Daily Diary (DD) - Day 21 of 2022

1038hrs:

Day 02 at Martyr's Square - Kotli - AJK

It has been a very testing past 8 hours or so. It was my first night under the sky at Shaheed Chowk Kotli. I was well equipped and found tremendous support from various activists of Kotli, who were keen to learn of my every need. However, at about 0230hrs it began to rain. 

I initially put up with it because I had a thick duvet covering me and goatskin underneath me. Yet when light rain turned into drizzle by about 0530hrs I had to make a run for cover in an alleyway nearby, carrying my drenched sleeping gear with me. It was just as well that I had very thick clothing which still protected my body but my feet were soaked and my footwear had already been exposed.

I had only about 3 hours sleep yesterday and today I managed even less. 

 

Thus, at the time of writing, despite accepting one of my local hosts offer of 'siri paya' (Buffalo's hooves) for breakfast I still feel absolutely exhausted. I must push on however.

It was a lively day at the chowk with an uninterrupted gathering of various people at regular intervals, while giving due consideration to traffic.

One visitor was the flamboyant JJ who wanted to interview me:

As evening pressed on, the temperature also began dipping:  

Let's try and capture the zeitgeist in our territory:

Very revealing...of #GovernanceinAJK https://t.co/DCT80B8Os1

— Tanveer Ahmed (@sahaafi) January 22, 2022

The following is point blank:

اگر حکومت آزاد کشمیر حق خودارادیت کے لئے اپنے حصے کے اقدام نہیں کر سکتی، تو الحاق پاکستان کی شرائط کیسے طے کر سکتی ہے؟@PMOAJK @ChLatifAkbar1 @farooq_pm @tariqfarooq60 @ImranKhanPTI @MaryamNSharif @BBhuttoZardari @JIPOfficial @OfficialDGISPR

— Syed Nazir Gilani (@JKCHR) January 21, 2022

The above tweet translates as:

(My effort)

If the AJK government cannot take steps as part of its responsibility with reference to self-determination, then how can it meet the conditions for accession to Pakistan?

I then thought I should clarify from the man himself, a jurist and authority on the UN and Kashmir. His response:

Yes. "How would it qualify to negotiate the terms for accession".

To be more precise:

If the Government of Azad Kashmir cannot under take its share of actions in reference to self-determination – how can it negotiate terms to accede to Pakistan?

.......

Let me now rewind to the updates after midnight this morning:

0132hrs (Update):

The 2 other members of Malik Waseem's family have been released viz. his brother and nephew. Apparently the police have withdrawn Section 341 and charged him with 16 MPO (related to breaching public order) and of course he is in detention. My thought is that they changed the charge to circumvent his bail order but a lawyer would offer a better opinion. The police and particularly those whose interests they are serving are keen to play carrot and stick, to make Waseem resign from his desire to return to the land his family had lived on since 1949.

A lot of cash has changed hands in London between his adversary (co-claimant to Ratan Singh's land) and those who covet that land, alleges Waseem.

2350hrs (Update):

I've been informed that Malik Waseem's condition is critical because of his hunger strike since being arrested yesterday evening (Thursday). The police are saying that they haven't even written an FIR. Effectively, they've detained him illegally. Earlier today, the police informed Waseem's family that they will release him tonight but they didn't.

.....