Daily Diary (DD) - Day 74 of 2018

2357hrs:

AJK on a knife-edge - just like the timing of this blog..almost.

Peaceful assembly in Districts Kotli and Poonch in preparation for a #WhiteFlag March from Tattapani (Kotli) to Madarpur (Poonch) tomorrow along the LOC - organised by the leading #JKLF group in AJK - has put the Pakistani narrative into a spin.



The local district administration in Kotli was made to work hard today to try and disperse the converging activists from various parts of AJK and Pakistan.

A separate 'putsch' of sorts was attempted by the local administration in Nikyaal where a White Flag and Signature Campaign by local activists and affectees of Indian and Pakistani cross-firing; has been gathering pace over the past few weeks.



The stakes are probably higher than ever before given the interconnected world we live in. Peaceful initiatives by the citizens and inheritors of the territory (and the Indo-Pak conflict): when obstructed in 2018 take seconds to reach London, New York, Geneve and other capitals of the world.

The moral argument within the Pakistani narrative that the public in Pakistani-controlled parts of the State of Jammu & Kashmir are satisfied with Pakistan's steering of their future, whilst in Indian-controlled territory the public are in revolt, is no longer arguable.

The fact that India and Pakistan agree on far more than they disagree on, always becomes apparent whenever the public in any part of the un-divided Jammu & Kashmir take pro-active measures for peace.

The 16th of March does have a history....fiercely contested within internal public discourse in AJK but tomorrow could shed light on what shape the future of this region may take. 

Note: The dashed grey lines on the East side of both maps above indicate the LOC or Ceasefire Line as some continue to describe it.