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
Visitors
Friday 26 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 208 of 2024
Thursday 25 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 207 of 2024
2317hrs:
Have managed to delay my son's circumcision by a few days, so that by the time I reach Kotli, arrangements will have been made.
So, I will be moving forward in 1st gear tomorrow morning from Gurutta (my janam bhoomi) to Thriya, soon after dawn.
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Wednesday 24 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 206 of 2024
2319hrs:
Still in 1st gear but duties related to the circumcision of my 18 day old child need to be carried out before I can leave.
Tuesday 23 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 205 of 2024
Monday 22 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 204 of 2024
Sunday 21 July 2024
Saturday 20 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 202 of 2024
Friday 19 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 201 of 2024
Thursday 18 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 200 of 2024
Wednesday 17 July 2024
Tuesday 16 July 2024
Monday 15 July 2024
Sunday 14 July 2024
Saturday 13 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 195 of 2024
Friday 12 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 194 of 2024
Thursday 11 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 193 of 2024
Wednesday 10 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 192 of 2024
Tuesday 9 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 191 of 2024
Monday 8 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 190 of 2024
Sunday 7 July 2024
Saturday 6 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 188 of 2024
Friday 5 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 187 of 2024
Thursday 4 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 186 of 2024
Wednesday 3 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 185 of 2024
Tuesday 2 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 184 of 2024
Monday 1 July 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 183 of 2024
1505hrs:
A bit of a lax day today. Slept at c. 0100hrs and did get up at 0800hrs but fell back asleep until 1300hrs. That amounts to almost 12 hours of rest in a 24 hour cycle. Unacceptable!
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Sunday 30 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 182 of 2024
Saturday 29 June 2024
Friday 28 June 2024
Thursday 27 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 179 of 2024
1445hrs:
Dealing with everything from its source, particularly in relation to the system of 'governance' which appears to be designed by the devil no less.
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Sleeping just beyond midnight but getting up at 1000hrs is simply not good enough on my part.
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Wednesday 26 June 2024
Tuesday 25 June 2024
Monday 24 June 2024
Sunday 23 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 175 of 2024
0851hrs:
Another 0800hrs start although I did wake at 0630hrs. I am getting to sleep now soon after 2300hrs.
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in the midst of everything else, I almost forgot before I was reminded of this appointment this evening. Many thanks to Progressive Voices on Facebook for giving us this opportunity:
Saturday 22 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 174 of 2024
0928hrs:
An 0800hrs start and an indefinitely full calendar till death.
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Friday 21 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 173 of 2024
Thursday 20 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 172 of 2024
0904hrs:
Slept at 0400hrs and got up at 0800hrs. Lack of sleep always catches up at some point and ill-timing has its effect too. A lot of work remains to be done in this area.
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Wednesday 19 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 171 of 2024
Tuesday 18 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 170 of 2024
1400hrs:
Yesterday was perhaps the most relaxing day in the year, given it was Eid. The forest fires are not only consuming our environment, they are also consuming our souls. A friend mentioned yesterday evening that he witnessed a line of peacocks perched on the grill of a masjid on the main road in a nearby village crying. He came closer to them and could see their tears gushing out from their eyes. It appears that they had nestled some eggs in the forest and now that the forest was burned out, they were crying over losing their children.
We humans (living in the territory of AJK) are transgressors of the highest order as we remain inactive while seeing our forests ruined on a daily basis.
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Monday 17 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 169 of 2024
Sunday 16 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 168 of 2024
0953hrs:
So much to do and everything is possible. It just involves putting everything in the right place at the right time by the right people.
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Saturday 15 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 167 of 2024
2359hrs:
It was almost too late and it can happen. We have missed the midnight deadline a few times before, at times by a matter of seconds.
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Friday 14 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 166 of 2024
1346hrs:
A lot of commotion in the past 36 hours or so. The public is running after the police who have 6 of our co-citizens captive, currently at Bhimber jail. I didn't sleep until beyond 0400hrs because of constant communication but did get up at 0900hrs. Again, the quantum of sleep is not bad but the timing is.
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Before the storm in Kotli was a contemplative calm in moza Kraitort, taken there for Day 8 of our village to village campaign reference #AJKReferendum2023 :
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Chor (AJK Police) vs. Police (Public of AJK):
Thursday 13 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 165 of 2024
0929hrs:
Another 0800hrs start even though I couldn't get to sleep before 0400hrs, despite trying since 0100hrs.
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Wednesday 12 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 164 of 2024
1016hrs:
Today I woke at 0900hrs, an hour earlier than yesterday while going to sleep at the same time as yesterday viz. 0100hrs.
My performance has to get better and it will get better.
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Day 6 of our village to village campaign reference #AJKReferendum2023 took us to moza Plait Sayeddan:
Tuesday 11 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 163 of 2024
Monday 10 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 162 of 2024
Sunday 9 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 161 of 2024
1009hrs:
Woke at 0643hrs....incrementally better than yesterday....
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Day 3 of our village to village campaign reference #AJKReferendum2023 took us to moza Channi:
Saturday 8 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 160 of 2024
Friday 7 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 159 of 2024
2031hrs:
Another 0800hrs start....a good habit to improve on....
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Our Friday event at Jammu Chowk, Sehnsa is back to its regular weekly groove:
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Later in the afternoon/early evening we initiated our village to village campaign to reach each and every citizen of our tehsil (subdivision) of Sehnsa. This campaign will visit 1 moza (administrative village) every evening between 1700hrs and 1900hrs. Today, we were in moza Budli, union council Sehnsa:
Thursday 6 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 158 of 2024
Wednesday 5 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 157 of 2024
Tuesday 4 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 156 of 2024
2112hrs:
Getting back into a calm groove after some hectic overload yesterday. 0500hrs is a good time to get up all year round.
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Monday 3 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 155 of 2024
1122hrs:
Managed to sleep just before 2330hrs last night and was able to easily get up at 0500hrs. A storm of pending work is staring me in my face and I better get used to it.
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Here are some excerpts of an article that touched a raw nerve in me:
The Death of Critical Thinking Will Kill Us Long Before AI
Joan Westenberg
Sep 22, 2023
We have witnessed a multi-generational decline in reading comprehension. We read less, retain less of what we read, and struggle to engage in critical analysis. And if this trend continues, we risk undermining the very foundations of our society.
In the bite-sized content and viral media age, too many of us have lost — or are losing — the focus and patience for lengthy, complex texts. We skim and scan instead of closely reading. Our attention spans have shrunk to mere seconds. While technology has enabled the wide dissemination of information, it has also fragmented our thinking. We are overwhelmed by noise and sensationalism.
Clickbait headlines and social media posts appeal to our emotions rather than intellect, making us susceptible to misinformation. We share articles without reading them, simply reacting to provocative titles and abstracts. The context, nuance, and accuracy no longer matter. Objective truth has become secondary to subjective feelings and base impulses.
Without reading comprehension, we cannot thoughtfully process information and make reasoned decisions. We lose the ability to thoroughly analyse issues, think critically, understand different perspectives, spot logical fallacies, and weigh evidence. Our opinions get shaped by alarmist rhetoric and confirmation bias rather than facts. We consume information, but we do not truly digest it. This erodes the very foundations of a healthy democracy — an educated populace.
A society that cannot patiently read long-form texts struggles to make sense of the world in ways that enable wise judgment, empathy across differences, effective policies, technological progress, economic justice, scientific reason, and fact-based truth to prevail over misguided beliefs. Reviving reading comprehension may be among the most urgent priorities for the future of civilisation.
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Sunday 2 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 154 of 2024
Saturday 1 June 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 153 of 2024
Friday 31 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 152 of 2024
Thursday 30 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 151 of 2024
1735hrs:
After a false start on the day before yesterday, I'm now firmly back in my groove 21 days after that epoch-changing dawn raid at my home by AJK police in the early hours of the 9th of May (2024).
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I've been waking up at c. 1000hrs almost every morning since that day but this morning, I've managed to bring it down to 0800hrs. Obviously, I need to work harder to bring it down to the optimum of 0500hrs.
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Wednesday 29 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 150 of 2024
2333hrs:
Settling down....a lot to do....mapping the tehsil (subdivision) of Sehnsa.
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Tuesday 28 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 149 of 2024
Monday 27 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 148 of 2024
Sunday 26 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 147 of 2024
Saturday 25 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 146 of 2024
Friday 24 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 145 of 2024
Thursday 23 May 2024
Tuesday 21 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 142 of 2024
Monday 20 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 141 of 2024
Sunday 19 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 140 of 2024
Saturday 18 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 139 of 2024
2323hrs:
A lot of the day spent out and about in Mirpur. Leaving little time for documentation.
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Friday 17 May 2024
Thursday 16 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 137 of 2024
Wednesday 8 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 129 of 2024
1610hrs:
Momentum took me all the way to 0700hrs this morning before I finally fell asleep. I even almost got up for my morning walk at c. 0600hrs but thought better of it as it could have exhausted me for the rest of the day. Instead, I opted to sleep and got up at 1300hrs. It was 6 hours of sleep, an optimum amount but at totally the wrong time of day. Nevertheless, 129 days into the year and we battle on.
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This should be self-explanatory:
Averting a Security Crisis n #AJK via a #Conflict2Peace Strategy..Pls sign the updated petition 2 make up the numbers needed 2 implement this strategy.https://t.co/rISm5jHHKh via @UKChange
— Tanveer Ahmed (@sahaafi) May 8, 2024
FAO:
1) @FCDOGovUK 2) @StateDept
3) @amnesty @hrw
4) @AJIunit @BBCUrdu @dw_urdu @voaurdu
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An Urdu video explanation of the 'Averting a Security Crisis in AJK':
Tuesday 7 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 128 of 2024
Where there is a plan for #Peace it should be embraced & where there is a plan for #Conflict it should be disgraced.
— Tanveer Ahmed (@sahaafi) May 7, 2024
By all thinking humans irrespective of where they live in the world or what ideology they follow. #RightsMovementAJK#Conflict2PeaceInvitationLetterAJK https://t.co/tILLxsZ6oZ
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Monday 6 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 127 of 2024
1240hrs:
Fared a bit better today, waking at 1000hrs after sleeping close to midnight. A lot to do and for that I need to be active for 17 hours a day.
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Sunday 5 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 126 of 2024
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In the spirit of #directdemocracy & in light FD absence of governance in #AJK a citizen application to the public at large in (& of) this territory was made @ #Mirpur on 25/02/2024. The #Security crisis developing here of late has forced us to speed up the process of engagement: pic.twitter.com/It5oOvMaUX
— Tanveer Ahmed (@sahaafi) May 5, 2024
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Saturday 4 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 125 of 2024
1314hrs:
I spent the early hours of this morning (0000hrs to 0300hrs) following Luton Town's progress at the tail-end of their first campaign back in the Premier league after over 3 decades. They pushed hard for a win but remain in a very precarious position, needing the other 2 contenders (Nottingham Forest & Burnley) for the 2 remaining relegation spots to falter in their 3 remaining games.
Luton Town's passion on the field and the spirit of their fans are the talk of the country and it would be safe to say that most 'neutrals' would like Luton to stay up.
On the bright side. the BBC have finally quoted AJK along with my comment for the first time:
Meanwhile, having slept at 0300hrs I managed to wake up an hour earlier than yesterday viz. 1100hrs, thus much improvement needed. One of the positives over the past few days is that I'm maintaining a gruelling 1.5 hour walk soon after waking up and have also begun using light weights later in the day during this period.
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Friday 3 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 124 of 2024
This is a desperate attempt 2 'subvert' a peaceful movement 4 basic rights n #AJK that has struggled n a daily basis 4D last year, with little seriousness shown by d #AJKGovt r its sponsor #Pakistan. This is a last ditch attempt by the occupier 2 sustain a conflict economy here. pic.twitter.com/ULNesxVpVC
— Tanveer Ahmed (@sahaafi) May 3, 2024
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Thursday 2 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 123 of 2024
Wednesday 1 May 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 122 of 2024
Tuesday 30 April 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 121 of 2024
Monday 29 April 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 120 of 2024
Sunday 28 April 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 119 of 2024
0901hrs:
Got up at 0630hrs this morning even though I woke just before 0500hrs. I had gone to sleep at c. 0100hrs.
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I'm really worried about Luton Town Football Club's prospects for staying in the English Premier League beyond this season. A few weeks ago when they had 6 games to go (a possible 18 points) I assessed that they needed a minimum of 10 points to survive. With 3 games to go after yesterday they have accumulated zero points from those 3 games so far while damaging their goal difference by a further 9 goals. They now have a possible 9 points to get and their flaws in defence are being pounced on by other teams, almost at will. Their midfield is also not performing as it has been doing for most of the season, which puts extra pressure on their defence. Most of the players seem exhausted from the season so far and there is much to reflect on in retrospect. What could they have done differently over the season in terms of tactics as well as management of manpower (bringing in other players during all available transfer windows over the past year).
After that win against Bournemouth AFC at home a few weeks ago they were competing with 4 other teams to avoid relegation (namely Crystal Palace, Brentford, Everton & Nottingham Forest). Since then, bar Nottingham Forest all the other teams have had a winning streak and even Burnley - below Luton - have made a late dash to avoid relegation. While there were 5 teams competing to avoid 1 relegation spot a few weeks ago, now it seems there are just 3 teams trying to avoid 2 relegation spots. A lot has changed and Luton have a real uphill task. Something that they are not unfamiliar with, which they could still use to their advantage, at this very late stage of the season.
It's a pity that the local Asian community (with tens of thousands of 'Kashmiris' & 'Bengalis') have not made any inroads into the club despite over 4 decades of living in the club's midst. I suspect that would be more of a fault to be attributed to the local Asian community rather than the club itself, which doesn't discriminate with anybody from anywhere in the world. The local Asian community's participation could have provided much needed finance as well as manpower to a team that deserves to remain in the top flight; for its grit, determination and guile if not anything else.
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Saturday 27 April 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 118 of 2024
Friday 26 April 2024
Thursday 25 April 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 116 of 2024
0800hrs:
Even though I didn't sleep until 0100hrs I did get up at 0500hrs, just like clockwork. Returned to Sehnsa yesterday after a lazy bout of 4 days with the family in Dadyaal.
After struggling to control my sleep pattern since even before the 1st of January this year, I can now safely say that I've 'hacked' the problem from its roots. The change of diet pattern did the trick. I now have a large breakfast in the morning after my walk which lasts c. 1.5 hours...then do a bit of light weights once my breakfast is fully digested after about 3 hours. Then apart from the odd little snack of dry fruit or something similar, I don't really eat anything substantial until early evening before 2000hrs, when I enjoy a milk cereal as dinner. Therefore, no lunch and a light dinner are my 'hack' for daily productivity. I no longer feel the urge to sleep in between or at any point during the day either.
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Wednesday 24 April 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 115 of 2024
Tuesday 23 April 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 114 of 2024
0744hrs:
As if by instinct I am getting up near that 0500hrs target every morning. In fact, this morning I actually got up at 0300hrs, did some work and then fell back asleep to wake at 0615hrs. I have also relieved myself from having to sleep during the day to make up for shortcomings at night.
I feel like I'm raring to go on matters of efficiency. I just need to get back to base in Sehnsa and work on all those pending issues in reference to waste management & soil management in particular.
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Despite not obtaining any income or incurring any expense today our balance has slightly dwindled on account of a c. 2 rupee appreciation of the UK pound cf. the Pakistani rupee:
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Monday 22 April 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 113 of 2024
Sunday 21 April 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 112 of 2024
Saturday 20 April 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 111 of 2024
0910hrs:
Despite getting up at 0630hrs rather than the 'stipulated' 0500hrs I feel that I have broken some barriers or decimated some cobwebs of lethargy that have been present for the past 4 months or so. It so happened that work compelled me to work through until 0300hrs and I didn't eventually get to sleep till 0400hrs, yet still got up 2.5 hours later. My quota of sleep at the time of writing amounts to just that 2.5 hours at the time of writing.
I have also phased in other aspects into my life which will build my daily efficiency. More details in due course.
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Today's budget details:
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Friday 19 April 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 110 of 2024
Daily Diary (DD) - Day 208 of 2024
0653hrs: Preparing to leave my home for that long, engaging and most definitely intriguing walk to Sharda via Sehrmandi, Braali & Kotli....
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2318hrs: Net connectivity was sporadic and almost absent throughout the day today, due to security measures to ensure the annual parade on t...
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Monday 01/06/09 This morning is partly devoted to my cousin, the "disgraced" police officer who has been forced off duty since 200...