BetweenTheLines

Sameer Arshad Khatlani Follow  on Facebook T he Taliban claim to have retaken 85% of Afghanistan as they threaten to recapture power in Kabul two decades after being ousted from power following the 9/11 attacks. The Afghan government has disputed the Taliban's claims that are in any case unlikely to be verified independently. With the exit of the western forces, the Afghan army is putting up a valiant fight to prevent the Taliban from overrunning Afghanistan again, turning the clock back to the 1990s and reversing the gains such as a degree of women empowerment achieved over the last two decades. The Taliban may well be unable to take power again. But the usual suspects have found a fresh handle in their imminent return to power to stoke Islamophobia by emphasising the Taliban's obsession with their form of “Sharia”.  ALSO READ: Seven-Decade Arab-Israel Schism Is A Historical Aberration Afghanistan is a deeply religious country and can clearly do without the Taliban's brand

Sameer Arshad Khatlani Follow  on Facebook I t was perhaps no coincidence that on September 4, 2020, an imam at Mecca’s Grand Mosque dwelt on Prophet Mohammed’s kindness to a Jewish neighbour. The reference, days before the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain signed agreements on September 15, 2020, to normalise ties with Israel, was seen as part of the groundwork for other Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia to follow suit. The thaw in Arab-Israel relations is a culmination of years of behind-the-scenes work that Arab leaders have been hinting at. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in 2018, backed the Israelis’ 'right to have their own land'. Bahrain defended Israeli airstrikes in Syria the same year, saying Israel ' has the right to defend itself .' A year later, Bahraini foreign minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa called Israel a part of the region’s heritage . ALSO READ: Hardline-Reformist Binary Ignores Core Of Iranian Political System Bin Salman

Sameer Arshad Khatlani Follow  on Facebook I  am no stranger to lockdowns. They were the norm while I was growing up in Kashmir. I was seven when I experienced the first set of sweeping restrictions put on our movement. The curbs were imposed in January 1990 to stem further protests after scores protesting against overnight house-to-house searches were hemmed in and shot dead on a bridge over the Jhelum. It was the first of the many massacres that year, which fuelled the ongoing insurrection. We were confined to our houses in its aftermath for three weeks. Shoot-at-sight orders were in place and our neighbourhoods were suddenly swarmed by men in khaki from all over India. A cousin had a narrow escape when he was fired upon for stepping out during the lockdown. No one dared to venture out thereafter to even get essentials. We fell back on our winter stocks and were forced to survive for the longest time in recent memory on lentils. ALSO READ: Farooq Abdullah, A Man For All Seasons We th

Sameer Arshad Khatlani Follow  on Facebook A  large number of Indians appear to have found something to cheer about in the middle of the devastation Covid-19 has caused in India—the Israeli dispossession of Palestinians. Unqualified expression of support for Israel has trended on social media in India as Israelis continued bombing the Palestinian enclave of Gaza and killed at least 119 Palestinians, including 31 children. The axiom that e nemy of my enemy is my friend  is clearly at work here and highlights the extent to which society has been dumbed down through sustained demonisation of Muslims over the last decade. The vilification is an important source of sustenance to the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime, which looks up to Israel and has sought to emulate its policies particularly in Muslim majority Kashmir. It has been taken to such levels that many Indians mechanically side with Israel even with zero understanding of the issue, forgetting India’s deep and h

Sameer Arshad Khatlani Follow  on Facebook I got my fingers burnt very early after my arrival in Delhi in 2004 to understand that pouring one’s heart on issues such as Kashmir was a bad idea. Anything that did not fit into the national narrative and tried to shed light on the 99.99% sufferers of the conflict in Kashmir, essentially triggered by the denial of share in power and resources to them, had consequences. From cold vibes to isolation and even physical harm, the potential and real costs taught me the virtues of nuance. I tried to give a nuanced view of Kashmir to anyone who seemed interested until I stopped talking about it altogether in 2010, which was a turning point in my life and offered me a reality check of the world around me. At least 120 people, including teenagers and kids, were shot dead in a matter of few months in firings on protest marches that year. The protests were triggered after a tear gas canister hit a 17-year-old aspiring doctor’s skull and killed him inst

Sameer Arshad Khatlani Follow  on Facebook A rare joint statement by the Indian and Pakistani directors general of military operations, on February 25, announcing that the two countries have agreed to strictly observe the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) triggered much speculation over what brought about the turnaround. Moeed Yusuf, special assistant on national security to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on national security, called the announcement a “victory of diplomacy” and added that “more avenues” will open in the future, amid reports that back-channel meetings at neutral locations led to the pact. ALSO READ: Sarkari Mussalmans And The Art of Keeping Heads Deeply Buried In The Sand Analysts linked the reiteration of the observance of the truce along the de facto border to the protracted stand-off between the Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh and New Delhi’s attempts to avoid a two-front conflict with two allied adversaries. Many won