By Sanjay Jha Prudent writing demands that you build a strong credible case before making your conclusive judgment; but as far as Kashmir is concerned, strangely enough, the reverse applies after several decades of flimsy, half-baked, wishy-washy failed endeavors. Let me be brutally honest, the only way we will actually move forward on the Kashmir problem after a gargantuan  63 years of wasted opportunities , mindless deaths, massive defense expenditure, three wars and a Kargil,  and … [Read more...]

By Sanjay Jha An extract from my concluding paragraph in article “ KASHMIR: Not for talks” published in The Sunday Pioneer dated August 8 , 2010 ); also on www.HamaraCongress.com I quote: “ The two countries can take a cue from two fairly unheralded tennis players — Aisam Qureshi of Pakistan and Rohan Bopanna of India. They are a wonderful doubles combination, partners in one of the most competitive sports in the world. They play together as a team and travel from one … [Read more...]

(Can Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pull India out of the woods?) By Sanjay Jha US President Barack Obama , facing plummeting domestic approval ratings, dived southwards in the sea-waters off the Florida coast in complete synchronicity with his falling popularity graph  It did not deter him from making a symbolic statement on safety of sea waters off Miami’s white sands following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill . When General Stanley McChrystal criticised  the US administration on … [Read more...]

By Sanjay Jha “ I have a huge double-storey mansion  in Srinagar. It houses over 12-15 rooms, which is no big deal. We have not lived in it for two decades now . What do we go back for? No, the cops, security forces and militants are not occupying it. It is lying idle, depreciating away into nothingness. I visited it sometime back, and all I came back was with memories. Of a family and a home that was once ours”. This is a statement of a Kashmiri Pandit  ( he spoke to me just two days … [Read more...]

The Commonwealth Games is symptomatic of the deeper decay, decadence, and debilitation of our moral and ethical standards. It is not just about Suresh Kalmadi. It is about much more. By Sanjay Jha At the peak of the IPL scam in May earlier this year I was frequently asked by many;” Just why don’t you guys leave Lalit Modi alone ?  If he is made money, so what ? At least he has given us a great summer entertainment .You guys are just party-poopers”. They would then proceed to book … [Read more...]

By Sanjay Jha (As Published in The Sunday Pioneer on Sunday, August 8th 2010) Will China hold talks with anyone on the future of Tibet? Has Pakistan ever involved India on the issue of Baluchistan insurgency? So, why should New Delhi engage Islamabad on Kashmir? K-word should be non-negotiable for us As I drove past the seedy-looking dilapidated single-screen Edward Theatre near Princess Street, Mumbai, the irony was not lost on me. It was playing the classic romantic film, Kashmir Ki … [Read more...]

By Sanjay Jha ( DISCLAIMER: I have not yet visited Kashmir. This article is written purely based on my interest in history as a student , growing up and hearing the words “ Kashmir crisis”  from time immemorial , and now as an active observer of current political events). As I drove past the seedy-looking dilapidated single-screen Edward theatre near Princess Street, Mumbai  , sometime ago the irony was not lost on me. It was playing the classic romantic film Kashmir Ki Kali, even as … [Read more...]