Kashmir is currently in the midst of the longest Amarnath Yatra ever (62 days), even in the face of climate change and rising global temperatures. What is the Amarnath Yatra, what are its effects, and how is it a tool of India’s settler-colonial project in Kashmir? What is the Amarnath…

Ather Zia, the Editor at Large of Kashmir Lit writes of how the 15+ year old webzine was hacked and taken down.

As this year’s host of the G20 Summit, India is preparing meetings throughout the country. However, the Indian government has decided to take this opportunity to legitimize its settler-colonial occupation of Kashmir — by holding one such meeting on occupied-Kashmiri territory. India is set to host a meeting for the…

“The Great Land-Grab” of Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir has begun — confirming the worst fears of its local communities: the Indian state is planning to take large tracts of their land, and give it to Indian settlers and businesses. Given the difficulties in obtaining full information about the evictions…

What is the JK Family ID? In a recent move, Manoj Sinha, the Lieutenant Governor of the indian regime in Kashmir announced that the government will be building an “authentic database” of Kashmiri families. He said that this will be achieved through assigning unique alphanumeric IDs to each and every family of Jammu and Kashmir, which…

December 06, 2022. indian-occupied Kashmir. The indian Occupation in Kashmir has always been at war with the local population, to maintain forcible control of the territory. However, this war is not always waged through the gun or through brute power and war crimes. Stealthy “normalization” has also often been the weapon of choice for india against Kashmir’s freedom movement. But what is “Normalization” and how is india using it as another tactic to suppress Kashmiris?

November 23, 2022. indian-occupied Kashmir. “Economic Development” was the buzz word as the indian Home Minister moved to abrogate Article 370 and with it, the semi-autonomous status of Kashmir. However, the ground reality since that day itself and in its long-term aftermath has been different. Small businesses have collapsed, and the fruit industry has been made to suffer immense losses. Most significantly: in its report for May — August 2022, the Centre for Monitoring indian Economy has pegged the unemployment rate in Jammu and Kashmir for the month of August at a staggering 32.75%, which is the highest in past 6 years. …

October 04, 2022. indian-occupied Kashmir. Despite being currently ruled by a right-wing Hindu nationalist government, India claims to be a “secular democracy.” Its constitution allows for the freedom of religion, meaning people should be able to follow and freely practice their religious beliefs. India’s constitution says that the state will not “discriminate, patronise or meddle in the profession of any religion”. However, when it comes to Islam and Muslims, and especially when it comes to its colony in Kashmir, religious freedom and claims of secularism mentioned in the Indian Constitution is completely absent.

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…