Mountain Ink

An online and monthly print of narrative journalism.

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April 2021 Issue
Good Old Cycle Fighting Addiction, Anxiety in Kashmir
How Kashmiri Students Are Covering War in Ukraine
Kashmir in Freeze Frame: Stepping Into Snow Shoes
Of Mughals, Mentorship, Mysticism — When Love Bloomed As Lotus in Kashmir
‘It’s a False-Glory’: Topper’s Tale of Disgust in Grades
‘Fake Love and Sympathy’: Why Kashmiri Orphans Need Home, Not Orphanage
Assumptions and Their Impact on Our Reality
‘Far From Reality’: Kashmiri Netizens React to Delimitation Commission Draft
The ‘Shawl Girls’ Reviving Kashmir’s Classic Women Work Culture
‘Reading Campaign’ Biting the Dust As Majority of Govt Schools in Kashmir Without Libraries
Pulwama Military Op: Family Says Slain Was a Civilian, Away From Home When Operation Started
A Tech-Enthusiast, a Ransom Call and the Murder Most Foul
Death, Decry, Dispatch: Ex-MLA’s Crusade Exposing Kashmir Highway Horrors
When Zoon Dub Became Dark, Dreadful in Kashmir
RSF Flaks Kashmir Press Club ‘Coup’, Calls for Its Immediate Reopening
Editorial: Kashmir Press Club—Don’t Shut It, Set the Stage for Elections
When ‘Sense of Togetherness’ Made Winter Warm in Kashmir
Kashmir Journalist Bodies Denounce Arbitrary Takeover of Press Club
Court Grants Bail to Journalist Sajad Gul
2 Kashmiri Among the 20 Most Abused Women Journalists Targeted Through Tek Fog App: Report
Resolution of J&K Dispute Vital Security Interest: Pakistan’s NSP Document
‘She Has Become Shy, Scared’: How Screen Is Shaping Budding Kashmir
Scores of Tribals Left Homeless As JDA Conducts Eviction Drive
As Admin ‘Substitutes’ Urdu for Revenue Dept Posts, People of Ladakh Fume
2 Local Militants Slain in Overnight Kulgam Military Operation: Police
Kashmiri Apple Growers Stare at Penury As Iranian Apple Takes Over Markets
Pahari Community in Uri Demands ‘Scheduled Tribe’ Status
Kashmir Press Club Calls for Immediate Release of Journalist Sajad Gul
No Faculty, No Facilities, and Eve-Teasing: Cluster University Students Seek LG’s Intervention
The Scribe’s Story: ‘We Were Told Not To Let Him Do Such Stories’
Mehbooba Slams J&K Admin for Hampering ‘Fatiha Khawani’ at Mufti’s Grave
Authorities Continue to Disallow Friday Prayers in Jamia Masjid
That Bus to Bandipora
Chiropractors of Kashmir’s Faithful Bazar
Cold, Crisis & Candles: Chillai-Kalan Turning Dreadful in ‘Dark’ Kashmir
Pakistan Breached Ceasefire, Says Indian Army Amid Claims of Foiling BAT Action
In Pictures | Season of Headgears in Kashmir
2021: A Year of ‘Arbitrary’ Detentions in Kashmir
Authorities Converting Famed Poloview Street Into a Walkway
How Sonawari’s Literary Spirit Is Sustaining Kashmiri Language
J&K Admin To Prematurely Retire ‘Deadwood’ Employees in School Education Dept
In Pictures: Juxtaposition of Jhelum—Kashmir’s River of Life
‘They Want Industries Without Giving Land for It’: Lt. Governor
4 Militants Slain in 2 Separate Military Operations in Southern Kashmir
In Six Years, Friday Prayers at Jamia Masjid Srinagar Disallowed 156 Times
JKPSC Selects 2 APs in Biotechnology Who Did Not Fulfil Basic Criteria
‘Who Will Take Care of Zainab’: Relatives, Friends Mourn Slain Civilian’s Killing
3 Gujjar Residents Arrested in Bandipora, Families Demand Immediate Release
Outrage in Kashmir After Visitors Asked To Take-Off Pheran Outside DC Office Bandipora
Two Persons Including ASI Shot Dead in Separate Incidents in Kashmir
Omicron Variant: Authorities Urge People To Follow SOP’s
‘Delimitation Commission Recommendations Aimed at Disempowering Kashmiris’: Political Parties, Experts React
‘Reek of Bias’: Delimitation Panel Recommends 6 Additional Seats for Jammu, Only 1 for Kashmir
How Fake Covid Certificates Are Mocking Vaccination in Kashmir
LeT Group Commander Behind ‘Revival of Militancy in Kashmir’, Killed in Harwan Operation: Police
Kashmir Faces Woeful Winter As Power Outages Worsen With PDD Employees’ Strike
New Born Baby Dies Within Hours After Family Notices ‘Deep Cut’ on His Head
Sopore Street Vendors Rue Govt Apathy
Trouble and Therapy: Has Mental Health Become a Big Market in Kashmir?
Rangreth Residents Agonised After Mother-Daughter Duo Arrested Over Allegations of ‘Rioting’
Jammu Traders Decry End of Darbar Move As Businesses Suffer
‘Narrative of Normalcy in Kashmir Exposed After Zewan Planned Attack’
Ladakh Shuts Down To Reiterate Demands of Constitutional Guarantees, Statehood
In a First, Pak Resident Convicted Under UAPA Charges in Kashmir
2 Cop Killings Escalated Orphanhood in Kashmir — 8 More Rendered Fatherless
Kashmir, In General
After Nagaland Fiasco, Demands For ‘Controversial’ AFSPA’s Revocation Grow Louder in Kashmir
Political Parties in Kashmir Begin Outreach As Hurriyat Attempts Reassertion
Scholars Agonised Over Depiction of Prophet Muhammad in Class 7 Textbook
How Capmaker’s Defiance in Distress Shaped Kashmir’s Conical Cap
Cash-Strapped JKSRTC Has No Funds To Pay Salaries, Retirement Benefits
Chasing Kolkata Defaulter, Sopore Apple Trader Disappears
Kashmiri Poet or ‘Little Soldier’—Who Was Shahzadi Kulsum?
Kashmir Tourism Takes a Hit in Violent Fall
Broken Helmet, Beaten Kashmiris, Blatant Warning—What Happened in Ranchi?
Despite BJP’s Appeal to Defense Ministry, Army Issues Property Tax Notices in Srinagar Areas
Dateline Srinagar — Where ‘Security Beat’ Is Getting Hectic
Unprecedented Power Outages Hit Kashmir, Admin Blames ‘Illegal’ Use of Electricity
‘Rights Defender, Not A Terrorist’: Global Outcry Over Khurram’s Arrest
Enrollment in Govt Schools of Kashmir Declines by 2% in 2021
Ahead of Possible J&K Elections Early Next Year, Congress Faces Major Setback
Bridge, Buddy, Blues: The Day Squirrel Departed
Altaf Bhat’s Family Demand Judicial Probe; Amir’s Family Await Return of His Body
Kashmir: Demand for Return of Bodies Grows After Protesting Families Dragged in ‘Midnight Raid’
In Photos: Landmarks of Srinagar — UNESCO’s Creative City
Kashmir Families Allege Two Civilians Killed in Another ‘Controversial’ Military Operation
Kashmir’s ‘Pencil Village’ Fears Losing Paddy Land to CRPF Colony
Kashmir’s ‘Pencil Village’ Fears Losing Paddy Land to CRPF Colony
Government Apathy Impedes Kashmir Apple’s Export Prospects
Government Apathy Impedes Kashmir Apple’s Export Prospects
Kashmir Leather Wearing Off, Running Out of Market
Witness, Womb and Wall of Woes in Kashmir
Political Turmoil, Economic Uncertainty Mars J&K As Unemployment Continues to Surge
‘We’ll Only Talk to Youth’: Inside Delhi’s New K-Outreach
Amateurs Trading Cryptocurrency in Kashmir, Threat of Losing Money Prevails
Families of Kashmiri Students Booked With Sedition Waiting for Their Return
Despite Tense Past, Saffron Growers of Kashmir Upbeat About Present Produce
Medical Students in Kashmir Booked Under Anti-Terror Law for Celebrating Pakistan’s Victory
‘People Are Tired of Militarization’: In Conversation with Meha Dixit
‘Arbitrary’ Seizure of Two-Wheelers Shuts Down E-commerce Services in Srinagar
‘Beware of Smiling Faces’: Paradise’s ‘Poets on Wheels’
Families Unaware As Kashmiri PSA Detainees Shifted to Agra Jail
Non-local Workers Fear Life Amid Fresh Spate of Violence
When Dauntless Daughter’s Death-Defying Act Defeated ‘Invisible Enemy’
Frowning Farmlands of Kashmir
‘Get Out of My House’: Inside Kashmir’s Dark Underbelly of Domestic Violence
Fall, Fields, Festivity: Hues of Harvest in Kashmir
‘Our Son Was Innocent’: Bandipora Family Rebuts Police Version
Rattling Upshot: A Quiet Departure and the Deserted Pandit Colony
Face This: Where’s Your Mask?
Fading Frames — Old Signs of New Kashmir
Stripped of Say and Sway, Kashmir's Pro-India Parties Caught Up in the Chaos
How ‘100% Vaccination’ Has Become a Couple Goal in Kashmir
NEET: Anxieties Grow As J&K Adopts 15 Percent All India Reservation Quota
How Hitches, Halts Hold Life Hostage in Kashmir Hinterland
Emergent Apple Pest From ‘Imported Rootstock’ Wreaking Havoc in Orchards of South Kashmir
The Matron Who Empowered Women, Nurtured Orphans
JK Film Policy Reduces Kashmiri Talent to Labour, Local Artists Rue
Jammu Traders Fume As Centre Proposes To Open 100 Reliance Stores
On the Face of Kashmir — Frown Frames
Tasteless High-Density Apple Puts Shopian Orchardists in Distress
Kashmir Businesses Grapple With New Spending Habits Post Pandemic
An Afghan Mystic Who Made Kashmir His Home
J&K Police Sub Inspector’s Killing Raises Concerns
The Final Landscape
Shaista, Nazima—The Tale of Two Kashmiri Teen Breadwinners
‘New Delhi Sees Kashmiris As Enemies’
'Lost Anchor': Resistance Politics After Geelani
The Dissident Who Closed Door for Delhi in Kashmir
Geelani’s Body Snatched, Buried Against His Will: Family
Visits and Wails: How Uprooted Gurezis Uphold Their Lost Homeland
Gold in Empty Nest: The Moral of the Good Story
‘Your Mother Is Unwell’: Grave Talks of Kashmir
Stealth and Strike in Srinagar
Amid Kabul Takeover, Kashmir is Back to Buzz
In Kashmir, Facebook Journalism Has Become Pain in Neck
‘Doval Called Us Back’: Authors of ‘Siege’ Return With Spy Thriller
Cheering Cups of Tea: Overcoming Hitch About Kashmir in World Literature
Life in the Clock Tower Valley: Scribe’s Novel Fails to Impress
In Pictures: A Woeful Walk of Remembrance
Administrator’s Activism
From Doll to Diary: Kashmir’s Aisha is Growing Fast Within Walls
'Sabir' on Street
‘We’re Done With Dirt’: Why Kashmiri Women Political Workers Feel Betrayed?
‘Depressing Days’ Paving Way for Alp Adventure in Kashmir
Watch: The Sad Silk Story
Rugmaker’s Resolve Rebranding Kashmiri ‘Gabe’
Emblem of Dead is Changing in Kashmir, Epitaphists Mark
‘Na Tchu Kaar, Na Tche Gaade’: Anglers’ Anguish At Dal Lake
Poloview — Where Mystics Once Made Day for Merchants
Return of Himalayan Horsemen on Turkish Pride
Pandit Prophesy: Kashmir’s ‘Game of Throne’ Belongs to Congressman
‘Nobody Knows Their Number’: ‘Operation Leopard’ Getting Wild in Kashmir
Agony of Achan
In Graphics: Speculative Streets
‘I Bow Down Into His Arms’: A Rendezvous With ‘Rehbar’
The Shell-Shocked Meadow That Now Explodes With Secrets, Stories…
Nobody's Hijazi
‘Where Past Makes Rumours Reliable’: In The Land of ‘Khabri Zainakadal’
‘What Now?’: Rumours of Summer
WBS — Where Buses Sell as Scrap
From Golden Hands to Gloomy Faces: Srinagar’s Fall from Grace
‘Everyone Deserves a Decent Farewell’: Meet Kashmir’s Welfare Family 
In Kashmir, Cancer Funds Saving Covid Situation
The Ghat of the Gloomy World
In Kashmir, Facebook Journalism Has Become Pain in Neck
‘Will It Impact My Baby’: Mother’s Anguish in Kashmir
Blast and Brouhaha In Indian Coffee House
A Nice Cup of Tea on Srinagar’s Iconic Bund
The Winter of Hi(s)tory
New Kashmir Song: Old Narrative Dressed in Devotional Apparels
Obituary: Jailbird’s Journey
Barricaded Backdrop of Kashmir’s Viral Resistance
The Melancholy Town Where No One Smiles
Compassion in Covid: Kashmiris Tackling SOS With Samaritan Spirit
Family, Fear and Friendship
Poet’s Muse: Life on Other Side of Jhelum
Of Death, Loss, Survival: Kashmir’s Tryst With COVID Calendar
Kashmiri Zero Man’s Theory May Redefine the World of Mathematics
Podcast: Chapter 03 – Once Upon a Time
A Dead Man’s Dread
Podcast: Chapter 02 - The Political Circus
Officer Ram Lal’s Encounter With Kashmir’s Persian Bloom
Why My Mother Is Being Forced To Attend School?
In the Times of Loneliness, Can the Digital Screens Be Our Home?
Bookshelf: Biographies of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
Podcast: Chapter 01 - Hanging Honour
‘My Dope Became My Friend’s Death’: An Ex-Druggie’s Retrospection
‘Pretty but Pathetic’: Primitive Life on Two Jhelum Ghats
The Girl With a Red Umbrella
‘This Place Is of Caution’: Life Inside Kashmir Sanctuary
The Vale of Ashes
Unleashed Biting Terror Endlessly Bleeding Kashmir
Row Over Aurangzeb Revived Kashmir’s Muslim Rule
The Stolen Stars
Growing Tribe of ‘Achievable Nationhood’ Shifting Kashmir Politics to North?
The ‘Shawl Girls’ Reviving Kashmir’s Classic Women Work Culture
She Dreams About Cordons, Encounters…
Pandemic Prisoner: Life of a COVID Positive – A Photo Essay
The Role of Journalism in a Post-truth Era
Bund, Baton and Baron
Of Death, Loss, Survival: Kashmir’s Tryst With COVID Calendar
War and (Still No) Peace
Munnu: A Personal Insight Into Everyday Life in Kashmir
The Many Shades of Kashmir Chair
Bab Lived Life King-Size
When Dogra PM Apologised to Press: Remembering ‘Roshni’ in ‘Darkness’
Emotional Beggars: Whom Do They Beg To?
Valley’s Silent Sufferers: When Love Died in Lockdown
In Photos: Pursuit of Peace
Soul to Sisterhood: The Unshaken Belief of Mohini Raina
Beyond Sher-Bakra Feud, Kashmir’s Chequered History is a ‘Tag of War’
Persian Glory: This Forgotten Sanctum Is Kashmir’s First Khanqah?
When Headhunting Ended the Last Truce at LoC
2020: Another Year of Plague in Kashmir
Kashmiri Woman’s Curious Circles: Is She the Only ‘Coded’ Poet in the World?
Top Doc’s ‘Second Wave’ Forecast Making Covid Shots Compulsory?
Kashmir’s ‘Shahjahan’ Who Neither Got His Mumtaz, nor Mahal
Departure in the House of Cards
Date at Dal: Anna, Anne, Alice, and the Wonderland
Rx Redefined: Clinical Combat Against Troubled Hearts of Kashmir
A Man Vanished
Rumour Has It...
Throwback 1994: Kashmir Losing its Rajya Sabha Representation
Watchmakers of Kashmir's Frozen Time Square
The Poet’s Prose: Shahid’s Homeland Lament in TS Eliot Treatise
Amanat, My Guardian Angel
The Professor's Perspective and Protagonist
Rantus Redux: Those Childhood Mythical Creatures
Chilling Cold Making Kashmiris Nostalgic About Good Old Warm Homes
The Penman Who Assembled Prem Nath Bazaz’s Scattered Writings
The Veiled Woman Beyond the Simplicity of the Discussion
Game of Gore
Life Hostage to LoC Hostility
Photo Essay: Brooding Eyes on Bridge
Three Poems: Whispers of a Broken Spring, Slow Rain, Departure
Is ‘Book Business’ Devouring Reading Culture in Public Libraries of Kashmir?
Mahatta, Voyage of Marque and its Makers
A Grave Shock in Kashmir
Name, Fame, and the Game: Sham of Self Publishing in Kashmir
Photo Essay: Playing With Fire
Recounting Ghazal
Munnu: A Personal Insight Into Everyday Life in Kashmir
2020: Another Year of Plague in Kashmir
Adding Insult to Injury
Detour in Srinagar’s Riddled Maze
Groundswell of Gloom: A Native Account of Eidgah
Breaking Bread with Lal Chowk’s Pakhtoon Delicacy
The Faithful Portrayal of Islam
Watch: The Canvas Master
Blast and Brouhaha In Indian Coffee House
The Chocolate Cake
Politics of Land
On the Advancement of the Torture Industry in Kashmir
The Pandit Who Heals Wounds
‘You Claim The War Is Long Over’: Anatomy of a Nazm
‘Powerless’ Kashmir Staring at Long, Dark Winter
Bookshelf - November 2020
The Forgotten Foot-soldier’s Accord Anguish
November 2020
In Pictures: Distraught Buds of Valley
Watch: Encounter of a Fateful Memory
In Photos: Fall, Fest and Wular’s Fancy
Staff Recommendations - November 2020
Watch: REDRUM
Letter to a Dead Poet
Friendship in a War-torn World
In Pictures: Shades and Shadows of Seasonal Schooling
A Woman is No Man
Watch: Doyen of Dark Room
Herr Coloniser
Frankenstein in Kashmir
The Life of Poet—Louise Glück—in One Poem: The Wild Iris
I Know What They Did Last Summer
Grammar of Grit
The Newsy Radio of 108-Year-Old Kashmiri Man
Metamorphosis
Editor’s Note: News May Not Reach You Soon
Staff Recommendations - October 2020
October 27, 1947: Those Weaponized Kashmiri Women
Bookshelf - October 2020
Collective Conscience: A Benchmark for Sacrifice
Fighting Bullying with Brilliance: Resilience of a Kashmiri Dwarf
Gowhar Geelani's Kashmir: Rage and Reason
If Only We Can Remember
The Death of Identity
Two Poems: Weighing Scales Measuring My Narrative, The Exodus of a City
In Pictures: The Spirit of Srinagar—The City of Seven Bridges
Two Poems: I Dream in the Language of Funerals, Scream
Wedding Bells and Blues in Kashmir
The Shoes
Kashmir Might Lose Its Literary Treasure to Script
Staff Recommendations – September 2020
Arundhati’s ‘Azadi’ Is Minute Commentary on World Events
Bookshelf - September 2020
When Sheikh’s Diehard Felt Deceived: A Portrait of a Political Loyalist
2G-Disturbed Kashmiri Students Now Bracing Up for Exam Anxiety
‘Straight Outta Srinagar’: New Hip Hoppers in Town
A Crew in Cold Desert Before Dragon Cast its Shadow
‘Calm Nights’ in Kashmir: Life After Battlefield Ban
The Plague Upon Us: A Marvellous Tour De Force
In Pictures: A Woeful Walk of Remembrance
Women Weavers of Kashmir’s ‘Crumbling’ Carpet Industry
On the Streets of Srinagar
Editorial: #JournalismIsNotACrime
‘Otanji’: That Kashmiri Mother Who Taught Book of God
Marx in Mystic Valley: Revisiting Kashmir’s Progressive Writers Movement
In Pictures: Budding Life Amid Lifelessness
A Nice Cup of Tea on Srinagar’s Iconic Bund
‘Unresolved Grief’ of Kashmir’s Widows, Half-Widows
Valley’s Silent Sufferers: When Love Died in Lockdown
August 4, 2019: The Haunting Entry in My Diary
Three Friends, the Buried Abuse and a Petition
Support Us
‘There’re Traces of Kashmir All Over Central Asia’: Baker Recalls on Jhelum Bund
Kashmir’s Secret Samaritans: The ‘Super Girl’ With a Bag of Food and Medicine
Kashmir’s Secret Samaritans: One Man’s Quest for a Long-term Welfare Mission
Kashmir’s Secret Samaritans—First Cut: Two Friends With a Cause
In Conversation with Shafi Ahmad, ‘The Half Widow’ Author
Zoun, Jiger, Maal: The Legend of Three Kashmiri ‘Soul Sisters’
Inside Kashmir’s Ghostly Cremation Ground Guarded by Muslims
Biology of Belief: Spirituality and Science in Uzair’s Life
Fatal Fantasy: Screams of a Caged Soul
Decade in Dungeon
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
Lest I Will Forget
Free 500 e-magazines
The Concept of Morality
The Red Cart
Ghazal: Upon Me, Anymore
Apathy in the Time of Amphan
Why I No Longer Recommend Murakami
On Knowing Who One Is
Gulzar: Eternally Contemporary
Photo Story: Everything Is Fine Here, You Please Take Care of the Tree and the Apple
From the Diary of an Extremist
The Waves of Confusion
What a Murakami Novel Does to the Soul
My Hero in My Homeland
Letter to a Dead Father
Soaked in Blood: The Militant Commander Who Loved Painting Roses
Jerusalem: Tracing the Roots of the Modern Crisis
The Foreword of a Poet in Exile
The Death Wandering by the Dal
The Pandemic: What Should a Muslim Make of It?
The Murderer and the Murdered & Shahid: A Voice That Smote the Djin
Canvas With Varied Concepts
Borders in My Backyard
The Notebook
In the Times of Loneliness, Can the Digital Screens Be Our Home?
Photo Story: The Lonely Soul of Takherghat
Science vs Atheism
George Saunder's Lincoln in the Bardo
Song of a Broken City
Editor's Note: Virtues in a Time of Global Pandemic
Coronavirus: The Unfolding of an Epistemic Crisis
The Dyer's Day Out
Sheereen and Khusrau
Interview with Dr Eqbal Ahmad
Perpectives from the Past: Dr. Eqbal Ahmad on Kashmir
A Circus Called Citizenship
The Wounds that Never Heal
Do Not Come Begging to Kashmiri Artists
The Orison by Alama Iqbal
Roland Barthes on Kashmir
Free February 2020 E-magazine for Students
Issue: February 2020
On Wheels
Dawn of Freedom (August 1947)
Arrives
The Meadow
Salman Rushdie’s Quichotte
The Man Who Died Twice
Intimations of an Ending
The Role of Journalism in a Post-truth Era
The Feelings of Despicable Revenge
Kashmiris Have Shown Grace Under Pressure
Issue: January 2020
From Narrative to Myth
Ends of February & Remember
Language of Wrong Dreams
Meena Kandasamy's When I Hit You
The Case of an Unmarried Mother
Issue: December 2019
In Search of Lost Home
Does Islam Need Saving? An Analysis of Human Rights
Issue: November 2019
I ALmost Left Islam: Why Am I Muslim?
Your Dystopia, My Reality
A Virtue of Disobedience
The Assets of Usual Contempt
Two Poems by Maya
Photostory: Homesick
Rana Safvi's 'City of my Heart'
'10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World' by Elif Shafak
The Gravedigger's Burial
A Fairy Tale
Issue: October 2019
A Glory in Ruins
A Cathartic Tumble: ‘Songs of Light’ by Ayaz Rasool Nazki
We Will Meet: A Poem by Faizan Habib Wani
Words: A Poem by Muhammad Nadeem
The Healing Powers Of Reading
When The War Is Over: A Poem by Shabir Ahmad Mir

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