, in a jiffy; she answers back, which otherwise demands high degree of expertise. “I was scared [...]

Race to death over Kashmir waters

India and Pakistan, in an expensive winner-takes-all race to tap the power of the Kishenganga river in Kashmir, are separately aiming to build large hydro-electric projects just 70 kilometers apart on the same fast-flowing water on their respective sides of the divided region.  India’s Kishenganga hydro-power project, which the government last February priced at US$740 million, [...]

Impact of violence on children in Kashmir

For the last 18 years state of Jammu and Kashmir is passing through armed conflict and unrest. Such internal conflicts have a devastating impact upon civilian population, most particularly women and children because the women and children are directly and in directly affected. Numberless strikes, Hartals, crack downs, search operations, bomb blasting, cross firing, cordon [...]

Fakes, neglect wearing thin Kashmir’s pashmina trade

They sell for thousands of dollars, grace the shoulders of celebrities and are coveted by women the world over, but the future of the famous pashmina shawl is tangled due to neglect and cheap copies.  For centuries, pashmina shawls have been woven on handlooms from wool handspun from the shaggy coat of a goat which [...]