The writing on the wall

Oil: the writing on the wall

Eat your hearts out, Pablo Escobar, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes. The richest cartel by far is still the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). But one of its oldest members, the United Arab Emirates…

The writing on the wall

“Please mere papa ki sharaab chhudwa do” Anonymous child, Hazratbal Shrine, Srinagar, 2007   I. The wall that stopped a policeman In 2007, I was serving as Senior Superintendent of Police in Srinagar. It was not an easy posting. The Kashmir Valley had lived under the shadow of armed conflict for nearly two decades, and the city I was responsible for policing was one where fear had long been woven into daily life, fear of militancy, fear of the s…