Daily Diary (DD) - Day 236 of 2019

1637hrs:

Journalists who flocked en masse from Muzaffarabad towards the LOC at Chakothi, to express their solidarity with their besieged brethren across the line, have been prevented from proceeding beyond Chinari, by forces under the control of the Pakistani State.

Will some of them continue to blindly sing the praises of the Pakistani army, or will they understand the 'game' for what it really is?

Here are some current scenes from Chinari:



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The negative environmental impact of Neelam-Jhelum project on aquatic life:


#say_no_to_river_diversions

Translation of FB post above:

River Neelam

Some reports are being circulated these days that those running the dam (Neelam-Jhelum Project) are throwing such chemicals into the river (Neelam) which are killing the fish in large numbers. Hundreds of thousands of people's waste/garbage is also thrown into this hitherto spring clean river. There are thousands of restaurants operating by the riverside, they also throw their rubbish into the river.

The powers-that-be take notice!

#saveenvironment
#save river

End of FB post translation.. 

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Nitasha Kaul has featured here before and will no doubt feature here in the future too. I have always thought that the women of this territory will advocate our case much more effectively than our men could ever do:



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We have still much to learn from other citizen-led activism in the rest of the world:



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I noticed my name surfacing on Google alerts today with a link to the following 'news story':

Yet even more proof that Pakistan is a state sponsor of international terrorism.
A political activist in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) said Pakistan is using terrorists from launchpads in PoK as proxies to create instability in Indian Jammu and Kashmir. https://t.co/yqZ6QrF6M4

— Lawrence Sellin (@LawrenceSellin) August 24, 2019

Now, this interview was actually conducted on the 28th of June 2018:

Here it is:



It was also logged on this very day in my daily diary. Here's the direct link:

Now, since this recent interest in the video - generated by the Indian news agency ANI - I know Sardar Sagheer Khan has been confronted with a lot of criticism for 'giving' news to the Indians while so many of our Muslim brethren are under virtual lock down for over 20 days.

A few points are important to note here:

1) The date of the interview compared to when ANI reported it.
2) Pakistan should refrain from such acts which nullify its own stance and give ample opportunity to India to take advantage of.
3) More important than the Pakistanis handing the Indian narrative a clear victory, is the damage that infiltration does to our social fabric in AJK and the consequences of further marginalisation of the internal narrative here, which does not correspond with Pakistan's narrative.
4) The Indians should realise that there are always 2 sides to a coin. You cannot emulate what the Pakistanis do viz. twist information to suit your respective nationalist narrative while drowning out the genuine internal narrative of AJK. Thereby claiming moral victory.
5) In the interest of humanity, media ethics, civilisational progress and conflict resolution; Indian civil society and the Indian State should provide equal space to all the various public narratives that exist in J & K.

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