September 19, 2022. indian-occupied Kashmir. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act or AFSPA is a draconian law enacted by the Indian parliament specifically to grant special powers to the Indian army operating in certain ‘disturbed’ areas. Although very brief in nature and comprising of only six sections, along with other special powers, the law comes with blanket impunity for the Indian army. This army comprises of 1.4 million active personnel, and is the second largest in the world. While this law was initially enacted in the year 1958 to deal with the Naga liberation movements in the Northeast, in 1990 it was extended to Kashmir at the…

September 14, 2022. indian-occupied Kashmir. Aside from the Indian army and its paramilitary forces, as well as the Jammu and Kashmir police, India and its client regimes in Kashmir have always employed and trained ‘civilian’ networks to harass, intimidate, surveil, and kill Kashmiris and suppress the freedom movement. These government…

August 25, 2022. indian-occupied Kashmir. The Amarnath Yatra is a holy Hindu annual pilgrimage taken in the second half of summer in Kashmir. The Yatra is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world with almost half a million Hindu devotees (yatris) traveling to the Amarnath cave to pay respects…

August 18, 2022. indian-occupied Kashmir. Since August 2019, India has intensified its attacks against all facets of Kashmiri civil society: human rights defenders and organizations, journalists, lawyers, and activists. More recently, the Indian government has escalated its crackdown on Kashmiri academics and researchers, in an attempt to completely stifle all forms of independent inquiry and documentation. Those who have been targeted are primarily involved in critical research on Kashmir and on India’s long-term colonization of the region.

August 15, 2022. indian-occupied Kashmir. Every year, the indian government plans grand Independence Day celebrations in occupied Kashmir in an attempt to enforce its nationalism on the people and display false propaganda of Kashmiri’s celebrating indian independence for indian and international audiences. Last year, amidst strict curbs on any kind on civilian movement, city centers were lit up in the colours of the indian flag. But this year, the settler-colonial state has already set an even more authoritarian style of celebrations into motion. …

August 12, 2022. indian-occupied Kashmir. Netflix’s Masaba Masaba released its 2nd season. While many are celebrating the representation of desi women the show provides, the fact that it is normalising india’s occupation of Kashmir is not being spoken about, so we wrote an open letter to Masaba addressing her normalisation campaign. This letter does contain SPOILERS but not the kind you’re thinking of.

July 4, 2022 Srinagar, indian-occupied Kashmir Number of Bunkers, drones, and raids have increased in preparation for the Amarnath Yatra, which started on June 30, 2022 After a gap of two years due to COVID19, the most militarized pilgrimage has begun in Indian-occupied Kashmir. “The 350km (220 mile) trek starting…

July 4, 2022 Srinagar, indian-occupied Kashmir What is the Jamaat I Islami in Kashmir? The Jamaat I Islami is a socio-political Muslim reform organization that was started in the late colonial period and geared towards the political and educational uplift of the Muslims of South Asia in a moment of…

June 30, 2022. The writer’s name is hidden for anonymity. Note from the author: As someone who identifies as a queer Kashmiri Pandit born and raised in the diaspora, I acknowledge that I have never lived under occupation or endured systemic Islamophobia, and that my experience differs greatly from those…