Daily Diary (DD) - Day 21 of 2018

What is the price of consensus in AJK this morning?

1000hrs:
Indian and Pakistani are the operative IDs here in Azad Jammu & Kashmir #AJK .....used in all forms of public discourse since 1947.

We feel it on both sides of the LOC, not least when yet more of our civilians get killed by both Indians and Pakistanis, as happened last night. I don't want to count the numbers or even show you a picture of a dead toddler or a disfigured father. We were frozen a long time ago.

What used to be the state narrative pre 1947 could today be described as the emerging J & K Narrative. Except that now its the inheritors of the State viz. its people - and not the state itself which was negotiated over by the Muslim and National Conferences respectively - who are using alternative or social media to sharpen their knowledge and learn all about: what they were not taught in the education system or through media for over 70 years.

This J & K narrative has to be probing and prominent in AJK, even to establish a chance for the people of the territory to actually and meaningfully decide their future.

1420hrs:
Mobile Telecommunications companies should give out public interest messages for AJK subscribers....Most if not all companies do enough of their own advertising by invading our mobile screen space and even phone with automated offers to catch you - to engage you 'needlessly' - in 99.9% of cases....Telenor have bombarded me with 3 such needless SMSs in the space of 1 hour and 17 minutes...They can and should give that space and service every day to public interest messages in AJK.

Maybe I should speak to their 'Head' in Pakistan?

After all, I have his business card and have spoken along similar lines to whoever held that position some years ago.

Even better and more fairer in public interest is if somebody - who is a citizen of AJK and a Telenor employee with access to higher management - should make a suggestion to them.

What do you think?

Blogging can and should be interactive.

Meanwhile, at 1454hrs as I write, there is no respite to the exchange of fire between Indian and Pakistani troops on the LOC....yet more of our civilians have been injured by mortar shelling in Khuiratta (Bhensigaala) sector. Is there anybody in the world who can speak to #NewDelhi and #Islamabad simultaneously?...Can you please stop killing our civilians of #JandK in a war which so few of our co-citizens were ever consulted on? #XLOC #INDOPAK