About Zahid Rafiq

Contact Zahid Rafiq

Published Stories:

In Kashmir, old torture centers get makeover

Christian Science Monitor

In Kashmir, former torture centers are being refurbished into pricey homes and even an IT hub as the international spotlight grows on India's use of torture. It is a story of a State's attempt of erasing the past by changing the physical landscape of a war zone.

From Kashmir to California: in the footsteps of a wanted killer

Christian Science Monitor

A story of hunting down a former Indian soldier alleged of war crimes in Indian-held-Kashmir a month before he shot himself, his wife and his three children in Fresno, California.

Kashmir mourns the killing of Salafi order head.

Tehelka

The story is about the killing of the head of the largest Salafi (hardline Islamic) group in Kashmir who was targeted with an IED outside a mosque where he was going to lead the prayers on Friday.

The valley is stoned. On another evil

Tehelka

A story on the drug boom in the Kashmir Valley as farmers and peddlers reap rich rewards from growing poppy and trading its products.

A book launch in Srinagar is not business as usual

Tehelka

A fly-on-the-wall piece from the reading of the novel ‘The Collaborator’ in Srinagar. The novel is set in the Kashmir conflict and most of its characters, more than real.

They call Palhalan the ‘Kandahar of Kashmir’. Here is why it might yield new recruits for militancy

Tehelka

It is a profile of a Kashmiri village called Palhalan, which epitomizes the riddles of Kashmir politics: the pro-freedom sentiment, the history of militancy, the State repression and how new generations inherit old sentiments and animosities.

Awards:

Fulbright Fellowship (August 2010)

I received a Fulbright Fellowship on the strength of my reporting to study for a Masters Degree in the US.

Work Experience:

Correspondent

Tehelka  - Kashmir  ( July 2010 - July 2011 )

It was my first time as a outstation correspondent it took me a while to understand what how to do stories days after newspaper were done with them. It was a great experience, both in writing and in growing as a journalist.

Reporter

The Indian Express  - Kashmir/ Delhi  ( May 2007 - June 2010 )

I worked as a reporter at the newspaper's Kashmir Bureau and then as a Crime and court reporter in the Delhi Bureau. I learned that the best place to observe a city and to make sense of all its randomness was to walk its streets s a reporter; sometimes, you could change things too for better, only sometimes though.