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Vivek Sinha Photographs tell a story. They have an uncanny ability to get etched into our memories along with all their details and then refuse to fade away. And if this photograph emanates from Kashmir, especially from the picturesque Kashmir Valley, then it has the potential to tell a thousand stories, most of which are fictitious though. It was just last year when the image of a stone pelter, Farooq Ahmed Dar, tied on the bonnet of an Army jeep flashed as “breaking news” across news channels and on front pages of news dailies. Within hours stories started pouring in about the excesses of security forces, human rights violations, atrocities being committed on hapless Kashmiris that all the while alluded about stone pelter’s innocence. Detailed accounts have since been presented about Farooq Dar’s vocation 1 , his family and that he was on his way to cast vote when an Indian Army Major “captured” him and went on to commit the gravest human rights atrocity 2 . Barring a few honourabl...

The Novel "Chip in the Madrasa" has been published by Kautilya Books. Its priced at Rs 299/- and is available for purchase on Amazon online store in India.  "Chip in the Madrasa" is the story of a learned and progressive Maulvi who wants to teach mathematics, science and computers at his madrasa in an Indian village. Maulvi sahab , the protagonist of the novel, is a devout Muslim and Islam for him is a religion and not a tool to fulfill political ambitions. But Maulvi sahab's progressive move rattles the Wahhabis who are hell-bent upon using Islam as a political tool. These Wahhabi Clerics and Sheikhs sitting pretty in Saudi Arabia continue to pull the strings of local politicians and their proxies in India. These politicians and a major political party that receive huge funds from Wahhabis unleash a vicious game to break the spirit of Maulvi sahab and other rational Muslims. They even foster a womanizer and crook as a knowledgeable Islamic cleric who issues fat...

Interview with Vivek Sinha – Writer, Hindustan Times and The Times of India By  Scott Douglas Jacobsen   Vivek Sinha  is a Writer for  Conatus News ,  Hindustan Times , and  The Times of India . Here we talk about Kashmir, global terror, young life, sitting down with an ex-terrorist, and more. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You have written for both the  Hindustan Times  and  The   Times of India . Some focusing on global terrorism (Sinha, 2017a). How is the struggle for Kashmir a subset of global Islamic terror? Vivek Sinha:  The genesis of this “struggle for Kashmir” dates back to 1947 when India gained independence from British colonial rule. At that time there were two kinds of regions in the Indian subcontinent– British India and the Princely States. British India was directly ruled by Great Britain and Princely States through their proxies. At the time of Indian independence British India was divided into two dominions, India an...

Information flow drives dialogue, discussions and debates in a society, which is much needed for a nation’s well-being. Fourth estate, or the media, comprising an army of journalists aid and abet this flow of information that kick-starts societal discussions about legislative policies, executive actions and societal aspirations. Journalists rely on five ‘Ws’ and one ‘H’ to weave a story and to break down complex jargons, thereby simplifying the world for their audience. The five ‘Ws’ refer to What, Where, Who, When and Why and ‘H’ that refers to How, are exhaustive enough to systematically report an incident. Different journalists and columnists may choose to accentuate either of these basic questions in their reportage and spin the story accordingly. In this reportage ‘facts’ remain sacrosanct. So an individual journalist or a media house may choose to highlight one of the specific aspects in their news but they cannot tamper with the facts. These ‘Facts’ are sacred. In the case of Ja...

Vivek Sinha The masks have fallen finally. And decisively so. That the “Kashmir struggle” has nothing to do with Kashmir and is a subset of global Islamic terrorism was always talked about and discussed, albeit in hushed tones, for lack of evidence. This façade has now fallen thanks to a flurry of audio messages by Zakir Musa where he openly advocates for Ghazva-e-Hind and exhorts Indian Muslims to rise up in revolt against the Indian state. Musa was recently ousted by the Hizbul Mujahideen as chief of its Indian chapter after he clearly stated that terrorism in Kashmir was actually a part of the ongoing global war to establish Islamic Caliphate and has nothing to do with Kashmir’s Azadi. Musa even threatened to behead Hurriyat leaders if they continue to demand Azadi for Kashmir and seek a political solution to Kashmir issue. Hizbul was quick to distance itself from Musa’s comments and forced Musa to quit as its India chief. Musa, on his part, remained defiant. He stood by his comment...