Kashmir has a complex and deeply troubled history characterized by oppression and geopolitical conflict. In 1846, the British sold Kashmir to the Hindu Maharaja, a transaction that laid the groundwork for future disputes. When India gained independence in 1947, the...
Kashmir is an ecological wonder. The watershed is the home of the Indus River, one of the world’s most important rivers. Kashmir is also home to the Ravi, Chenab, Jhelum, and Sutlej Rivers - rivers vital to Kashmir’s food production. The region sits at the foothills...
India goes to the polls in 2024 and the message that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP want the world to know is that there is nothing wrong in Kashmir. With his heavy-handed leadership, he has “stabilized” the region, and there is a so-called booming sector of...
For decades, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has had one singular goal: To seize Jammu and Kashmir and forcibly integrate it into India and erase its unique cultural, ethnic, and religious heritage. In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi succeeded in abrogating...
The people of Palestine have suffered extensively for the crime of simply trying to exist freely and with dignity in their homeland. The brazen Israeli settler colonialism eroded the West Bank, and blockaded the Gaza Strip which has turned it into a de-facto prison...
Contemporary journalism is a difficult, thankless, and often dangerous job. Globally, the number of journalists unlawfully killed has increased. In 2022, 67 reporters were killed – most in Russia, Ukraine, and Haiti as a result of war and unrest. The number of...
On paper, the rise of India as a global power should be a good thing. As the world’s largest, multi-ethnic democracy, it holds a unique and diverse presence in international affairs. It is a sentiment shared in the halls of power the world over. And yet, the rise of...
The modern state of Kashmir has never known freedom – its people and its culture are always a pawn sacrificed in the chess game of the world powers. In our last blog, we explored the partition of India and the violence and genocide that erupted from a divided...
Kashmir is not a free state. Its dreams of self-determination and even autonomy have been torn asunder by the Indian government. With each year that passes, those dreams seem further out of reach, but they should never be forgotten. Forgetting is what the Modi...
WKA – News roundup – April 2023 The world watched in horror this month as the Civil War renewed in Sudan, shutting down the Capital City of Khartoum and the specter of another genocide on the African continent only two years removed from the Tigray War in neighboring...
Economic repression is an insidious form of repression. It seldom garners outrage from the outside world, especially in the West where poverty is often viewed as a personal choice, although as we know, that is not always the case. Yet, economic repression can be as...
WKA – News Round Up – March 2023 As India prepares to open itself up to the world for the G-20 summit, it is desperate to keep the ghosts of Kashmir hidden away and the graves covered up. Truth has a way of making itself known, it rises like a fire and it won’t be...
Dictators and autocrats constantly seek legitimacy for their human rights abuses and all too often, they find an eager world waiting to look away. That is because they don’t want to confront them. The rotating presidency of the G-20 allows a member state to organize...
WKA News Roundup – February 2023 February is a short month, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t big stories coming out of Kashmir. From ongoing protests against the eviction drive to Modi’s continuing war on the press, here are the biggest stories for February 2023....
Since the beginning of February, hundreds of people have been forcibly evicted from their homes by the settler-colonialist government abetted by the callousness and ineptitude of the local politicians and their followers. The evictions have also targeted and removed...
WKA News Round-Up – January 2023 There is nothing new under the sun, and 2023 is starting to live up to that expectation. The Indian settler-colonial project of Jammu and Kashmir is progressing to its fourth year. The region continues to look increasingly like a large...
Understanding the current conflict and occupation within Jammu and Kashmir means revisiting the events of late 1989 and 1990. Perhaps there is no singular flashpoint other than the massacre at Gawkadal (sometimes referred to as Gaw Kadal) bridge in Srinagar on January...
WKA Monthly News Roundup – December 2022 As the sun sets on 2022, it casts long shadows over Kashmir. This year India strengthened its grip on the region, strangling life and shattering Muslim communities in the valley. Through relentless use of settler-colonialism,...
Freedom of speech has become a rallying claim for the world’s autocrats. Their actions, however, routinely show they do not care for free speech but only freedom of their speech, as they seek to eliminate speech that is critical to them. Assault on the freedom to...
WKA Monthly News Round Up – November 2022 2022 is ticking down. It has been a year of sorrow and further degradation of the fundamental rights of Kashmiris and Muslims throughout India. November further revealed the Indian state to be more deeply complicit in violence...
Time heals all wounds is a common idiom for those who want to forget. Some wounds can never heal, and genocide should never be forgotten. November 5th, 2022 commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Jammu Massacre. In 75 years, there has been no justice for those...