Close to the Zaina Kadal bridge, which might soon be history, the restoration work of Mullah Akhoon Shah mosque by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) is revealing hidden facets of historical importance. One of the findings of the restoration work is a 380-year-old uncut Quranic text believed to be inscribed on one of the walls of this 17th century Mughal monument.

The monument is located on the fringes of Hari Parbat hills. ASI officials say although Quranic verses are not found...

Oveesa Iqbal is the first Muslim woman from Jammu and Kashmir to qualify the coveted Union Public Service Commission exam 2010. In an interview with Kashmir Dispatch correspondent Junaid Rather, she says power 'need not corrupt'. Edited Excerpts. 



You are the first Muslim woman from Jammu and Kashmir to qualify the coveted UPSC exams. Tell us about it?

I got to know about the news of being first Muslim woman from Jammu and Kashmir from newspapers only. I am glad that God has blessed me...

It was dark and silent at midnight. At one of the mud houses in Aloosa village, silence was broken by a loud bang at the door. A group of men knocked and called for Saida. Muaji, mauji they shouted in Kashmiri (Muaji is mother in local parlance). Saida was jubilant, her sons had returned. There was no electricity in the village, she looked for a candle, but the calling grew louder and she groped towards the direction. A wooden door stood between the much waited encounter. With feeble hands...

There has been a steep increase in the number of suicide and fratricide cases within the Indian military particularly in conflict-torn Jammu and Kashmir in recent years. While the government has started various programmes to combat stress among its soldiers there hasn’t been a visible impact on the ground. Martin Sloot, outgoing head of mission of Medcines Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) in India, tells Kashmir Dispatch correspondent UZMA FALAK that military is welcome at their...

Over the last weekend, the defunct Kashmir Nursing Home on Gupkar Road saw a flurry of activity. A steady stream of people, radiology and medical reports in hand, came in for consultations and medical advice. Some like Ghulam Maheed Mir had come from Kulgam 70 km away whilst Mehbooba Bhat was from Lal Bazaar. The visit was an affirmation of faith in a doctor  -- Dr Sameer Kaul, senior consultant oncologist at New Delhi’s Apollo Cancer Clinic  -- who, through the Breast Cancer Patients...

“...But think that we are but turned aside to sleep
They who one another keep
Alive, ne'er parted be.”
(John Donne: Sweetest Love I Do Not Go)

Hope is a treacherous thing for this particular section of women in Kashmir. For over twenty years these women once married have been waiting for someone who may never arrive. Years have passed, since then their children have grown, but the lives of these wives without husbands stands still. Shazia Khan and Kashmir Dispatch's Yawar Kabli meet the...

Shaheena Akhter, 29, vividly remembers the field rigged with thousands of landmines laid on 8 March 2002 in Karmara, the last mountainous village in Jammu’s Poonch district on the Line of Control (LoC). Divided by Concertina wires, some of the best pastures, maize fields and forest slopes were on one side and the village on the other. Elders and children collecting wood and cutting grass had to tread cautiously along the safe path. However, they often accidentally activated the mines...

Ahmad is a young man in late twenties. Dressed to perfection, at first glance, he appears to be one among hundreds of tourists who are flocking to Asia’s largest Tulip garden here to enjoy sintilating beauty. However, as he walks few meters into the garden, he disintegrates from groups of people and walks on a path that leads to a nearby guard-hut. And, minutes later comes in new attire, the only relic of his earlier outfit being the sunglasses that he still uses. He then inspects a section...