Srinagar, March 8 -- Kashmir, the Reshwaer, the land once sanctified by the footsteps of saints and softened by the words of mystics, now trembles under the weight of its own undoing. It was here that Lal Ded wandered, shedding the chains of materialism, and here that Nund Reshi's silence was mightier than a thousand decrees.

This was the land where prayers rose with the morning mist and settled like dew upon the hearts of its people. But now, what remains of that Reshwaer? What remains of that sacred breath, that divine touch?

Amir Khusrau, enamored by a Kashmir, wrote, "If there is a paradise on Earth, it is this, it is this, it is this." Paradise-like no longer exists. If he were to return today, would he still call it paradise? Or w...