Tag: Kashmir History

In April 1981, a secret Income-Tax operation in Srinagar targeting several business establishments quickly spiralled into a major controversy. Contemporary newspaper reports recorded the seizure of gold, foreign currency, cash, goods and documents, while also reporting clashes in which members of the raiding party were assaulted. The archival photograph of the injured Income-Tax officers, including two officials shown in wheelchairs, provides a rare human dimension to the episode. Subsequent reports alleged foreign links, concealed income and tax evasion running into crores of rupees. Within weeks, the legality of the raids was challenged before the Jammu & Kashmir High Court, and the dispute eventually reached the Supreme Court. This Kashmir Rechords feature reconstructs the episode exclusively through seven contemporary newspaper clippings preserved in its archive, offering a remarkable day-by-day glimpse of a dramatic and largely forgotten episode in Srinagar's history.

A forgotten Blitz report of 22 August 1953, titled “Beggar’s Opera,” alleged that family connections and political patronage were influencing appointments and promotions in Jammu & Kashmir. The report, naming several relatives and associates of Mirza Afzal Beg, offers a revealing—and controversial—archival glimpse into the political culture of the time.

From Bhutto's execution in 1979 to the Al-Aqsa protests, the US bombing of Libya and the Salman Rushdie controversy, rare newspaper archives reveal how international crises repeatedly triggered unrest in Kashmir, with local minorities often bearing the consequences of conflicts far beyond the Valley.

(Kashmir Records Exclusive) “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful…”The words appeared at the top of a poster—formal, almost pious. But...

In 1997, a Budgam youth offered his kidney to PM V.P. Singh, citing his integrity and secularism. Discover this extraordinary story of Kashmiri devotion amidst political chaos.

Roshan Lal Jalla, a Kashmiri intelligence operative, spent 15 years in Pakistani prisons after being captured in 1972. Tortured, disowned, and denied rehabilitation upon...

In April 1990, Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed issued a little-known directive to halt the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley, a decision that remains largely forgotten today.