Image Courtesy: Indian Express

Since 1990s when the mass armed insurgency started in J&K, truth has been rendered a casualty. In the midst of blaring propaganda, prevailing anarchy and confusion the truth has became a casualty. The masses were at the receiving end, too naïve to understand factual realities amidst violence and daily killings. Not only the insurgents, combatants, uniformed men became cannon fodder of the insurgency but the opinion makers, social activists, ideologues and politically affiliated people were also targeted indiscriminately. These high profile killings of apparently apolitical people were owned by none of the insurgent groups or state institutions. In most cases the rival parties i.e. insurgents and the state blamed the assassinations on each other. Both of these rivals would pay glorious tributes to the assassinated individuals. Thus in the end the killings would be blamed on unknown gunmen.

The latest casualty of these unknown gunmen in Kashmir is Shujaat Bukhari. Shujaat was a powerful editor of four multi lingual newspapers published from the valley. Further he was a high profile civil society member who was involved in track two diplomatic efforts on Kashmir, between India and Pakistan. Some blame his killing again on these unknown gunmen and point out to his participation in track two efforts that became a reason for his assassination. The police is still investigating the murder and militants have blamed the Indian security agencies for the killing while demanding a probe through an international agency.

Leaving aside the dichotomy and controversy surrounding the death of Shujaat, the masks of these unknown gunmen still remain to be unveiled. The pertinent question has always been avoided and none is ready to engage with the same? Who are these unknown gunmen? During their lives every public person is controversial; some remain shrouded in mystery even after death. But the bravado created around the personalities after their death, makes the controversies and mysteries surrounding their lives, works and engagements go down in oblivion. We have yet to be mature enough to balance every personality according to merits. We have a persistent problem of compartmentalizing people in boxes of right and wrong. We then either condemn them out rightly or paint them as saints and heroes whose loss is always irreparable.

All those people who were vehemently critical of Shujaat during his life were not behind issuing condemnations against his gruesome assassination. This failure to criticize or introspect any personality after death has leaded us to a deadly morass. It has rendered us blind to our faults. For us a person can be with us or against us, there is no middle ground and those who intend to find one are pressurized to join a camp because both India and Pakistan, mainstream and resistance politicians, armed forces and insurgents do not want any neutral voices to emerge strongly as to create a niche among the ‘stake holders’ on Kashmir. Even most of the civil society members are being sponsored by various clandestine hands and promoted to defend and peddle a certain narrative.

Many right wing ideologues and politicians like Lal Singh while warning other journalists to mend their ways described Shujaat as an apologist for insurgents that simply translates to peddle a given narrative and surrender their independence and freedom to report. This is not the case with right wing ideologues only but other politicians and ideologues of different hues also want neutral, saner and independent voices to fall in line. Now coming back to the question of truth, given the previous experience of probes and investigation turns in high profile killings, the real assassins of Shujaat will remain under veils. We have experienced similar results in the killings of Mirwaiz Muhammad Farooq, Prof. Mashir ul Haq, Dr Qazi Nisar, Dr Ghulam Qadir Wani, Prof. Abdul Ahad Wani, Dr Farooq Ashai and Dr Guru. Their killers were never brought to the book. But the time has now come to unveil these forces of darkness who do not want the resolution of Kashmir. Whenever the bridges for dialogue and resolution are made they are ready to burn them.

Someone, some cause, some ideology has to take the blame! Police have now declared a Pakistani militant and two Kashmiri militants as murderers, who happen to belong to Lashkar e Toiba (LeT). LeT had already blamed the killing on Indian security agencies. Anyways whosoever was the culprit but the question needs to be probed is what made his assassins pull the trigger? Did the track two diplomatic efforts became a reason for his killing, did his brave reporting against military atrocities on common civilians was a bone of contention for his assassins or was he being witnessed as a double cross by both India and Pakistan and its spy agencies for the reasons best known to them? What percolated down at the much hyped Dubai conference? Who sponsored it, what was the outcome? What prompted Salahuddin, head of United Jihad Council issue a statement against the same? Whose stakes were threatened by the conference? These questions have to be asked and seriously revisited in the common discourse. Otherwise truth that has been a casualty in Kashmir will continue to be so. This status quo on factual realities and truth will continue to add confusion and anarchy to the discourse as Kashmir. In this prevailing anarchy stray bullets will continue to kill and the reasons will continue to evade us.

M.H.A. Sikander is Writer-Activist based in Srinagar, Kashmir

Courtesy: New Age Islam

The post The Casualty of Truth in Kashmir appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On June 19, the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) announced its decision to pull out of the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, breaking its alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Currently the state is in the hands of Governor NN Vohra. This is the fourth time in the last ten years that the state is under the governor’s rule.
 

Image Courtesy: Al Jazeera

A unilateral ceasefire was declared by the Indian government on 14 May where the security forces were asked not to launch new operations during the month of Ramadan. While PDP was of the opinion that the ceasefire should be extended and the Centre should reach out to the separatists, BJP argued that the separatists have lost that opportunity and announced that the Ramadan ceasefire would not be extended and anti-terror operations would resume in the state.

On Sunday, after the Centre decided not to extend the Suspension of Operations (SoO) or cease operations in Jammu and Kashmir, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, in a series of tweets announced that the security forces have been directed to resume operations. “The Security Forces are being directed to take all necessary actions as earlier to prevent terrorists from launching attacks and indulging in violence and killings”, he said. In another tweet, he said, “It was expected that everyone will cooperate in ensuring the success of this initiative. While the Security Forces have displayed exemplary restraint during this period, the terrorists have continued with their attacks, on civilians and SFs, resulting in deaths and injuries.”
 

The government’s announcement that the security forces have been given a “free hand” to conduct operations against terrorists did not go down too well with everyone. The army itself could not escape this conflict of opinions and in what looked like a twitter war, many army officials came forward with their respective opinions on the Governor’s rule and the “free hand” that it gives them.

On June 18, Major Gaurav Arya said, “Kashmir is heading towards an irreversible slide into chaos. If we wish to arrest this slide, the Mehbooba Mufti government must go. It is costing us soldiers. Impose President’s rule immediately. It is time to take a hard line.” Soon after it was announced that BJP has pulled out of alliance with PDP, Major Arya tweeted again and said, “Good move. Next step…need a strong person as Governor of J&K…someone who has seen the valley up close…who knows it like the back of his hand…who has operated there. should have trust of army and locals both. Such a man exists. Need him in Raj Bhawan.”
 

Objecting to Major Arya’s views, Major Priyadarshi Chowdhury replied, “How/why is it a good move? Since when has a failure to honour people’s mandate and collapse of governance at the altar of power/electoral politics become good? J&K should not be viewed as a CZ. There are real people there with real aspirations which elected governments have to fulfil.” He also said, “The State & the Central government have to fulfil their responsibilities. Armed Forces are not the answer to all the ills that we experience as a Nation State. They are a much abused arm of the State thanks to the ineptness of many of the other arms of the State.”
 

Supporting Major Chowdhury, Colonel Sanjay Pande also responded and said, “It’s so comfortable to hype Army painting a picture that all was miserable and ‘now’ we can give Army a free hand. With one stroke the political parties wash their hands off. Army always had free hand. Why don’t politicians try ‘free hand’ out?”
 

 
The last two years have seen an escalation in army action, and to suggest— as had been implied by the BJP— that their alliance with PDP did not allow the army a free hand is not borne out by facts. Militancy had declined from the peak of 20,000 militants in 1990s to a few hundred by 2012-2013. Over hundred militants have been killed in the past two years itself. This should have led to de-militarisation in Jammu and Kashmir, but it didn’t because the decline in the number of militants does not mean that people have given up on “azaadi”. At the same time, this also implies that the army always had a free hand. As civil rights activist and Kashmiri human rights lawyer Parvez Imroz also said, “Government has always given free-hand to the army and the same will happen again. There is not even a single FIR filed against the army. The difference is that the operations may intensify now. And if the situation aggravates, there will be a backlash also.”
 

 
The backlash is already evident with multiple operations being carried out by the Army every day since the ceasefire ended. But as Brigadier V Mahalingam said, “There are limitations to what an Army can and cannot do. The army is not in the valley to end insurgency but merely to keep violence at an acceptable level. It is for the politicians & the Administration to take forward the political process so as to end the problem.”

Given the situation of the Valley, it becomes important to ask the question that senior journalist and author Rajdeep Sardesai raised, “Every senior army/intelligence officer I have spoken to in last 24 hours tells me not once have their hands been tied when it comes to J and K since 1991; every government has given a free hand to the forces to ‘eliminate’ terrorists. So what really is Op ‘All Out’ 2.0 but optics [with one eye on the 2019 elections]?”

Daniya Rahman is a member of the editorial collective of the Indian Writers’ Forum.

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

The post Governor’s Rule: Hasn’t the Indian Army Always Had A “Free Hand”? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image: Deccan Chronicle

The gun culture in state of Jammu and Kashmir is not something new. Groups and organizations have been using it to achieve their ends including the state and government. Since 1931, armed insurgent groups were a part of political spectrum of Kashmir. The armed groups of Dogras massacred nearly three hundred thousand Muslims in Jammu during the months of 1947 when the whole Indian subcontinent was burning. Since 1947 many armed groups tried to overthrow the government and achieve their political goals by using violence. Till 1990s these groups were limited to few youth and their each attempt failed to yield the desired results. But since 1990s with the active involvement of Pakistan a generation of youth actively participated in the armed insurgency. The mass armed insurgency was met with brutal repression that led Kashmir to be converted in the highest militarized zone in the world.

The armed insurgency though actively supported by Pakistan materially and monetarily suffered from ideological confusion in the first phase only. The confusion among the insurgent ranks related to the vision of independent Kashmir or being a part of Islamic Pakistan. This confusion resulted in the internecine battles among the insurgents ranks. The insurgency prolonged and state armed renegades (irregulars) to do the dirty work. It resulted in massive human rights violations that further alienated Kashmiris from the state (read India).

The year 2008 proved to be a watershed in contemporary history of Kashmir. Hundreds and thousands of civilians were protesting on the streets against the alleged demographic change and attack on their peculiar and distinct identity as land was transferred to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB). This agitation brought to the fore the communal and regional fault lines between the Kashmir and Jammu region. The aftermath of this mass agitation later led to communal flare and economic blockade of Kashmir valley by the fringe Hindutva elements of Jammu. It was much hyped during the 2008 Amarnath land row agitation that the Kashmiri resistance has now transited to non violent one. I surmised, wrote and spoke that there was no transaction because even during the height of militancy, mass non violent civilian protests were carried out that did not mean insurgency and violence has transformed to a non violent struggle. For violence and non violence ideology, training and discourse are needed that can sustain it and render it pragmatic to achieve its sustainable goals.

The rise of Burhan Wani in the aftermath of 2010 agitation that resulted in the killing of 130 youth proved my prediction and surmise factual and correct. But this new spate of armed insurgency that I term as “Post militancy” is different in some aspects because it is indigenous, with little or no role of Pakistan and quite lethal than its predecessors. But the ideological confusion is still prevalent and quite manifest. It can be witnessed from the fact that two factions of militants are fighting for antagonistic ends. Unlike their predecessors when the tussle was between those who were vouching for accession to Pakistan and Independent Kashmir, today the battle of ideas is between those who want accession to Pakistan whereas the other group intends to establish an Islamic State.

The romanticism and tryst for the Islamic state is not new. In 1990s most pro Pakistan militant organizations declared their aim as establishment of Islamic state, once the accession with Pakistan is complete. But the 9/11 events changed the discourse for these organizations and also the official Pakistan policy was responsible for the U turn. The discourse in Kashmir for establishing an Islamic state became vibrant once again with the rise of Pan Islamist insurgent movements like ISIS and Al Qaeda. This discourse is being represented by Ansar Ghazawatul Hind organization headed by Zakir Moosa. It holds Pakistan on the same plank as India when it comes to declaring them as citadels of Kufr (disbelief). They espouse violence against the Indian state as well as the other insurgent groups that are fighting on the behest of Pakistan, though there are no reports of internecine battles against each other except for the press releases demeaning and condemning each other.

The use of social media has been a potent force in inspiring and radicalizing the new generation of youth. Violence, death, martyrdom has been valorised, celebrated and romanticized by the insurgents and their sympathizers, despite the fact that violence as a tool of resistance has achieved very limited success. This celebration and romanticism has to be analyzed factually and pragmatically. Most of the youth have become too emotional to understand the realities. The hyper emotional empathy towards violence has its own causes related to over militarization of public spaces, intolerance towards dissent and armed response to every grievance. To add insult to injury Islamophobia and Othering of Muslims fuels the rage.

The vicious cycle of death and violence needs to be broken and fractured. It starts with the state, which needs to rein in their armed forces that are sometimes responsible for pushing youth towards insurgency. Then resistance leaders and civil society too have a job to make youth understand that besides violence there are hundreds of ways, methods and campaigns through which they can make their voices heard all over the world. These non violent methods are a part of civil resistance that has proved to be successful in variegated contexts and numerous struggles ranging from social to political. But for reaching out to youth with these methods is a process that needs a lot of sweat and double the patience.

Civil resistance is a slow process but it saves the human capital and in the long run proves successful. It starts with the individual transformation and inculcating the spirit of non violence through a constant discipline and training. This discipline starts with reading, then imbibing the principles and later on implementing them on ground. If we as a society are not ready to pay the price of patience, work our fingers to the bone and train hard then surely the path that our youth have chosen will lead us towards collective suicide and annihilation.

M.H.A Sikander is Writer-Activist based in Srinagar

Courtesy: New Age Islam

The post Kashmir: Is Violence the Only Way Out? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image:  AFP/TAUSEEF MUSTAFA

Twitter, like most of India, has recently seen a flurry of proclamations and professions of nationalism. The most surprising of these come from Kashmir – subject to over 100 days of curfew since July – and are beautifully captured by the #kashmirlovesindia hashtag.

The innocuous Twitter accounts weaving this narrative, 140 characters at a time, have pictures of young women with generic Muslim first names and inventive last names, often Khan and Kashmiri. In many of these assertions, there is vehement condemnation for terrorism and Pakistan strewn into the same sentence while photos in jarring neon mention how “every Kashmiri loves India”. Heartwarming as it is to hear such loyalty for the nation and disaffection for Pakistan, how close are these assertions to the truth?

 

 
 

The map of India, with Kashmir as its crowning glory, has had the persuasive capacity to structure the national imagination as one in which Kashmir is seen as an integral part of the Indian mainland. As many have pointed out, this imagination often excludes Kashmiris themselves. Voices from within are often heard, yet seldom listened to. When slogans of azadiring across the Valley, the people are termed ungrateful.

But what many Indians fail to recognise or even accept is the reflexive disposition of Kashmiris to resist the nation. Kashmiris embody this disposition from early adolescence. Even those who do not actively participate in the Kashmiri resistance movement verbalise hostility towards the Indian nation in speech and acts. They do not take to arms or to the streets to protest, but collude ideologically and resist passively. They may not be the voices ringing out on the streets, but they shape the discourse through living room conversations.

Modes of passive resistance and disguised ideological insubordination operate differently and can be distinguished from the stone pelting and slogan chanting of the streets.

Many in Kashmir are – or seek to be – employed by the Indian state, yet can be found in private spaces acting in ways or holding beliefs that could potentially be termed seditious. They typically express their opinion openly, yet it is disguised. The active protesting of recent years was not always necessary to lift the veil of quiescence. When former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah publicly claimed that anti-India slogans were normal in Kashmir earlier this year, it came as a surprise to the rest of the country. However, for any one growing up in Kashmir, the anti-India sentiment is a popularly acknowledged one.

Everyday resistance

In a recent interview, soldiers employed by the state government described their condition as “aazad Hindustan ke gulaam sipaahi" – enslaved soldiers of an Independent India. This view is common and is also present among children. For instance, at flag-hoisting ceremonies in Kashmir’s schools, even in those run by the Indian Army, many Kashmiri students intentionally disrespect the tricolour. There are rules to hoist the flag, and students usually ignore these rules as the urge for insubordination runs deep in their minds.

Similar incidents are noted during the singing of the Indian national anthem. One is expected to stand still in reverence while it plays. But students in schools all across the Valley find glee in fidgeting during a rendition.

A few months ago, an incident at a school in Srinagar made news when a guest asked its students if India deserved a permanent seat in the United Nation. The students disagreed, leaving him surprised and school authorities embarrassed.

Similarly, Indian national holidays – Independence Day and Republic Day – are symbolically marked as black days.

Kashmiris use cricket as another avenue for everyday, symbolic resistance against the Indian state. Hostility against India is especially high during a cricket match. The pointed support of Kashmiris for whichever team plays against India provides a much needed, active space for resistance. It is common to hear that if India played Israel in any sport, Kashmiris would support Israel. This is a bold assertion in light of the solidarity the Valley feels for Palestine.

These acts reflect the widespread belief that historically, Kashmir's accession to India was not legitimate, and on reports of human rights violations, which together have made Kashmiris even more resentful towards the nation. This discourse needs to be heard, accepted and then dealt with.
 

Online activism

The growth of smartphones and social media has now created a vast online space for digital activism, and provided an outlet for resistance online. There are often government restrictions on telecommunications and gags on the local media, making the internet an important platform for engaging in political discourse. Mobile internet was restricted recently for the same reason. Nevertheless, tech-savvy activists have taken to the internet, using WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and blogs to have discussions and spread their messages. Attempting to mask this dissent by threatening such activists or creating fake accounts to cover up the shame of so-called anti-nationalism on these platforms is far from the solution.

If history is anything to go by, the deadlock will continue. Many Kashmiris resent the separatists, especially given the economic shutdown of the past three months, but to suggest that Kashmiris love India is also false, to say the least.

To understand the full picture, it is essential for Indians to look beyond the five people they speak to in the tourist towns of Gulmarg and Pahalgam and the security personnel they see during visits to the Valley. Engage and converse with people who live the reality that is Kashmir. Pressing the heart button on tweets that align with one’s beliefs is not enough. Empathise. Living under the constant gaze of the much disliked other is not always pleasant. And if readers still do not get it, here is some dark humour (a shameless plug) in the hope that they do.

Onaiza Drabu is a graduate in anthropology and writes, illustrates and talks about Kashmir in her spare time.

(This article was first published on Scroll.in.)
 

The post Hashtag Nationalism: Does Kashmir really love India? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image:  Tauseet Mustafa/ AFP

As the school session in Jammu and Kashmir comes to an end this month, the state government has said board examinations for Class 10 and Class 12 will be held in November, much to the confusion and anger of students and teachers. The announcement has come despite all educational institutions in the Valley being shut for close to three months now because of the ongoing unrest.

This leaves students with just a little over a month not only to prepare for the examinations, which begin on November 14, but also to complete their syllabus. Many want the tests postponed, saying they are traumatised by the mounting human cost of the violence, and that the government has done little to facilitate their studies.

High school students across the Valley have protested against the examination schedule, some asserting that exams be deferred till Kashmir issue is resolved.

Schools have been shut since the summer break in July, which was the time violence erupted after the killing of militant Burhan Wani by the security forces.

More recently, the government has been criticised for allowing the forces to occupy schools. Seven institutions are still occupied by troops as the government has failed to find accommodation for them elsewhere.

This is happening even as the government expresses concern over the education of children. Education minister Naeem Akhtar recently lashed out at pro-Pakistan separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, accusing him of crippling the state’s economy and education. Later, Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Toiba warned Akhtar of “dire consequences if he continues to force people to resume normal work”, while claiming that “the present struggle is not against the education system but against Indian occupation”.

On October 1, Srinagar district had the lowest attendance of students in government schools with just 169 out of a total of 39,951 coming to class, according to government data. Kupwara in North Kashmir recorded the highest number of students (39,273 out of 1,23,823) and teachers (8,581) reporting to schools that day.

No time to prepare

The situation today is worse than it was during the unrest in 2008 and 2010, said Shagufta Parveen, who was director of school education in the state during that period. She said schools had been open back then as the entire Valley was not shut down as it is today. “Today, schools across districts are closed and students and teachers cannot move around due to restrictions and lack of transport,” she added.

Apart from the restrictions, schools have faced the ire of stone-pelting mobs in these past months. In August a school principal was assaulted by protesters for keeping the school open during the separatist sponsored strike. The protesters vandalised the school and the principal had to be treated in hospital, according to Greater Kashmir.

In September, a school was set ablaze in South Kashmir’s Yaripora, days later in another incident another school was gutted in Anantnag town. According to a press release by the police a middle school in south Kashmir’s Shopian was set ablaze on September 19. On October 11 a school was set ablaze in north Kashmir’s Pattan.

Areef Mushtaq, a class 10 student, who participated in a protest near Srinagar's Lal Chowk earlier this month said that because of the hostile environment over the last few months "children have come to hate studies." Another protestor student, Hina Yusuf, said that students were unable to even to tuition classes because they risked getting hit with pellets in the streets. "We could have studied over the Internet, but that too has been shut by the government," she said. "So what will we do?"

According to KNS, a local news gathering agency, the chairman of the state board of school education, Zahoor Ahmad Chart, has taken note of the protests and has conveyed this willingness to give the students some concessions, as was the case n 2008 and 2010.

But others have called for the board examinations to be deferred till March. “Students are not mentally prepared to give exams right now and a March session would be better," said Yawar Abbas, a teacher and volunteer at a community school.

However, Shagufta Parveen pointed out that shifting the session like this would be disadvantageous as students would have less time to prepare for competitive exams.

The academic session in Kashmir begins in March and ends in October, giving students plenty of time before the competitive tests.

“It is better to hold the exams right now,” agreed Rehana Shakeel, a student of Class 12. “It will let us focus on the entrance exams. Otherwise, our focus would be divided between studying for the boards and the entrance exams.”

Coaching centres targeted

Shakeel pointed out that many students such as herself had covered most of their syllabus by joining coaching centres. “We had continuous classes between January and July and covered more than half of our syllabus,” she said. “Now, recently, we have started going for coaching again and will complete the syllabus in time.”

But coaching centres have also been targeted of late.

“We had private coaching centres that remained open even during hartals and students could go there and study,” said a government school teacher on condition of anonymity. “But today, these have also come under attack and been closed.”

The teacher added, “It is not as if parents do not want their children to go to school. If they did, why would they send their children for tuitions discreetly at 6 am in the morning?”

Shakeel said her classes were interrupted twice as the coaching centre was pelted with stones. Even when the centre shifted to another area in Srinagar, the stone throwers turned up to disrupt classes.

A prominent private school in the capital city had decided to hold its semester exams, originally scheduled for July, at the homes of its teachers to facilitate the students. But it had to drop the idea as “some people sent a warning against such conduct of exams”, said a teacher from the school who did not wish to be identified.

Community schools

In the absence of formal schooling, volunteers across Kashmir have set up community schools. Though such schools may not cater to a majority, they have come as a reprieve to parents and students.

One such school in the Hassanabad locality of Rainawari in Srinagar has been running since August. Around 30 volunteers coach 200 students from Class 1 to Class 12 every day between 9 am and 1 pm. The classes are held at a school building and a shrine located in the calm of a residential colony, away from the tense main road.

At the shrine that doubles up as a school, students gather around mentors to form study groups. Among them is Maleeha Mushtaq, a Class 11 student who moved into her maternal uncle's home to attend classes here as there were none closer to where she lived. Class 10 student Zainab came all the way from Baramulla in North Kashmir after hearing about the school from her uncle.

The primary classes are held at the school building and have a more formal setting with white boards and individual classrooms where students sit in neat rows and columns on the furnished floor. The hallways are full of playful chatter.

For students at the school, “90% of the syllabus has been covered and the rest will be done in a week”, said Khalid Hussain, a volunteer.

Killing prospects

While the community schools do their bit to help students, the state of formal education in Kashmir remains in the balance. “Education is the direct casualty” is a statement frequently made in reference to the toll political disturbances take on students here. It started when the Valley plunged into militancy in 1990. Over the years, schools were burnt down by militants or occupied by security forces, and corruption took root.

Mass copying, the use of fraudulent means to pass exams and the intimidation of invigilators by militants was believed to be widespread. Lastly, mass promotions through the early 1990s made way for an entire generation of students known as namath pass (’90s pass).

Decades on, political disturbances are still disrupting school and college routines. They not only cause short-term damage in the form of poor results but also impact the future prospects of students.

Sadaf Munshi, a Kashmiri academic based in the United States, said repeated political disturbances “impact [students’] productivity in using their creative abilities and critical thinking to their full potential. It also puts immense psychological pressure on them, which reflects in the form of increased insecurity about their academic pursuits and their career prospects in a highly competitive world”.

Nasir Mirza, a professor at Kashmir University, said academic delays result in batches exceeding the stipulated time of their courses, which in turn hurts job prospects. “All those prospects are being killed," he said. "It is a difficult and depressing situation.”

(This article was first published on Scroll.in.)

The post In Kashmir, Students Lost out on School for Close to Three Months – But Still Have Exams Coming up appeared first on SabrangIndia.