Kashmir: Summer of Defiance / Borges: The South

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Kashmiri Muslims shout anti-India slogans during a protest in Srinagar today: photo by Sajjad Hussain/AFP, 26 August 2016



Kashmiri Muslims shout anti-India slogans during a protest in Srinagar today: photo by Sajjad Hussain/AFP, 26 August 2016

CM @MehboobaMufti (nap) while @rajnathsingh was Speaking. Mehbooba loses her cool and leaves with Rajnath still seated: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 25 August 2016  Munshi Bagh, Jammu and Kashmir

Yes @MehboobaMufti the people of JandK feel exactly the same way about you and your government now: image via Omar Abdullah @abdullah_omar, 25 August 2016

on 1 side Edu Minister asks parents 2 send thr children to schools bt BSF occupied many schools in Srinagar.(in Pic): image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 23 August 2016  Munshi Bagh, Jammu and Kashmir

on 1 side Nayeem Akhtar asks parents 2 send thr children to schools bt BSF occupied many schools in Srinagar.(in Pic): image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 22 August 2016  Munshi Bagh, Jammu and Kashmir

Mehvish, sister of Irfan, who wz killed by a teargas fired by forces, mourns during a protest in Sgr. #KashmirKillings: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 22 August 2016  Munshi Bagh, Jammu and Kashmir

Pic: CM @MehboobaMuftistruggles to hoist #Tricolour flag as it falls on ground while hoisting #IndependenceDayIndia: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 15 August 2016  Sora, Jammu and Kashmir

A street dog runs for cover amid heavy exchange of firing during an encounter at #Nowhatta in #Srinagar #Kashmir: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 14 August 2016  Sora, Jammu and Kashmir

 @MirwaizKashmir jumps from his gate to defy curfew and march towards Lal Chowk in protest against #KashmirKillings: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 13 August 2016  Sora, Jammu and Kashmir

#Kashmir braces for #Friday violence; mobile services snapped once again, Strict curfew imposed. #KashmirKillings: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 11 August 2016  Munshi Bagh, Jammu and Kashmir

A girl protester waving her arm inscribed with d name of #BurhanWani with Mehndi during a protest. #KashmirKillings: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 9 August 2016  Munshi Bagh, Jammu and Kashmir

As our CM @MehboobaMufti reached #Delhi to meet HM @rajnathsingh, Nurses protest #KashmirBlindSpot #KashmirKillings: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 8 August 2016  Munshi Bagh, Jammu and Kashmir

People crying while offering funeral prayers of 1 of 3 civilians killed by @MehboobaMufti's forces. #KashmirKillings: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 5 August 2016  Sora, Jammu and Kashmir

 A child is preferring to take catapult in his hand over pen. Who is to be blamed? #Srinagar #KashmirKillings: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 30 July 2016  Munshi Bagh, Jammu and Kashmir 

As #Kashmir is under siege (Curfew & Strike) CM @MehboobaMufti arrives 2 attend @jkpdp17th foundation day celebration: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 27 July 2016  Munshi Bagh, Jammu and Kashmir
 

Centre wants emotional relationship with #Kashmir, not just need-based says @rajnathsingh in Sgr. #KashmirKillings: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 24 July 2016

JK CM @MehboobaMufti consoling a mother of a victim of d current Unrest during her visit to #kupwara #KashmirCrisis: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 23 July 2016 

An injured 5-year old Nasir of Kokarnag, who was allegedly injured in forces action #KashmirCrisis #ThankYouKashmir: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 22 July 2016

#Kashmir Youth waves #Pakistan flag after defying curfew to protest against d killings at Sakidafar Sgr #KashmirCrisis: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 22 July 2016

Kashmiri Youth wearing black masks & holding flags 2 observe #Pakistan's #BlackDay at Sakidafar Sgr. #KashmirCrisis: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 20 July 2016

 A Journalist holding placard during Protest on the 4th day of media ban in #Kashmir #KashmirCrisis #KashmirUnrestCrisis: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 19 July 2016

A Local displays a placard during a sit-in protest against the killings in #Kashmir #KashmirCrisis: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 18 July 2016

A Journalist holding a placard during Protest against the media gag in Sgr #Kashmir #KashmirCrisis #KashmirUnrest: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 17 July 2016

Almost jobless - Amid curfew a traffic cop standing alert to man d traffic on d deserted roads of Srinagar #KashmirNow: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 15 July 2016

in Pic: A vehicle of a Police officer was set on fire by protesters after defying #curfew in #Srinagar #KashmirNow: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 15 July 2016

in Pic - #Kashmir Govt foils opposition @JKNC MLA's march to Raj bhawan. #abdullah_omar #KashmirNow #KashmirSiege: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 15 July 2016

An injured 4-Year old Zohra asked me for a pen. she was trying to write something with a comb at SMHS. #KashmirNow #KashmirNow: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 13 July 2016

In Pic @sageelani detained by police after he tried to defy curfew and visit Martyrs graveyard in sgr. #KashmirNow: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 12 July 2016

Locals distribute food among the attendants of injured persons at Curfew bound SHMS Hospital #Srinagar #KashmirNow: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 11 July 2016

Dear CM @MehboobaMufti wr r these Placards now or R they being used to hoodwink ppl when in opposition. #KashmirSiege: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 10 July 2016
 

 Pic: A dog runs fr cover as Fresh clashes erupt in #Kashmir. 16 killed and 200 injured. #Kashmirunrest #BurhanWani #Tral: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 9 July 2016
 

in Pic clashes in #Srinagar: 8 killed, hundreds injured as #Kashmir turns violent over #BurhanWani  of Tral's killing: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 9 July 2016
 

Large number of People takes part in Funeral Prayers of most wanted Hizb Commander #BurhanWani at Tral #Kashmir: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 9 July 2016

While as 40 funeral prayers held in Tral, Ppl in #Srinagar defy curfew and offer funeral in absentia fr #BurhanWani: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 9 July 2016

In Pic:Thousands participate in the funeral procession of most wanted Hizb commander #BurhanWani in Tral #Kashmir: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 9 July 2016

File Photo of #Kashmir most wanted Hizbul Mujahideen Militant Commander Burhan Wani killed in encounter at #Kokernag: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 8 July 2016

if any1 hv any doubt whether we celebrated Eid Mubarak on ryt day then here is the moon of 1st Shawaal in #Kashmir: image via Umar Ganie @UmarGanie1, 6 July 2016

Jorge Luis Borges: The South

From a corner of the room, the old ecstatic gaucho -- in whom Dahlmann saw a summary and cipher of the South (his South) -- threw him a naked dagger, which landed at his feet. It was as if the South had resolved that Dahlmann should accept the duel. Dahlmann bent over to pick up the dagger, and felt two things. The first, that this almost instinctive act bound him to fight. The second, that the weapon, in his torpid hand, was no defense at all, but would merely serve to justify his murder. He had once played with a poniard, like all men, but his idea of fencing and knife-play did not go further than the notion that all strokes should be directed upwards, with the cutting edge held inwards. They would not have allowed such things to happen to me in the sanitarium, he thought.

"Let's get on our way," said the other man.

They went out and if Dahlmann was without hope, he was also without fear. As he crossed the threshold, he felt that to die in a knife fight, under the open sky, and going forward to the attack, would have been a liberation, a joy, and a festive occasion, on the first night in the sanitarium, when they stuck him with the needle. He felt that if he had been able to choose, then, or to dream his death, this would have been the death he would have chosen or dreamt.

Firmly clutching his knife, which he perhaps would not know how to wield, Dahlmann went out into the plain.

*

Desde un rincón. el viejo gaucho extático, en el que Dahlmann vio una cifra del Sur (del Sur que era suyo), le tiró una daga desnuda que vino a caer a sus pies. Era como si el Sur hubiera resuelto que Dahlmann aceptara el duelo. Dahlmann se inclinó a recoger la daga y sintió dos cosas. La primera, que ese acto casi instintivo lo comprometía a pelear. La segunda, que el arma, en su mano torpe, no serviría para defenderlo, sino para justificar que lo macaran. Alguna vez había jugado con un puñal, como todos los hombres, pero su esgrima no pasaba de una noción de que los golpes deben ir hacia arriba y con el filo para adentro. No hubieran permitido en el sanatorio que me pasaran estas cosas, pensó.

—Vamos saliendo —dijo el otro.

Salieron, y si en Dahlmann no había esperanza, tampoco había temor. Sintió, al atravesar el umbral, que morir en una pelea a cuchillo, a cielo abierto y acometiendo, hubiera sido una liberación para él, una felicidad y una fiesta, en la primera noche del sanatorio, cuando le clavaron la aguja. Sintió que si él, entonces, hubiera podido elegir o soñar su muerte, ésta es la muerte que hubiera elegido o soñado.

Dahlmann empuña con firmeza el cuchillo, que acaso no sabrá manejar, y sale a la llanura.

Jorge Luis Borges: The South (El Sur), 1953 (excerpt), translated by Anthony Kerrigan

Steampunk enthusiasts fix their attire in a church hall on the first day of ‘The Asylum Steampunk Festival’ in Lincoln, northern England: photo by Oli Scarf, 26 August 2016

Steampunk enthusiasts fix their attire in a church hall on the first day of ‘The Asylum Steampunk Festival’ in Lincoln, northern England: photo by Oli Scarf, 26 August 2016

A vendor sells cigarettes before opposition party supporters clashed with police in Harare, Zimbabwe: photo by Philimon Bulawayo/Reuters, 26 August 2016



A vendor sells cigarettes before opposition party supporters clashed with police in Harare, Zimbabwe: photo by Philimon Bulawayo/Reuters, 26 August 2016

Boarding is erected in front of residential properties ahead of the annual Notting Hill Carnival in London, England. Many shops, businesses and residential properties are boarded up to prevent damage during the Notting Hill Carnival. More than one million people are expected to enjoy this year’s carnival. It is the largest street festival in Europe and was first held in 1964 by the Afro-Caribbean community. Over the bank holiday weekend the streets come alive to steel bands, colourful floats and costumed performers as members of the public flood into the area to join in the celebrations.: photo by Dan Kitwood, 26 August 2016



Boarding is erected in front of residential properties ahead of the annual Notting Hill Carnival in London, England. Many shops, businesses and residential properties are boarded up to prevent damage during the Notting Hill Carnival. More than one million people are expected to enjoy this year’s carnival. It is the largest street festival in Europe and was first held in 1964 by the Afro-Caribbean community. Over the bank holiday weekend the streets come alive to steel bands, colourful floats and costumed performers as members of the public flood into the area to join in the celebrations.: photo by Dan Kitwood, 26 August 2016

A man carries his son who is dressed up as Hindu Lord Krishna in Ahmedabad: photo by Amit Dave/Reuters, 26 August 2016



A man carries his son who is dressed up as Hindu Lord Krishna in Ahmedabad: photo by Amit Dave/Reuters, 26 August 2016

Syrian army soldiers rest in a street in the government-controlled part of the besieged town of Daraya as thousands of rebel fighters and civilians prepared to evacuate under an accord struck a day earlier: photo by Youssef Karwashan/AFP, 26 August 2016 



Syrian army soldiers rest in a street in the government-controlled part of the besieged town of Daraya as thousands of rebel fighters and civilians prepared to evacuate under an accord struck a day earlier: photo by Youssef Karwashan/AFP, 26 August 2016

A group of actors covered in mud participates in a performance titled ‘Blind’ that denounces the ‘dirt’ of politicians who defend the impeachment against Brazilian suspended President Dilma Rossueff, in front of the National Congress in Brasilia, Brazil: photo by Fernando Bizerra/EPA, 26 August 2016

A group of actors covered in mud participates in a performance titled ‘Blind’ that denounces the ‘dirt’ of politicians who defend the impeachment against Brazilian suspended President Dilma Rossueff, in front of the National Congress in Brasilia, Brazil: photo by Fernando Bizerra/EPA, 26 August 2016

What It Is

INDIA - An Indian paramilitary trooper stands guard during curfew in downtown Srinagar. By @sajjadkmr #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 26 August 2016

INDONESIA - Ashes from Mount Sinabung cover a motorist's windshield and Brastagi city. By Tibata Nangin #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 26 August 2016

 INDONESIA - Mount Sinabung spews thick ash during its eruption as seen from Tiga Pancur village. By @HaryonoYt #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 26 August 2016

 TURKEY - Smoke rises from damaged police headquarters after a suicide truck bombing in Cizre. By @AFPphoto #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 26 August 2016

 WEST BANK - Members of the Palestinian security forces patrol the old part of Nablus. By Jaafar Ashtiyeh #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 26 August 2016

SYRIA - Gov. troops are reflected on window of bus carrying people as part of evacuation from Daraya. By Y. Karwashan: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 26 August 2016

INDIA - Female cadets rehearse march past drills during a rainshower in Chennai. By @ArunsankarKrish #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 26 August 2016


 MALAYSIA - Protest over a financial scandal involving state fund, 1MDB, in Kuala Lumpur. By @rasfan #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 27 August 2016


 INDIA - An paramilitary trooper holds a pellet gun as he stands guard during a curfew in Srinagar. By @sjjadkmr: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 27 August 2016


  NEPAL - An Hindu devotee prays holding a butter lamp during Bhimsen Jatra festival in Lalitpur. By @PrakashMathema: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 26 August 2016

A woman’s world: What would happen if only women could vote in #Election2016?: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 26 August 2016

A woman’s world: What would happen if only women could vote in #Election2016?: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 26 August 2016

A woman’s world: What would happen if only women could vote in #Election2016?: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 26 August 2016

No Room for the Dead

A Bangladeshi child dressed as Hindu God Krishna participates in a procession to celebrate ‘Janmashtami’ in Dhaka, Bangladesh: photo by A. M. Ahad / AP, 25 August 2016

 

An Indian shopkeeper sits on a boat outside his flooded shop at The Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi. India's holy city of Varanasi has been forced to halt cremations along the banks of the sacred river Ganges as deadly floods from monsoon rains hit parts of the country, an official said. More than 100,000 people have been forced from their homes in recent days in northern Uttar Pradesh and neighboring Bihar states as rain-swollen rivers burst their banks.: photo by Sanjay Kanojia / AFP, 23 August 2016

 

Festival-goers watch British singer Example perform on the Virgin Media Stage as part of the V Festival at Hylands Park, Chelmsford: photo by Joel Ryan / Invision / AP, 21 August 2016

 

The downtown skyline of Los Angeles, California: photo by Mario Anzuoni / Reuters, 24 August 2016

A man stands near bodies of his young relatives after an airstrike in the rebel held Douma neighbourhood of Damascus, Syria: photo by Bassam Khabieh / Reuters, 22 August 2016

Cosplay characters on the run during the SMASH! Sydney Manga and Anime Show at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney, Australia: photo by Brook Mitchell, 21 August 2016

 

A girl working on a wheat farm pauses for a photo in the village of Wakhan, in Badakhshan province, far northeastern Afghanistan. The region is one of the country’s poorest and most isolated, sandwiched between Tajikistan and the Taliban-led insurgency just 50 km to the south.: photo by  Massoud Hossaini / AP, 16 August 2016
  

A giraffe runs in Amboseli National Park, Kenya: photo by Goran Tomasevic / Reuters, 26 August 2016 

 

Sri Lankan tourists ride on an elephant during a sightseeing tour in the ancient Sri Lankan city of Sigiriya some 165 kms north of Colombo. The number of foreign tourists visiting Sri Lanka has swelled since the island ended a 37-year separatist conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009.: photo by Ishara S.Kodikara / AFP, 25 August 2016
  

An aerial view of a flooded village on the outskirts of Allahabad, India: photo by Jitendra Prakash / Reuters, 24 August 2016
 

An artist from the Deviation Collective group takes part in a performance called "Cegos" or Blind, in front of the Planalto Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil: photo by Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters, 25 August 2016

 
A rebel soldier of the 48th Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, poses for a photo with his dog in the southern jungles of Putumayo, Colombia. As the country’s half-century conflict winds down, with the signing of a peace deal with the Government perhaps just days away, thousands of FARC rebels are emerging from their hideouts and preparing for a life without arms.: photo by Fernando Vergara / AP, 13 August 2016
 


Congolese soldiers arrest a civilian protesting against the government's failure to stop the killings and inter-ethnic tensions in the town of Butembo, in North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo: photo by Kenny Katombe / Reuters, 24 August 2016