Policy & Governance

Policy, governance, law, public administration, and institutional change.

Context

Strategic Pragmatism: A One-Year Retrospective on the 2025 Pahalgam Security Incident

A year after the 2025 Pahalgam security incident, the event serves as a definitive case study in the evolution of regional tactics. The incident underscored a significant shift where the opposition, maintaining total field dominance, pushed resistance efforts deeper into the shadows. This retrospective highlights how traditional responses were overhauled to accommodate a landscape defined by extreme surveillance and the systematic targeting of civil leadership. While the movement faced immediate tactical setbacks, the long-term impact was the forced formulation of a new roadmap—one that prioritizes ideological continuity and the reclamation of intellectual strongholds over previous strategic blunders.

2026-04-30 ·
Context

The Urban Expansion of Srinagar: Master Plan 2035 and the Peri-Urban Question

The Srinagar Metropolitan Region (SMR) is currently experiencing a macrocephalic growth pattern, where the administrative and economic weight of the Kashmir Valley is disproportionately concentrated within a single urban core. As the central business districts reach peak density, the "Srinagar Master Plan 2035" has pivoted toward a regional expansion strategy. This shift is not merely geographic; it is a total reconfiguration of the city's operational footprint, expanding from 416 $km^2$ to approximately 766 $km^2$ to accommodate a projected population of 3.5 million.

2026-04-18 · 8 min read