Kashmir gets a new bureaucracy: Fewer locals, more officers from outside

The Jammu and Kashmir cadre of the All India Services has ceased to exist.

Safwat Zargar

· Jan 24, 2021 · 09:00 am

In Kashmir’s Sopore, a family wonders why a boy who loved football and farming joined the militants

The police say that 21-year-old Amir Siraj, who was killed in a gunbattle on December 24, was affiliated to the Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Safwat Zargar

· Jan 17, 2021 · 09:00 am

Srinagar: Why does a city of one million people not have a single snow clearance machine?

Though the city sees heavy snowfall every year, civic authorities have not invested in vital snow clearance equipment.

Safwat Zargar

· Jan 12, 2021 · 09:00 am

In Kashmir, the security lockdown and Covid-19 have sunk the tourist sector – and many houseboats

Seven boats have sunk in Srinagar since July as owners have no money to carry out essential maintenance.

Safwat Zargar

· Jan 06, 2021 · 09:00 am

‘We want justice’: Families of three young Kashmiris dispute official version of a deadly shootout

Police launch investigation into the killings on December 30 after relatives insist that the men did not have any links with militant groups.

Safwat Zargar

· Jan 03, 2021 · 09:27 am

‘Example of democracy’?: Despite Modi’s claims, allegations of horsetrading mar Kashmir local polls

In the absence of an anti-defection law in the territory, the Centre-backed Apni Party has been courting winning candidates from other parties.

Safwat Zargar

· Dec 30, 2020 · 10:14 am

In J&K, the government started a massive encroachment drive. Then it remembered forest rights

The forest department claimed it was only following court orders. But was it?

Safwat Zargar

· Dec 24, 2020 · 09:00 am

In local government polls, Kashmir votes for parties opposed to removal of Article 370

The majority of Jammu districts voted for the BJP, which ushered in sweeping legislative changes at the Centre.

Safwat Zargar

· Dec 23, 2020 · 04:10 pm

What drove voters to the polling booth for local government polls in Kashmir?

It was not just development.

Safwat Zargar

· Dec 20, 2020 · 09:00 am

Why did the Jammu and Kashmir government have a change of heart on the Roshni Act?

When the court first struck it down, Union ministers and BJP leaders had called it a ‘surgical strike’ on corruption. Then the beneficiary lists were published.

Safwat Zargar

· Dec 10, 2020 · 06:30 am

A rape and murder in South Kashmir prompts hushed conversations about sexual violence

Some are asking why the Valley fails to discuss violence against women that does not occur as part of the political conflict in the region.

Safwat Zargar

· Dec 07, 2020 · 06:30 am

What exactly is the ‘land scam’ in which Kashmiri parties are implicated?

Opposition parties and leaders are accused of encroaching on state land or gaining from the now discredited Roshni Act.

Safwat Zargar

· Dec 04, 2020 · 06:30 am