I rejoined the 'Watan Bachao March' (Save our Motherland/Country March) at Dothaan yesterday and am now committed to remain with them till their final destination to AJK's capital Muzaffarabad.
This morning, I've written a formal request to the following 4 global entities to provide some coverage to this unprecedented political event.
1) BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)
2) DW (Deutsche Welle)
3) VoA (Voice of America)
4) Al Jazeera
Here it is:
Hi and good morning...this is Tanveer Ahmed - an independent action-oriented public policy researcher working un-interrupted on the ground in AJK (Azad Jammu & Kashmir) or more commonly described by outside sources as Pakistani-administered Kashmir, since April 2005.
The reason I am troubling you as a global media entity in this time restricted age is to notify you of a novel protest march taking place in AJK since the 15th of October 2021, in a bid to raise awareness amongst the public of this territory and collect their opinion on the looming spectre of permanent division of the territory of Jammu Kashmir & Allied areas (JKA) between India and Pakistan, without taking account of the will of the people in this territory.
On average, about 25 political activists from the Rauf Kashmiri faction of the JKLF (Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front) began walking from Bhimber (the southernmost district capital of AJK) towards Muzaffarabad (capital of AJK) in the north, which amounts to about 300 kilometres in total. Today (Sunday October the 24th) they are into their 10th day of continous walking and have reached the outskirts of Rawalakot (district capital of Poonch) at Kaigalla.
Enroute they camped at:
Kharri Sharif (Day 1)
Mirpur (Day 2)
Chakswari (Day 3)
Dadyaal (Day 4)
Naar (Day 5)
Kotli (Day 6)
Tattapani (Day 7)
Hajeera (Day 8)
Kaigalla (Day 9)
At each camp, they were welcomed by local representatives of various other political parties (including other factions of the JKLF) who hosted them while taking responsibility for their food and shelter.
Apart from interacting with the public enroute, they are conducting public speeches wherever they stay with varying audiences (including press clubs at some places) and conducting what they describe as a referendum, whereby they set up a stall at each city/town where they had camped the previous night and put 3 questions to the public:
1) As a state citizen of Jammu Kashmir do you accept the imposed intention of India and Pakistan to negotiate with each other (supposedly on our behalf) and make the ceasefire line/line of control into a permanent border?
a) Yes b) No c) Certainly not
2) While acknowledging the citizens of Jammu Kashmir to be humans do you accept their right to decide their future in a free and fair manner according to the charter of the United Nations?
a) Yes b) No
3) Until the emergence of a permanent solution to the Jammu Kashmir conflict do you agree with the proposal to set up an embassy/consulate of the State of Jammu Kashmir in Islamabad (Pakistan) by a representative revolutionary government comprising of both AJK and GB?
a) Yes b) No
The name, place of residence and ID card number of each member of the public (who must be a citizen of Jammu Kashmir) is taken to add clarity to the questionnaire.
n.b. in developed countries obviously public opinion is collected anonymously and without being suggestive but here - in a conflict zone there is little room for ambiguity and thus the conditions here necessitate the collection of opinion in this manner.
The pamphlet outlining the reasoning behind their activity and the associated questionnaire are also attached here for your perusal.
Thus far, opinion has been collected from over 15,000 respondents and the target sample is at least 1 million (note that the 'referendum' activity began before the general elections in AJK in July 2019 and will continue beyond this particular political activity). It should be added that the overwhelming majority of people have given responses that are pro Jammu Kashmir state and this includes people who participate in general elections under the banner of Pakistani political parties.
It should also be noted that despite there being a multitude of political parties in AJK that espouse Kashmiri nationalism (viz. No India and No Pakistan) and despite following different political personalities and adopting differing political strategies; most have welcomed, embraced and hosted this faction of the JKLF in some shape or form.
What we humbly request you as a global media entity is to provide some form of coverage to this milestone political event in AJK, which has no precedent in this region. We remember your channel covering the various political events in this territory that took place in reaction to India's (supposedly unilateral) move to bifurcate and downgrade its administered part of Jammu & Kashmir on August the 5th 2019. For example, coverage was given to:
1) JKLF (Sagheer faction) that conducted a sit-in protest at Tithrinote (on the LOC in Poonch) between the 7th and 11th of September 2019.
2) JKLF (Amanullah faction) that marched from Muzaffarabad to Jaskol near Chakothi (on the LOC in Jhelum Valley) and then conducted a sit-in protest between the 4th and 16th of October 2019.
3) PNA (People's National Alliance comprising of 24 nationalist political parties) that converged on Upper Adda Muzaffarabad on the 21st of October and were prevented from marching to the AJK Assembly on the 22nd of October 2019.
Please do not hesitate to contact me for further questions or queries. I have been accompanying this 'Watan Bachao March' (Save our Motherland/Country March) intermittently from Bhimber to Kotli and rejoined them yesterday before they entered Kaigalla. I will remain with them till their destination in Muzaffarabad.
You can see brief notes and video footage of this march in daily diary format at:
You can also read their (JKLF R's) own report at Kotli on the 21st of October 2021 at the following link:
End....
Pamphlet:
Front
Back
Questionnaire (Public Referendum)
......
It was a bitterly cold day combined with aggressive bouts of rain but we kept marching on:
.........
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