Weekend Reads:
- “At Rising Kashmir, it was a life full of struggle. Right from the day one Shujaat Bukhari had given his newspaper an institutional shape as against a corporate character. He groomed scribes into thinking minds, gave them freedom of choices and made himself accountable to readers on their behalf,” writes Zafar Choudhary in Rising Kashmir.
- How a team of dedicated and defiant journalists at Rising Kashmir worked to bring out a newspaper, hours after their editor was assassinated, writes Peerzada Ashiq in the Hindu.
- Udayan Rathore and Pramit Bhattacharya in Mint try to sift through the jobs data from India over the last few years and find that “the different pieces of evidence do not paint a very rosy picture about job opportunities in the countryside, or indeed, in the country.”
- New documents show that the government of Maharashtra concealed details of enormous importance to the Loya case in its submissions to the Supreme Court, find Nikita Saxena, Atul Dev and Niranjan Takle in the Caravan.
- “Despite the odds, Srimanta Sankardev not only reached Majuli island, but, along with his disciples, set up 65 sattras—which is said to translate to “unique monasteries”. Here, away from the prying eyes of the world, Sankardev developed an equally unique way of worship through dance and drama, called the Sattriya Nritya. Bhokots (monks) at the island’s various monasteries say the saint chose the performance arts as a means to pray and preach because these transcended barriers imposed by language and geography,” writes Sankar Sridhar in Mint.
- Tora Agarwala in the Indian Express writes about how a friendship turned sour and a Facebook post turned into violence in Assam.
- In the Economic Times, G Seetharaman and Shantanu Nandan Sharma look at the politics behind the Centre’s sugar package and how it will be crucial for the Bharatiya Janata Party.
- An 18-month investigation leads to a trail of new evidence showing the ‘bad boys of Brexit’ had closer links to Russia and its ambassador than they have disclosed, writes Carole Cadwalladr in the Guardian.
- “Some of the most intense drama surrounding President Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un came not across the negotiating table, but in the days and hours leading up to Tuesday’s historic meeting – a behind-the-scenes flurry of commotion prompted by Trump himself,” report Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey, Carol D. Leonnig and Karen DeYoung in the Washington Post.
- “It’s a stretch to read one missed penalty as an emblem of Messi’s entire international career, but it felt like one on Saturday morning. Soccer is full of paradox. Sometimes its most unmeaningful moments are also its most eloquent,” writes Brian Phillips in the New Yorker.