Mohsin Peerzada's

  When Progress Leaves the Past Behind “The opening of the Digdol–Panthyal Twin Tube Tunnel stands as a tribute to the workers who lost their lives during construction and a milestone in NH-44’s journey from a perilous mountain road to a safer lifeline for Kashmir.” Peerzada Mohsin Shafi I n the long and layered history of Jammu and Kashmir’s connectivity with the rest of the country, few roads have carried as much weight of geography, emotion and national importance as National Highway 44. Cutting through the towering Himalayas, this lifeline has for decades linked Jammu with Srinagar, carrying passengers, essential goods, security convoys and the hopes of millions. Yet it has also been defined by fragility, unpredictability and repeated tragedy. The opening of the Digdol–Panthyal Twin Tube Tunnel on the Ramban–Banihal stretch marks a historic moment of transition, standing at the intersection of progress, criticism and condolence. The Digdol–Panthyal T...

  The Long Argument Against Geography   “The breakthrough of the Zojila Tunnel marks the beginning of a new relationship between the Himalayas and the people who live beyond them.” Peerzada Mohsin Shafi O n 9 th June 2026, when engineers working deep beneath the mountains finally achieve breakthrough at the Zojila Tunnel, they will do much more than connect two excavation faces separated by rock and distance. They will bring to a close one of the longest and most consequential struggles between geography and human aspiration in the Himalayas. The event will not merely mark a milestone in construction. It will signify the beginning of a transformation whose consequences will be felt for generations across Kashmir, Kargil and Ladakh. Long before roads, tunnels and modern engineering entered the vocabulary of development, Zoji La occupied a unique place in the history of the region. For centuries it served as the gateway between the Kashmir Valley a...