'Afzal Guru became a victim of Pakistan's conspiracy. He was used as a means, just like all other innocent Kashmiris.'
At Srinagar's famed Lal Chowk, Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf meets a computer engineer who drives an auto for a living and discovers that Kashmiris are more interested in finding jobs than discussing the assembly election.
'What is the harm in having more polling booths?'
'The government does not want to be transparent or accountable. Therefore, they do not want to appoint information commissioners.'
'Maharashtra is virtually in a debt trap.'
'This is leading to anarchy.'
'There are 7,000 guns which are in the hands of the armed militia of the Kuki and Meitei communities.'
'When I see people's faces I can see that there is a certain sadness in their eyes which makes me unhappy as a person.' 'I want to see people happy in their lives.'
'That was my mistake.' 'Gautam Adani was not involved in forming the Maharashtra government.' 'Adani was not there in the meeting.' 'The meeting was at his guest house and we were sitting in his guest house.'
'The people of India have shown immense faith in the Tata group as they have never broken the trust of Indians.'
'Party workers sit outside polling booths and they know everything that is happening.' 'Besides, as a voter when you push the EVM button to vote there is a paper slip that comes out showing you who you voted for.'
'In the case of a road accident, prevention is the only answer.' 'There's no cure to death or disability when the accident happens, and when it's due to reckless or negligent driving, it's worse because it's avoidable.'
'Politicians can do symbolism by changing the names of places and museums.' 'Judges need not be seen to be craving for approval from the public.'
'The reason I am not anxious about the opponent facing me in the front (Ajit Pawar) is because of who is standing behind me like a rock (Sharad Pawar).'
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com comes across a Ganesh temple in Kashmir's summer capital that remains a well kept secret.
The nomination papers of 35 candidates including that of jailed separatist Sarjan Barkati were on Wednesday rejected during scrutiny for the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, leaving 244 contestants in the fray.
'Government cannot pick and choose as to against whom they want to take action and against whom they do not want to take action.'
'The intellectual A G Noorani and A G Noorani the family man sound like a contradiction in terms, but both aspects were integral parts of the individual.'
In 2022 Nanaji Dembi pulled down the Hurriyat office board in Srinagar, an act of defiance that grabbed headlines. Despite such nationalistic bravado, the BJP has denied him a ticket for the assembly election.
'We accept EVMs cannot be hacked because it is not connected, but can they be manipulated?' 'Are you allowing us to check if EVMs can be manipulated?'
'I love to meet people.' 'I love that personal connect when they express their genuine, heartfelt feelings.'
Tral, the former hotbed of terrorism, rocks to the music of democracy.
'Ladakh has become a hollow UT.' 'Bureaucrats from Delhi rule Ladakh and there is no attention paid to the grievances of the people.'
'The Abdullah family is the problem and facilitator of the instability that we are seeing in Kashmir.'
'Article 370 is now dug 70 feet deep in the ground. It cannot come out.'
'I want to ask the Congress only one question: What is more important than election management in politics?'
'The whole Kashmiri population is seemed to be a suspect community. This status is not good.'
'There is some deep rot that has set in the Congress party. This requires an organisational surgery.'
'Congress leaders are ready to lose the election and not form the government, but are never ready to share seats with others.'
'I want to die with my finger on the click button of the camera,' veteran photographer Pradeep Bandekar, who passed into ages early on Sunday morning, told Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'If the country felt very strongly about the BJP, then why did the country not put money where the mouth is?'
'...or go to jail.' 'The government is getting them silenced.'
Shaheed Maqbool Sherwani changed the course of Indian history forever, but himself lies forgotten in the town he saved.
'Ranbir Kapoor has only one film as does Salman Khan.' 'Hrithik Roshan only has War 2.' 'Ranveer Singh has no film on floors today.'
'Who are Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti to issue certificates?'
It's a different Srinagar from what Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf encountered 24 years ago. Tourists throng the Kashmir Valley post-Article 370, azaadi appears dead, and everyone says one man is responsible for this change, so what if his poster is nowhere to be seen.
'The 2024 general elections proved that UP is not Gujarat.'
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com does a deep dive into four elections when Narendra Modi resorted to anti-Muslim fervour and points out that Hindu-Muslim politics does not necessarily mean victory for the BJP.
'I went to jail and met my father to convince him to join politics and believe in the Constitution.'
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com tried to buy a house on his recent visit to Srinagar.
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