DRESSED in a red pheran (a traditional Kashmiri overcoat) and a scarf, Insha Mushtaq, 22, sits at her house in Sedow, a village in South Kashmir. But she cannot see the picturesque environment around her. Insha lost her eyes in July 2016 when pellets blew on her face and she lost her eyes.
Mushtaq Ahmad, her father, is seated at a distance from her. As we talk, Insha would often interrupt, reminding him of the specific dates and days she had spent in the hospital back in 2016. She would often touch her forehead and eyebrows.
"For the past few days, I feel itching around my eyes," she says laughing. After seven years, Insha's house is again frequented by journalists and politicians as she has qualified Class 12 J&K Board examination securing 367 marks out of 500. It's a remarkable feat for her considering the challenges she faces.
"Even babber-sher was here," Insha says laughing. She is referring to Peerzada Muhammad Shafi Shah, who contested from the Khag constituency of Budgam in the District Development Council polls in 2021. He lost the polls, but he is popular on the social media sites for his gaffes. He calls himself babber sher (lion). "He was shouting about the BJP," Insha says with a sardonic laugh.
Insha says the scars of July 2016 are still fresh in her mind when a volley of pellets ruptured her face and eyes. It took her months to heal from the trauma.
Bu hikaye Outlook dergisinin July 11, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Outlook dergisinin July 11, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Trump, Up And Charging
'Many countries are nervous about Donald Trump returning to power, but India is not one of them'
Post and Past the Oil in Azerbaijan
As the UN climate conference takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan traces the history of the hydrocarbon industry through the lens of postage stamps
Bhutto's Nehru Story
Nehru's principle of \"compromise and argument\" remains the only workable formula for South Asian leaders
Breathless on Bachchan
Cédric Dupire's documentary The Real Superstar is an irreverent, experimental archive of Amitabh Bachchan's life and his stardom
The Anaphora to Zeugma of the Queen's English
Shashi Tharoor's book is a logophile's candy shop, full of fun, surprises and insights
The Wind Knocked
THE wind knocked on the door. Hesitantly. Wanting to be let in. It had heard the murmuring of the flames. And knew that there was a fire. The wind sought shelter.
The Way Home
“We comfort ourselves by reliving memories of protection. Something closed must retain our memories, while leaving them their original value as images. Memories of the outside world will never have the same tonality as those of home and, by recalling these memories, we add to our store of dreams; we are never real historians, but always near poets, and our emotion is perhaps nothing but an expression of a poetry that was lost.”—Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space
The War Artist
Cartoonist and journalist Joe Sacco is in search of the truths distorted by conventional narratives
Mining Adivasi Votes
If the BJP manages to win Jharkhand, it will be the third mineral-rich state after Odisha and Chhattisgarh that will fall into the party's kitty
Unequal Republic
Political parties make promises of equal represention to women, but patriarchy continues to dominate electoral democracy
