Daily Diary (DD) - Day 226 of 2022

1820hrs:

Day 70 at Maqbool Bhat Shaheed Square - Dadyaal.

0748hrs

My punctuality deficit has decreased to 341 minutes.

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I honestly didn't know it would be so but it was. Here's my first video upload of the day:

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This was followed by another video update forwarded to JKTV:

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Then a relatively more comprehensive video was uploaded to this writer's YouTube channel, which also incorporates all the footage hitherto reported above:

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The day's proceedings did not finish here. The next appointment on this writer's schedule was participation in a highly distinguished online forum, hosted by Khurshid Uz Zaman Abbasi on his Washington (USA) based channel Zaman TV USA. The panel included a former chief justice of the AJK Supreme Court (Choudhary Ibrahim Zia), the foremost expert on the UN mechanism on JKA (Dr Nazir Gilani), a former additional chief secretary of AJK (Akram Sohail) and myself:

Here are some observations I made during the programme:

Dr Nazir Gilani at 1:09:00

Pakistan has no case if it does not recognise AJK as a local authority.

Dr Nazir Gilani at 1:10:00

Responsibility for surveillance was to be that of the United Nations, not the Pakistani State.

Further points clarified by Dr Nazir Gilani:

There is effectively no political representation currently in AJK..i.e. Pakistani political parties do not represent the public of AJK...thus, there is no people's reference here.

If the Karachi Agreement is valid then what particular UNCIP responsibilities has Pakistan undertaken? 

In reference to the Chief Secretary (posted as de facto Governor of AJK) Dr Gilani considers that we should be the ones appointing him and make him conform to local requirements.

Pakistani political parties have over-ridden Article 257 (of their own constitution), indeed in the words of Dr Nazir Gilani they have "superseded" it.

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It didn't finish there! For a day that started just before 0700hrs has still not finished at 2300hrs! We remain in Washington for the following Twitter Space, hosted by Washington Group and which also includes world renowned activists:

https://t.co/VTs18CRSmC

— Washington Group (@WashingtonGrp) August 14, 2022

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There were plenty of other incidents in various parts of AJK which gave a very clear message to the Pakistani occupiers on their so-called day of independence. Here's an example from the LOC in Keran, Neelam Valley:

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In the following example from Mandhol near the LOC in Hajeera, Poonch the locals prevented the Pakistani army from taking the local schoolchildren out to a parade to celebrate their so-called independence:

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The capital of AJK viz. Muzaffarabad wasn't to be left out either. Echoes of 'Kashmir Banega Khud Mukhtar' (Kashmir will be independent) resounded throughout the city:

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Daily Diary (DD) - Day 217 of 2022

1340hrs:

Day 61 at Maqbool Bhat Shaheed Square - Dadyaal.

0718hrs

My punctuality deficit has decreased to 465 minutes.

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In the afternoon - given that it was the 5th of August - making a second entry into the Square today was a 'national duty':

1517hrs

Here's some footage of proceedings including a speech by yours truly:

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It is after many a year that we have managed to obtain an - on the record - microscopic view of the Pakistani State narrative on Jammu Kashmir & Allied areas (JKA). 

With all due respect to the 86 year old PMLN chairman Raja Zafar ul Haq, perhaps the most seasoned - Pakistani politician alive - Pakistan only wants a solution that suits it or no solution at all, come what may. 

It is also sadly obvious that Pakistan will continue to lie and deceive the inhabitants of JKA, in order to take as much of the territory it can, even if that means sharing it with China, India, UK, USA or even any other claimant that shows serious intent, as long as it doesn't have to concede an inch to the titled inhabitants.

Courtesy a Twitter Space conversation hosted by Wahid Kashar on JKTV.

I will translate into English important parts of the transcript, in order to prove my assertions:

Please listen, share and comment:

A targeted conversation....on present & future of:#JKASovereignty #GeoPoliticalNeutrality #InternalPoliticalProcessAJK #LokaNiAssembly https://t.co/DEAo4hzioZ

— Tanveer Ahmed (@sahaafi) August 5, 2022

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Some notes on action oriented research, which is essentially the type of research I have been conducting in this region, since April 2005:

Learning by Doing : Action Research and Governance

A great deal of literature exists on the concept of 'action research.' Common among most is the concept that creating dialogue among different groups promotes change through a cycle of evaluation, action and further evaluation, an iterative process. In particular, action research has been described as embracing 'principles of participation and reflection, and empowerment and emancipation of groups seeking to improve their social situation.' 

The World Bank Institute's (WBI) Governance program applies the methodology described both in the piloting of its new approaches to public sector management issues and its dissemination of lessons learned from such pilots and experiences elsewhere. The program arose from a need to provide assistance to those countries and governments seeking to reform an unsatisfactory governance environment.

Reference:

http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2000/04/12384116/learning-doing-action-research-governance

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Akram Sohail is a gifted writer and poet of AJK (retired as a secretary of the AJK government) who has penned the words for the following song:

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Daily Diary (DD) - Day 247 of 2019

2325hrs:

Some of our people have become more pro-active than others it seems. Charoi is a tehsil on the LOC with Khuiratta to its North and Smaahni to its South. A large procession of the public marched towards and beyond the LOC at Keri, near Naarakot earlier today. Police stationed to prevent the procession advancing towards the LOC were pushed aside easily on account of being heavily outnumbered. 

Four local residents crossed and one of them - Hussain Khadim - went to the extent of climbing a pine tree and pinning a flag of Azad Kashmir on it, on the Indian-controlled side of J & K. He was shot and injured by Indian fire, reports indicate that he has survived but remains in a critical condition. He was taken to DHQ Kotli from where he was referred to a hospital in Pakistan's capital.

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Here are some notes made earlier this evening:

The words 'securitise' and 'khidmat guzaar' (serviceman/woman) were floating about in this evening's public conversation in rural Dadyaal.

The following questions emerged for the public of AJK and its diaspora:

Do we not need to think about the security of AJK?

Is this even a part of our imagination?

Or are we just enjoying the Azaadi (freedom) marches taking place in various parts of the world in our favour?

Do we understand the functions of governance?

What is civil society, constitutionalism and public policy?

Indeed, what is public interest research and do we, as aspiring citizens of J & K value it? 

Do we participate in or contribute to it?

When does synchronisation take place?

Who takes the responsibility of identifying it and implementing the people's reference?

The nuts and bolts of an internal political process in AJK, was the title of this conversation....

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So, British engagement will become more intense as we proceed ahead. However, we must move away from the United Nations where the aspiring citizens of J & K have no agency:

We appreciate ur concern & effort n presenting ur points. However, with due respect restoring Kashmir's special status is not d aim of d besieged masses, it is something far more substantial, fundamental & enduring than that. Pls refer 2 IIA passed n ur Parliament n 05/07/1947.

— Tanveer Ahmed (@sahaafi) September 4, 2019

And....

Please watch this short video for further elaboration on IIA (The Indian Independence Act): https://t.co/X1FSiS8pKP
Furthermore, as Britain created this law 4 the transfer of power, it remains their duty to implement it, without leaving any loose ends. We have no stake in the #UN

— Tanveer Ahmed (@sahaafi) September 4, 2019

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Here some more poetry today which I incidentally have a habit of ignoring usually. However, at times a few lines can encapsulate the zeitgeist more accurately than thousands of words of commentary:

Zaalimo ka nahi koi mazhab
Zulm ki sarhadey nahi hoti.

Jo kisi ka uthaaye bhoj chaley
In ki phir manziley nahi hoti

Written in Urdu by Akram Sohail

Translation:

The oppressors have no religion
Oppression has no borders
Whoever carries the burden of others
Then has no qualms about the destination  

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Daily Diary (DD) - Day 242 of 2019

2311hrs:

The Jammu Narrative:

The road to Kashmir's deliverance from centuries of conquest has to pass through an intersection between the divided parts of Jammu.

Tanveer Ahmed

Cover of 'An Examined Life'

We have lived a dream for 14 years, that has had many nightmares in between. 

We learned to float with nature and mankind on our side. Humanity became our measuring tool for all activity. If we faltered as individuals, our mission for Azaadi (freedom) would have faltered too.

Power without responsibility is what we acutely suffer from in the State of Jammu & Kashmir. A country and nation State with structure, institutions, measurable history & geography and a free people, even a defined political entity according to the constitutions of India and Pakistan. 

That is on paper. In theory. Academic. De jure.

In reality, our land is a fierce contest between two armies over water and geography. They have both used religious identity in a calculated way. This de facto status has over-ruled any possibility of humanity flourishing here. 

Nevertheless we persisted in peacefully, legally and creatively contesting this inhumane structure by digging deep.  

A series of minor victories in public interest accumulated over the years and with time various levers of the internal power structure in AJK obliged to consolidate our stance. Our momentum has brought us to a moment where all the world's governments seem to be on one side and Iran on the other - standing in solidarity with us unlike Pakistan who does so with the purpose of claiming the territory for itself - the Iranians reminding the world of our right to self determination, in a resolution tabled in their parliament 9 days ago (22nd of August). 

Yes, Iran has its own fair share of relationship issues with many other nation States but our neutral aspirations a la Switzerland ensure that we do not favour Iran over Saudi Arabia, China over the USA or even Pakistan over India. Or vice versa or any other combination thereof.

With that scenario at one end of the spectrum (international order and regional order), the other end is global civil society; whose currency is human rights, democracy, constitutionalism, minority rights and anti-majoritarianism, civilisation-culture-health-education-tourism, water management, climate change and many other human endeavours. None of which have been given due consideration to since 1947. 

The economy of war in the past 72 years froze much of the public's conscience in its stride and thus, developing an internal political process in such circumstances was a difficult task, to say the least.

In such an environment, the odds are heavily stacked in favour of personal interest at the cost of public interest.

It almost seems as if the whole world is ready to buy us out!

Transparency assisted by communications technology can turn the tide in our favour though, regardless.

We need to maintain a relationship with global civil society based on activism that is universal in appeal, democratic in approach and constitutional in structure. 

It is difficult to speculate about the future. The internal or independent narrative in AJK has been strong for decades but we have suffered and struggled because it is almost impossible to sell peace in a war economy. Now that the floor is wide open after the BJP's seemingly unilateral move on August the 5th...anything is possible. If the Indian State genuinely wishes for no trouble from Pakistan in J & K, it has to assess the merit of J & K's own internal narrative to transform from a war economy to one dictated by peace.

As long as we endure an India vs Pakistan narrative, we cannot break this vicious cycle. That is essentially a war narrative. A peace narrative is something else all together.

We should feel the pain of the Kashmiri Pandit, the Jammu Dogra, the Buddhist in Ladakh, the Ismaili and Noorbakshi in GB as much as we feel the pain of Sunni Muslims in the Kashmir Valley. If we don't want Indians to take advantage of Pandit pain then we cannot possibly open the floor to Pakistan's demagoguery.

A lot of our population in AJK today is incensed at Pakistan's fresh attempt to 'own' Kashmir. A half hour midday vigil on a Friday afternoon was less solidarity with the Kashmir Valley and more business as usual; "Kashmir Banega Pakistan" (Kashmir will become Pakistan); in other words we're the benign ones, the Muslims of Pakistan standing against the oppression of a Hindu India. The latter is oppressing Muslims and thus a Hindu wrong makes two Muslims right and thus the majority of the world - which is non-Muslim -should heed our claim for Kashmir to become Pakistan.  

How logical is that?

Our internal narrative has to rise above narrating pain according to one's religious, regional. linguistic, tribal or sectarian identity. Indeed, we need to be candid about our own shortcomings, which in some aspects tower above the violations of our basic rights by India, Pakistan and the rest of the world.

This internal narrative must be inclusive, respect the right of any part of the erstwhile State of J & K to opt out from re-unification at any stage. The structure of the process envisaged must be representative of the population and the regional and international order should allow this process to take shape without external interference. Whether any part of the divided State wishes to rejoin or break away must be the unfettered choice of its people. Not dictated by the outside world.

This in short would be the parameters of a peace narrative as opposed to a war narrative. 

Indo-Pak bilateralism has failed beyond repair. It is characterised by external manipulation of the local citizenry, non democratic and unconstitutional procedure and an ever burgeoning war economy.

A peace narrative needs no bigger incentive to succeed than the fear of sinking further into a war economy. This also requires us to find solutions to water management and climate change, which should convince global civil society that we have a viable alternative that could provide utility to the world. 

Indo-Pak bilateralism would be replaced by meaningful discussion between those parts of the State with the respective controller of their territory. That is, GB and AJK with Pakistan and the Valley, Jammu and Ladakh with India. This could also entail AJK communicating with the Indian government on matters where we feel they are hindering an internal political process and likewise it could also entail Jammu communicating with Pakistan over any hindrance of the latter affecting them. Having said that, in the main such deliberations would be subject to the internal political process maturing to be increasingly practical. External manipulation would be replaced by internal consensus using local resources. The process would by definition be democratic and constitutional. Then we could seriously begin thinking about the dividends of a peace economy. 

The above paragraph in essence has even been discussed with our diaspora, many of whom are keen to open new channels of discussion to move away from the bilateralism that feeds the economy of war. If the Hurriyat Conference can speak to both countries over the decades and almost at will, there is no reason why both sides of Jammu cannot speak to both countries.

Essential Background: The Internal Political Process AJK > J & K

This whole procedure would be gradual according to the practicality of each step and the capacity of the local population to deliver it. Solutions are never difficult, having the political will to carry them out is far more significant.

The alternatives are quite bleak and the onus is on the aspiring citizens of Jammu & Kashmir to make this internal political process work.       

What is the Jammu narrative?

While pursuing the above, the peace as opposed to war narrative entails that we also shift our focus from a Valley centric solution towards a Jammu centric solution. If the divided parts of Jammu which have suffered the bulk of enforced migration since 1947 and consequent communal casualties can bind themselves back together piece by piece, that would give a geographic cushion to the Kashmir Valley from further Indo-Pak confrontation over them. 

It is ironic that Indian controlled Jammu has suffered from regionalism in favour of the Kashmir Valley by the Indian centre and likewise Pakistan has desired that we - AJK -merely exist for the sake of bolstering their claim for the Kashmir Valley. It is also ironic that since 2005, internal routes within the divided State have opened (with limitations albeit) in the Valley and in Poonch but not in any part of divided Jammu.

Despite what we've gone through - genocide of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs wherever each were a minority - and the lack of attention over our plight, our interfaith bonds and composite culture remain intact across the divide in Jammu. So much so that in the past couple of years Pakistan's intelligence agencies have had to work very hard to try and stem the flow of information between us, generated via social media. They haven't been successful though. At times, Pakistan's intelligence agencies have gone to the extent of threatening individuals here in AJK for engaging in conversations with our non Muslim brethren residing in Jammu.

Now, more to the point......given that J & K is not a bilateral issue and given that each country needs to be engaged with; according to whatever the local population perceives to be a restriction on the very internal political process needed to navigate away from this war economy. We have been trying for the past couple of years to facilitate the visit of Dr. Karan Singh to AJK. However, it appears that the Indian State has never been fond of such an idea. 

Essential background: Reconciliation for divided Jammu & Kashmir; working towards peace

His mere arrival here aged 88 would usher in a new era of peace.

As mentioned on the subject of Sharda earlier this summer, we did try and have a formal on the record (transparent) conversation with the Pakistanis. However, they weren't keen on transparency whatsoever and we as public policy activists - dependent on public funding to uphold public interest - cannot drag ourselves into ambiguity.

We feel that this is an opportune time as civil society in AJK to engage with the Indian State, on the subject of them not putting any obstacles in the way of Dr Karan Singh coming to AJK, if he so desires.

We aim to facilitate his entry into AJK via Khuiratta and indeed wish to discuss this matter with representatives of the Indian State at Tain. Specifically at the pre 1947 intersection where North would take you to Rajouri and South would take you to Jammu. This point is very close to the LOC. 

We have spent over two years (Between 2012 and 2014) on 'softening up' the LOC in Khuiratta and this initiative will merely be a continuation from where we left off.

Essential Background: Cracking the LOC at Tain - Khuiratta AJK 03/04/13   

There is much more to write on this seemingly dreamy subject but so much time, effort, intellect and resources have gone into pursuing what are essentially our basic, fundamental rights; enjoyed by a significant amount of the world's population.

Given that this initiative is essentially a public interest issue and has been derived from lengthy and multiple sources of internal public opinion, we wish to proceed - as always -with the strength of the collective wisdom of our society.

Hence, before we formally put this invitation of a proposed meeting with representatives of the Indian State at Tain - Khuiratta - on the matter of Dr Karan Singh's visit to AJK - to the Indian government, we wish to obtain agreement from the following 3 entities in AJK:

1) All operating factions of the JKLF in AJK
2) PNA - People's National Alliance
3) The AJK Government
         

Note: copies of this letter will be sent out to to all 3 entities tomorrow morning (the 31st of August) and we hope to receive the response of all 3 by the 7th of August.

For ease of communication and minimum ambiguity the following Urdu audio of the English text above will be sent out too:


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I have been singing a similar song for years......

He has a point. Muslims in particular have a knack of running after the dog that didn't actually bite off anybody's ear.

— Tanveer Ahmed (@sahaafi) August 30, 2019

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We are relentlessly pursuing the (belated) enactment of Britain's unfulfilled responsibilities in the avoidable dispute over Jammu & Kashmir:



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I'm feeling compelled to quote and translate some Urdu poetry, despite not being an avid fan of poetry's role in the modern age:

Kashmir

Sach bata do qaum ko ab barmalla
Maar aye kaun sa teer tum
Ab wakaalat kya karogey tum meri
Bech aye ho mera Kashmir tum

Written by Akram Sohail in Urdu

Translation:

Inform the nation of the truth absolutely
What targets have your arrows achieved?
How will you advocate on my behalf?
Now that you've gone and sold my Kashmir

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