Zaldagar 1865
Masood Hussain
Weaving Dreams: This chromolithograph drawn by Scottish artist, war artist and war correspondent William Simpson who visited Kashmir somewhere between 1859-60.
When Srinagar’s 28
shawlbaufs, the shawl-weavers, drowned in the
Keat-e-Koul ditch near Zaldagar on April 29, 1865, it merely did not mark the first recorded labour unrest in history. It was not the first major indicator of the political awakening of Kashmir alone. The massacre marked the beginning of a crisis that, over the years, compromised Kashmir’s principle craft that had reigned European fashion streets and introduced Kashmir to the rest of the world.
The massacre bridged the two odd sides of Cashmere Shawl’s uneven history. Prior to it, the Shawl was in a huge demand and the artisans, coerced by the worst working conditions and exploitation were unwillingly putting in all efforts to keep the export going. After Zaldagar, though improvements started taking place, the Shaw
Yawar Hussain
You do not require a funeral ground – even a road is ok because not many people come to join. In this photograph relatives and locals attending the funeral prayers of Covid Positive person at Zadi Masjid Safa Kadal Srinagar Tuesday, May 4, 2021. KL Image: Bilal Bahadur
On April 25, Saifullah Bashir was taken aback when he got a call from a health department official declaring him Covid-19 positive after a wait of eight days. During this period he had mingled with his family as he was asymptomatic.
Bashir, a student had gone for RT-PCR testing at the Primary Health Centre in Batamaloo (Srinagar) on April 17 following contact with a Covid-19 patient.
Covid In Newsroom
Masood Hussain narrates how while covering it, the dreaded virus caught up with the Kashmir Life team. The contagion brooks no complacency is the moral of the story
Kashmir Life Newsroom witnessed a 10-day long closure amid a series of fumigations. KL Image by Shuaib Wani
Circa 2020. After being shut for months, surviving as they were on dollops of vanilla journalism, newsrooms were getting back to what they ought to be; buzzing with activity. The newspapers were trying to revive, retrieve, and reconnect with the realities on the ground. The communication blockade had taken a toll not only on the readers – they were denied off their daily dose of news – but the journalists as well. The reporters had relocated, gone cold on their beat as their professional bread and butter has become a scarce commodity. The managements faced falling revenues resulting in holding back, cutting salaries to laying off people. The squeeze on journalists’ lives and livel