Daily Diary (DD) - Day 22 of 2019

1344hrs:

Despite the dreary drizzle of the past few days, life and public interest have to gallop on regardless.

A lot of attention in AJK is being centred on Kotli at the moment, where 19 citizens of Jammu & Kashmir (including one each from the Valley of Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan) were summoned in court today. The hearing was postponed - unsurprisingly - as the police had not completed their preparation: Here's a video reaction by some of the accused:

Daily Diary (DD) - Day 21 of 2019

1952hrs:

Time flows through the winter....just like the water flows through our territory...with minimal indigenous control over its destiny........

Daily Diary (DD) - Day 20 of 2019

2210hrs:

You never know what's in store for you when it rains....you can certainly count on the possibility of electricity cuts, whatever else may or may not happen.

Sunday is a good day for reading....

Daily Diary (DD) - Day 19 of 2019

2251hrs:

Concentrating on publishing the academic (extended) version of the Citizen Public Opinion Survey Report is like swimming in an ocean with no shore in sight, at times.

I have accomplished difficult tasks before but this will require a level of discipline, higher than any attained thus far.

I also need new technology valued at almost £3,000. Citizenship projects do not cost the earth but are only achievable if the majority of citizens contribute a little but regularly (annually is the most even time period - at this stage). I also understand that most of our citizens are still having difficulties grappling with this concept.

  

Daily Diary (DD) - Day 18 of 2019

1712hrs:

This is good. 

Please Share this tweet & Join this movement on 29th Jan. 2019.
دریا بچاؤ - مظفرآباد بچاؤ تحریک#WakeUpJK #AJK pic.twitter.com/ahHDBOEXjx

— AKLM Official (@AKLM_Official) January 18, 2019

It would be appropriate to translate the material on the banner from Urdu to English. This is an added dilemma viz. the communication dilemma in addition to the public interest dilemma. The English speaking generations of the AJK diaspora which were born and brought up in the developed 'West', appear reluctant to learn their mother tongue Pahari or even read or speak Urdu, while those born here, speak Pahari by default and learn Urdu considering it to be a more respectable medium but don't pay enough attention to English and its association with 'power'.

Translation of Banner: (From top to bottom)

29th January 2019
A total shutdown of Muzaffarabad (Jammed wheels - as in no transport will run)
From the Valley of Neelam to the Valley of Jhelum (Whole Muzaffarabad Administrative Division)
- We want action, not further (broken) promises
- The promises made in relation to Neelam-Jhelam Hydro Project should be fulfilled
- Maintain 60% of the River Neelam's water flow
- Provide free electricity to Muzaffarabad Division

In another banner related to this public activity, there is also a demand to refrain from diverting the River Jhelum and/or creating a tunnel between Saran and Kohalla.

 

Daily Diary (DD) - Day 17 of 2019

1931hrs:

A four hour session in public today, after many a day in Dadyaal. 

Some people like to form a bleak picture but there's enough humanity in society, if you go look for it.

I always come back home energised.

  

Daily Diary (DD) - Day 16 of 2019

1952hrs:

Another day of less done than what needed to be done to reduce the backlog of material that needs to be uploaded.

Though the following observation was made about our capital city in AJK:

The Muzaffarabad administration of AJK takes an aggressive stance whenever it is confronted with issues of transparency, merit or accountability. It should be aware that the world is watching. I would suggest a ban on their travel outside AJK until they provide a conducive environment to address matters of national interest in Muzaffarabad, to the AJK public.

Sehrish Sultan's fight for merit in AJK continued in Islamabad today:

   

Daily Diary (DD) - Day 15 of 2019

2024hrs:

Sehrish Sultan remains the discussion in AJK. Merit and the fact that a woman is agitating for it has caught the notice of many here and in the AJK diaspora.

Students from various cities around AJK have come out in protest at the arrest of Sehrish for protesting against being ignored on merit for employment that she was entitled to. Her elderly uncle was also brutally man-handled by the police yesterday.

Here are some stern words for the AJK Assembly members, as spoken by Qari Naseer of Trarkhel:



....

Daily Diary (DD) - Day 14 of 2019

1954hrs:

2 weeks of 2019 almost complete already.....

Every day our public in AJK is powering towards a turbo-charged plateau, where prevailing public issues that have been highlighted in social media will far outweigh the capacity of the Government of AJK to address them.

The latter are getting desperate now:

سحرش سلطان جو اپنے حق کی جنگ لڑنے  عدالت عُظمہ گئی اپنے حق کی جنگ لڑنے  آج مظفرآباد وزیراعظم کے آفس کے باہر پہنچی لیکن آج ہڑتال کے دوران اسے اور  اس کی فیلمی کو گرفتار کر لیا گیا
احتجاج کرنا کسی بھی شہری کا بنیادی حق ہے #WakeUpJK#AJK #PakistanAdministrativeKashmir pic.twitter.com/m8IwfoBDpB

— AKLM Official (@AKLM_Official) January 14, 2019

Just to translate what's written (in Urdu) in the twitter feed:

In her fight for justice (and meritocracy in particular) Sehrish Sultan had knocked on the doors of the High Court (of AJK) and had now reached the office of the AJK prime minister (PM Secretariat - Muzaffarabad). Within minutes of her sit-in protest the AJK police arrested her along with her family members. Protesting is a fundamental right of every citizen.

 

Daily Diary (DD) - Day 13 of 2019

1822hrs:

I'm sure some of us can relate to these words, even though they were written about 800 years ago:

There was a time I would reject those who were not of my faith.

But now, my heart has grown capable of taking on all forms.

It is a pasture for gazelles,

An abbey for monks.

A table for the Torah,

A temple for the idols

Kaaba for the pilgrim.

My religion is love.

Whichever the route love’s caravan shall take,

That shall be the path of my faith.

IBN ARABI
Ibn ʿArabi (26 July 1165 – 16 November 1240), full name Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibnʿArabī al-Ḥātimī aṭ-Ṭāʾī, was an Andalusian Muslim scholar, mystic, poet, and philosopher, whose works have grown to be very influential beyond the Muslim world. Of the over 800 works which are attributed to him, 100 survive in the original manuscript.
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