A Journey in Jammu Kashmir & Allied areas (JKA)............................
from Subject to Citizen
.........autocracy to democracy
.........Dogra Raaj to Awaami Raaj
.........1947 CE to...........................
#WhiteFlags
#Neutrality
#WaterManagement #MirpurtoLondonviaCentralAsia
I'm just breezing through an academic collection of work on our territory: 'Society and Politics of Jammu and Kashmir' edited by Serena Hussain and published by Palgrave Macmillan 2021 at Cham, Switzerland. I find it refreshing that some academic measurement is being made of what the people here - on the ground in particular and those striving in some manner in the diaspora - go through to get their voice heard or written about, when the structure of statecraft is so heavily stacked in favour of India and Pakistan, crafted with such dexterity that only the British could possibly conjure up.
At first glance, it also makes me feel that I'm missing out on something somewhere.
Whatever it is, it is what I need to address as part of my daily routine.
Now that we haven't seen rain for a few days, the electricity is playing up again and we are witnessing about 12 hours of load-shedding, just like we were before the few days of rain.
We are essentially suffering because of a greedy and myopic neighbour, who wants to use the hydro powered electricity of this territory (which is expensive to build but whose running costs are minimal) and what it produces in its own territory (Tarbela is its major source), to try and fulfill the electricity needs of its own country, while always trying to give us as least supply as it thinks we can tolerate.
If Pakistan were to try and supply electricity to everybody it would have to buy oil or gas based electricity, which it would have to use foreign currency to do so, which it doesn't have in sufficient supply. It has already borrowed way beyond its ability to repay, from the rest of the world.
Thus, despite Pakistan producing at least 10 times more than our own need for electricity - from our territory - it still strives to deprive us of our need, for over 12 hours a day.
When it rains, the immediate short term effect is that the electricity goes because the transmission infrastructure is weak. However, once the rain subsides there is more water to power the hydro power projects built in our territory. This increases the supply of electricity in the short term but only until the water levels recede.
This is the pattern we have witnessed over the past few weeks.
These large hydro projects, involved uprooting many people (our people, not the people of Pakistan) and they have had a disastrous effect on the environment too. Boring long tunnels to divert rivers is one such example. Given the natural altitude decline from our territory to the plains of India and Pakistan and given the abundant sources of water flowing down from here; many relatively smaller - run of the river - electricity generating projects could have been created.
They would have been environmentally friendly and people wouldn't have been uprooted on the scale we have witnessed.
However, our neighbour being greedy and myopic - as declared at the outset of today's weblog - has made us sacrifice ourselves for its behaviour. Mega projects enable mega corruption (not so easily possible on smaller projects) and so what if our people have to pay the price? A few religious anecdotes about big brother in Islam etc. is usually sufficient to appease our people, or what usually transpires is that our people also get corrupted to emulate their Pakistani brothers in Islam.
The relatively strong exploit the weak. The Pakistanis exploit AJK and GB. The Pakistani sponsored power elites in our territory then exploit the weaker amongst us.
Our own resources are used to exploit and subjugate us.
This vicious cycle repeats itself from generation to generation.
Our motivation is to break this cycle and make our people productive enough to genuinely compete with the rest of the world, based on what should be our competitive advantages bestowed by nature upon us.
To not be unproductive rent/commission seekers, a haven for black money and terrorism or a destination for bad loans.
AJK and the rest of JKA - including GB - would do well to stop emulating Pakistan.
What happened yesterday evening in Muzaffarabad should be an eye opener for the remaining few people whose eyes have remained shut over Pakistan's crimes in reference to Jammu Kashmir & Allied areas.
27 year old lady Haseena Bibi and her 18 month old innocent flower (child) were killed by 4 people, assisted by 4 others.
End of translation....
I'll try and summarise the story too, which can be read in Urdu at the link above.
Paalri in Dawaarian, which is in the Neelam Valley is where this gory incident happened.
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This is an important development in the story of Asmaad Aslam, the young boy who accidentally crossed over the LOC from Tithrinote, Hajeera in November last year:
Here's the much anticipated comprehensive video interview of Malik Waseem Kashmiri conducted by myself a few days ago:
Title and description was as follows:
Malik Waseem Kashmiri vs The State of AJK
The land and people of Jammu Kashmir & Allied areas (JKA)
If we tolerate the strong occupying the weak inside our territory, then how do we reason with external occupiers?
Large or small, occupiers are occupiers.
A comprehensive video interview of Malik Waseem Kashmiri by Tanveer Ahmed, in reference to the land of Sardar Singh and Ratan Singh in Naluchi, Muzaffarabad.
A comprehensive written report on this 'test case' will also be published very soon.
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Meanwhile, DC Muzaffarabad is trying his best to trace Malik Waseem and get him illegally arrested once again, to prevent him from agitating for his rights.
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We are reminding both our public as well as the institutions built courtesy of that public that cleaning our environment is a basic requirement for civilisation:
Here's the text describing the embedded video above:
Waste management, soil management, water management and human/data management at Maqbool Bhat Shaheed Square - Dadyaal
If it succeeds in this square it will succeed throughout the c.85K square miles of JKA.
Slavery is a curse and freedom doesn't come without getting your hands dirty.
Bringing regular - and hopefully - increasingly positive changes in one's daily routine at the age of 50 brings much change in one's body. It feels as if a whole circuit board is being changed.
Long may this continue.
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I know - we Muslims - get very emotional and furious when it appears that somebody has insulted our holy prophet (peace be upon him). We do it by instinct because of our love and devotion but we must take heed of the following examples from our beloved prophet's own life:
It is indeed. It is also to be noted that - at least in this day and age - it is more likely that non Muslims will understand the universal messages of Islam rather than Muslims themselves. In general, Muslims adopt the faith but not the guidance > complications 4 all humanity.
There was always likely to be a sharp turn in matters related to Malik Waseem Kashmiri versus the State of AJK. I've been studying this 'test case' since the middle of December last year. In fact, I dedicated a folder for this issue and began collecting evidence on all matters related to it, on the 13th of December 2021.
There was a twist yesterday and it is just ballooning as an issue, with more thrust than at any point since Malik Waseem and his family were evicted on January the 17th 2022, from Sardar Singh and Ratan Singh's land in Naluchi, Muzaffarabad; that they had occupied as refugees from the other side of JKA (Kupwara) in 1949. after migrating in 1947.
The man on the ground representing the 'strong arm of the law' was Deputy Commissioner (DC hereon) Muzaffarabad Nadeem Janjua, who used all available tools in the British colonial manual to allegedly detain, intimidate, harass, torture, beat and blackmail Malik Waseem and his family.
He was following orders from the Supreme Court of AJK, claimed he and almost every other asset of the 'governance system' in Muzaffarabad.
Yesterday morning, news reached most parts of AJK that a stolen car (from Lahore last year) with government of AJK number plates, was in the 'custody' or 'use' of DC Muzaffarabad.
According to the following video report by a Pakistani news channel, namely City 41:
From 05:46 in the video....
DC Muzaffarabad is clearly implicated as 'custodian' of this stolen vehicle. The presenter also mentions that DC (Muzaffarabad) implored the owner to not publicly disclose this information; that the stolen vehicle with government of AJK number plates, was found in the DC's 'custody'.
On the contrary, DC Muzaffarabad Nadeem Janjua issued the following press note, yesterday too:
In this press note, DC Muzaffarabad Nadeem Janjua claims to have nothing to do with this stolen vehicle and considers it to be a cunning conspiracy against him and the 'honourable' office that he holds. He finishes by declaring that he is in the process of taking stern 'penal' action against all these 'conspirators'.
I wonder what action he should anticipate, if he is found guilty in a responsible court of law?
Will the endemically corrupt governance system in the State of AJK - even as much as investigate - his alleged 'misuse of authority' on an increasing list of alleged crimes?
Or in the words of a learned co-citizen: Will anybody investigate the Pakistani TV channel City 41?
Remaining with yesterday, DC Muzaffarabad summoned Malik Waseem's elder brother Malik Naeem to his office - on the pretext that he wanted to show him some shelters (fabricated building structures) - for the alternative land that the government of AJK had arranged, as compensation for Malik Waseem and his family (which incidentally is already disputed by two other parties).
DC Muzaffarabad Nadeem Janjua
Leaving aside for now the legal basis for this contrived agreement (blackmail according to Malik Waseem), DC Muzaffarabad is alleged to have kept Malik Naeem restricted to the former's office all day and ended with open threats to the latter. Ranging from, "Bring your brother Malik Waseem here or else I will make all hell break loose on your family once again," to "This time I detain your brother, I promise you that you will never ever see him again," to "Go get lost, you will not get any land" and "Go to Modi, where you belong!" etc.
Meanwhile, this is how Malik Waseem may have felt on January the 17th 2022:
Meanwhile, the following was a protest outside national press club Islamabad today, by students in response to Punjabi students conducting a lethal attack on Kashmiri students at Qaid e Azam University a few days ago. They demanded that the attackers be immediately arrested:
Some positive developments today at Maqbool Bhat Shaheed Square - Dadyaal.
The local municipality (Baldiya) has begun taking serious steps to clean the square and keep it clean. I've been picking up rubbish for the past 17 days and today municipality workers have positively changed their approach too by also coming to pick up the remaining rubbish, rather than simply sweeping the rubbish under foliage once a week, as they used to do.
I'm told that the fixed bin that I requested a few days ago is also arriving soon.
The weather has transformed over the past few days, which has had a positive impact on our electricity supply. It now rains every day compared to the very hot and dry weather we witnessed in the preceding days and weeks beforehand.
Meanwhile, today is Day 16 of our daily 2 hour workshop at Maqbool Bhat Shaheed Square - Dadyaal. We are trying hard to get the local municipality (Baldiya) to fulfill its cleaning duties of the public square.
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Students from AJK are a minority in Pakistan's universities where they have a 1% quota (despite our relatively larger input into Pakistan's economy) and where they are denied most of what other communities are given. For example, it is reported that no 4 students from AJK can converge together on a university campus, they cannot create their own union, society or club and they cannot promote their own ideas or culture. It is believed that the following violence which left many of our students seriously injured - one in a critical condition - and led to their possessions being looted from their hostel accommodation, erupted due to a disagreement over entitlement to hostel accommodation:
When one sits to write, some themes automatically come to mind. Yet, it is more important to ensure that all aspects of public life in AJK are given due attention. They can broadly be divided into 4 categories, in my opinion:
1) Security
2) Governance
3) Economy
4) Culture
....
The following is a reminder of what the basic requirements of civilisation are:
Here is what is written in the intro to this video embed:
Taraqi aur taaqat ka raaz:
Safai, safai aur safai se aghaaz!
Maqbool Bhat Shaheed Square - Dadyaal
A translation of the first two sentences is in order:
The secret of power and development:
Begins with cleanliness, cleanliness and cleanliness!
Thankfully, we have achieved some respite over power outages since yesterday!
I can now begin concentrating on other immediate needs and concerns, all related to governance of course.
....
We decided to monitor the electricity supply again today (for the 4th day in a row) when we recognised it dropping again!
1205hrs: Electricity goes
1416hrs: Electricity returns
1641hrs: It departs again
1701hrs: It returns again
1801hrs: It goes again
1901hrs: It returns
2342hrs: It departs once again
0000hrs: Monitoring ends....
Total:
- Thus, in 12 hours of monitoring between (1200hrs to 0000hrs/midnight) we received 491 minutes of 720 minutes possible.
- That is, 8 hours and 11 minutes received out of 12 hours.
Percentage of electricity received today: 68.2% (0% low voltage)
Percentage of electricity received yesterday: 80.9% (0 low voltage)
Day Before Yesterday: 20.1% of which 4% was low voltage
Day Before The Day Before Yesterday: 51.7% of which 11.5% was low voltage
Thus, we can bring the current electricity monitoring process to a close for now. At least, until the next such crisis re-emerges. We can give a (mean) average to the last 4 days of monitoring thus: 55.3%
It can be safely assumed that when we are hit with such crises in AJK, we are unlikely to receive much more than 12 hours of electricity in 24 hours a day. This is an example from Dadyaal, the richest subdivision (tehsil) in AJK and amongst the most affected by the building of the Mangla Reservoir in the 1960s. The situation in other parts of AJK becomes much bleaker, the poorer that subdivision is.
It should also be remembered that the territory of AJK produces more than 10 times its own need, in terms of hydro powered electricity. This is but one prime example of how and why we are occupied by our Muslim neighbours to the west viz. Pakistan.
As anticipated, our electricity supply is dwindling by the day....
By midnight this morning, it had been absent since 1934hrs yesterday evening (4 hours and 26 minutes).
As I tried to sleep regardless - at around midnight - I remembered the following before I woke at 0600hrs this morning.
0007hrs: The electricity flickered on for a split second before disappearing again (It has now been gone for 4 hours and 33 minutes at a stretch!)
0011hrs: It flickered for a split second once again.
I do vaguely recall the electricity coming at around 0200hrs (after more than 6 hours). I also remember it coming and going before I woke at 0600hrs.
0604hrs: Electricity returned
0610hrs: Electricity disappeared again.
0632hrs: It returned
0643hrs: It went again
It is now 0718hrs at the time of writing and we are without electricity. Of course this affects our whole way of life, not least the water supply which relies on being pumped in by an electric motor.
0745hrs: I left home and it hadn't returned yet.
1020hrs: I returned home after my 2 hour daily stint at Maqbool Bhat Shaheed Square and the electricity was running.
1101hrs: The electricity departs
1109hrs: It returns
1151hrs: It goes
1156hrs: It returns
1910hrs: It goes (this the longest period of electricity supply received in many a day! 7 hours and 14 minutes uninterrupted)
1913hrs: The electricity returns
1929hrs: It goes again
1938hrs: It returns
2103hrs: It goes
2200hrs: It returns
2353hrs: It leaves us once again.
At midnight, I had to close monitoring for the day, in order to obtain some much needed rest.
Overall, a marked improvement in electricity supply was noticed today. Here's the stats:
Total:
- Thus, in 15 hours and 25 minutes of monitoring between (0600hrs to 0745hrs) and (1020hrs to midnight) we received 748 minutes of 925 minutes possible.
- That is, 12 hours and 28 minutes received out of 15 hours and 25 minutes.
Percentage of electricity received today: 80.9% (0 low voltage)
Yesterday: 20.1% of which 4% was low voltage
Day Before Yesterday: 51.7% of which 11.5% was low voltage
Continuing our monitoring of electricity supply in Dadyaal:
0001hrs: Electricity disappeared
Soon after I feel asleep and woke at 0600hrs to find that there was no electricity but it was raining thankfully. No doubt during the night it came and went a few times but I obviously was unable to monitor it.
0704hrs: It returned.
0711hrs: The electricity disappeared again.
As I leave home around 0745hrs and remain out in the field till 1000hrs I couldn't monitor the electricity during this period; not until I returned home at 1020hrs and found there to be no electricity.
1030hrs: It came but at a low voltage
1036hrs: The voltage normalises
1044hrs: Electricity disappears
1050hrs: It returned for just 3 seconds
1059hrs: Electricity returns
1130hrs: It leaves us again
1134hrs: It returns
1159hrs: It goes again
1259hrs: It came again
1303hrs: It went
1307hrs: Electricity returned
1314hrs: It left again
1323hrs: It returned
I then retired for my afternoon nap....at c. 1330hrs
I got up again at 1630hrs....in between no doubt it came and went a few times
1648hrs: It disappears again
1857hrs: It returned after more than 2 hours
1934hrs: It went again and didn't return until over 6 hours later the next morning.
A dark evening!
Total:
- Thus, in 12 hours and 25 minutes of monitoring between (0600hrs to 0745hrs), (1020hrs to 1330hrs) and (1630hrs to midnight) we received 150 minutes and 3 seconds of 745 minutes possible.
- That is, 2 hours 30 minutes and 3 seconds received (of which 6 minutes were of low voltage) out of 12 hours and 25 minutes.
Percentage of electricity received today: 20.1% of which 4% was low voltage.
It is without a doubt that the governance system around us - AJK son of Pakistan son of Imperial Britain - is rapidly disintegrating. The electricity we are receiving in the highest revenue generating tehsil (subdivision) of AJK (namely Dadyaal) is dwindling by the day. It is now easily less than 12 hours a day and the voltage is also rapidly deteriorating. There is no longer sufficient current to run a fridge and the ceiling fan also turns at a speed barely enough to generate a superficial breeze.
Not a day passes when we see multiple examples of our forests being burned out. All other aspects of governance have a similar gory tale to tell.
....
It was somewhat refreshing to read the following document:
Here's the comment that I made after reading it:
Thank you Jonathan. I found that quite insightful in some respects. I would just say among other important criteria for successful mediation in conflict resolution; the two that are most important in my opinion (and experience of over 17 years of uninterrupted on the ground action-oriented research in Jammu Kashmir & Allied areas) are genuine & representative inclusion of the affectees of conflict in any process and for that process to not be bound in time, it should be for the long haul, until resolution.
Meanwhile, I hope you are keeping well? We met quite a long time ago, one evening at a coffee shop in Islamabad, Pakistan.
End of comment....
The document above can be accessed on LinkedIn here.
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Today I'll provide you a real-time insight into our electricity woes in AJK and specifically in Dadyaal, as I sit literally sweating on my keyboard:
1500hrs: Electricity arrived
1532hrs: Electricity departed
1646hrs: Electricity arrived (albeit at a very low voltage, not enough to make the ceiling fan spin at any reasonable speed!)
1718hrs: The voltage perked up to its regular voltage!
1753hrs: Electricity departed once again
1922hrs: Arrived
2034hrs: Gone
2044hrs: Returns
2111hrs: Gone....and its raining
2132hrs: Returns as rain recedes
2144hrs: Gone again
2153hrs: Back again
2202hrs: Gone yet again
2300hrs: The electricity returns once again and remained until midnight.
Total:
- Thus, in 9 hours of monitoring between 1500hrs and midnight we received 279 minutes of 540 possible.
- That is, 4 hours 39 minutes received (of which 32 minutes were of low voltage) out of 9 hours.
- Barely half, which would average out to be around 12 hours out of 24.
Percentage of electricity received: 51.7% of which 11.5% was low voltage.
....
Earlier in the evening in Dadyaal, there appeared to be the first real protest against the power shortages meted out to this territory, despite producing more than ten times its need. There was a protest a couple of weeks ago but that was mild and brief. This was fiery, reports tell me.
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Yes, the following is as absurd as it is true in the 'water kingdom' of Asia:
It seems true that humans work most efficiently when they operate their daily lives like clockwork - organising themselves like a machine - after all, isn't the human body a complex machine that thrives on order?
Where balance is maintained and productivity realised through controlling the emotions and making them adapt to various regular tasks at hand.
Hard work always pays off if one is patient and persistent enough. Though admittedly, it appears to be a foreign trait for most of our people, especially in the context of selfless pursuits. They can quite understand it if it is related to selfish pursuits though. Indeed, the latter is even celebrated!
Day 6 without interruption at Maqbool Bhat Square in Dadyaal.
A few steps forward can be followed by a few steps back but we have to keep on driving ourselves forward. Its the overall journey that matters.
Despite everything, today is Day 5 of our 2 hour 'Public Policy Workshop' - between 0800hrs and 1000hrs - at Maqbool Bhat Shaheed Square in Dadyaal. No interruptions or complications so far.
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Further disturbing news of intensifying occupation of AJK:
According to sources, the Pakistani navy and airforce have been alloted 6 kanaals (0.75 or 75% of an acre) of land for a resthouse in Sudhan Gali - Bagh, the province of Jammu in the State of Jammu Kashmir.
End of translation....
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Raging forest fires in AJK. The following example is of Pateeka:
Day 3 of a 2 hour routine (0800hrs to 1000hrs) at Maqbool Bhat Shaheed Square in Dadyaal. Scene of the most impactful event yet ref. 21 August 2020.
Picture 1 of 2 (of Facebook post):
Picture 2 of 2 (of Facebook post):
We had difficulties embedding the above post in one go as it seems Facebook has changed its embed settings. You can go direct to the post here. For those who don't want to or can't go directly to the aforementioned link, here's the text related to the post:
Urdu:
بہت بہت شکریہ سب دوستوں کا بھی اور سب دشمنوں کو بھی نیک تمنائیں پیش خدمت ہیں۔
کوئی ایسا مسلہ نہیں جو میز پر حل نہ ہو سکے۔
اگر دوستوں کو اس میز کی ضرورت ہے تو مقبول بٹ شہید چوک ڈڈیال آپ کی منزل ہے
English:
Many many thanks to all friends and warm regards to all foes too.
There is no such issue that cannot be resolved at the table.
If friends need this table then Maqbool Bhat Shaheed Square Dadyaal is their destination.
End of text....
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This is why I talk of waste management. The following dreadful example is of Mirpur, sometimes described as mini England:
Today is Day 2 of a new beginning and if it all goes well - as always intended - we will reach the finishing line within a year.
Its a genuine early start today, even though I retired just after 0300hrs and couldn't sleep a wink until I got up at 0700hrs.
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Earlier, in the earliest hour of today's date was posted the following on Facebook:
The embedding feature appears to have been restricted on Facebook, though one can go directly to the post from the hyperlink before the image above. Meanwhile, for those having difficulty reading the text in the image, here it is:
Photographing oneself drinking kahwa (green tea) as a monthly ritual for freedom, to build a world-wide coalition that ensures that no human being is forcibly bonded to another human, ideology or country.
We - the inhabitants of Jammu Kashmir & Allied areas (JKA) - should pledge to the world that what we want for ourselves is not what we will deny to others, under any circumstances.
#LetKashmirDecide
#JKAPoliticalSolutions
#WaterManagement
#DirectDemocracy
#GeopoliticalNeutrality
End of text....
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It is important that we give as much attention to Gilgit Baltistan as possible. Whatever we feel in terms of slavery here in AJK can be multiplied many times over for the hapless aspiring citizens of what can be arguably described as the most strategic of regions in Jammu Kashmir & Allied areas (JKA).
Here are a couple of insights courtesy of the Twitter platform:
متنازعہ خطے کی #Lands کو ہتھیانے کا سلسلہ مزید تیز ہو گیا ہے اور #GilgitBaltistan کی حکومت اور ذمہ دار ادارے خاموش ہے۔#غذر کے تاریخی و جغرافیائی علاقے دنیا کے بلند ترین #PoloGround کے قریب چترال اسکاؤٹس نے علاقے پر مکمل قبضہ جمانے کے لئے تعمیرات کو آخری مراحل تک پہنچا دیا۔ pic.twitter.com/is4YPyC3lh
Efforts to appropriate (dishonest seizure) land in a disputed territory have sped up while the government of Gilgit Baltistan and responsible institutions are silent.
In the historic and geographically strategic area of Ghizer - near the highest polo ground in the world - the Chitral Scouts have taken their construction to its final stages, in order to complete their occupation of the area .
End of translation....
Another example of why governance and State structures must be by the locals and for the locals, otherwise responsibility cannot be defined and accountability cannot be executed:
تعلیم دشمنی نہ منظور
گورنمنٹ مڈل سکول جگلوٹ بالا میں اساتذہ نہ ہونے کی وجہ سے بچے خود روڈ پر نکلنے پر مجبور ہو گئے ہیں۔
Due to absence of teachers the helpless children (supposed to be studying at) Government Middle School Upper Jaglot (in GB) have taken to the streets to demonstrate themselves!
The change process should be mathematical too. Assessing political representation and the decision to enact legislation on behalf of the public is ultimately mathematical too.
The same with public policy, hence our 4 x 4 x 4 recurring formula.
A lot of infighting, denying each other their rights, exploiting each other and trying to silence each other can sometimes appear to be the norm amongst our people. Most of our energies are wasted on such exercises that we have little energy left to focus on understanding the national straightjacket we have been put in, since 1947.
