Daily Diary (DD) - Day 161 of 2020

1525hrs:

Managing everything is a rough ride......in such a society...

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Another statue of a British slave trader bites the dust:

UPDATE: The statue of slave trader Robert Milligan has now been removed from West India Quay.

It’s a sad truth that much of our wealth was derived from the slave trade - but this does not have to be celebrated in our public spaces. #BlackLivesMatterpic.twitter.com/ca98capgnQ

— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) June 9, 2020

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Returning closer to home, here's a short video of women and children of our territory in (Dathote) Paachot, Rawalakot marching for a long standing demand in public interest. All they want is a metalled road but the local authorities have proved powerless in fulfilling such a basic demand:

آزاد کشمیر کے راولاکوٹ کے ایک گاوں بہروٹہ پاچھیوٹ میں اپنے حقوق کے لئیے احتجاج کیا۔

آخر کب تک ہمیں اپنے حق سے محروم رکھا جاۓ گا۔#FreeKashmir#Kashmir@AKLM_Official @sahaafi @khawajaatteeq pic.twitter.com/Yeo5kAzobc

— AKLM_0FFICIAL_URDU (@AKLM_0FFICIAL) June 9, 2020

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Daily Diary (DD) - Day 160 of 2020

2345hrs:

Leaving it late once again. The heat is rising and life is no less hectic.

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It took a long time for this to happen but the #BlackLivesMatter movement has certainly come home to what could arguably be described as its original source:


For those of you who can't read the FB caption:

The moment a statue of slave trader Edward Colston is pulled down in Bristol city centre during #BLMbristol

Also rolled down the street & dumped in the harbour...

Little History...

Edward Colston ran a company that shipped 84,000 kidnapped African men, women & children to the Americas - 19,000 of these are estimated to have died during the crossing.

Also it was dropped into the water under Pero’s Bridge - Named after an African slave brought to Bristol.


If that’s not symbolic I don’t know what is.

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The following piece of news is very disturbing and signifies the first Kashmiri Pandit casualty in this needless conflict since 2003. Ajay Pandita was popular amongst his Muslim voters, many of whom travelled many kilometres and defied many of their co-religionists to vote for him as their sarpanch (local community level political representative). He had also returned from exile some years ago and put trust in his fellow citizens to keep him safe. Alas, he appears to have been murdered by some frustrated teenagers. 

This is the reverse of what we need. May the Almighty give his family patience and give us the sense to realise the damage we are doing to ourselves by committing these insane acts. We have a lot of hard work to do ahead:

Shocking to hear that terrorists gunned down a kashmiri pandit sarpanch in Lookbhawan Anantnag today afternoon.He was residing in his ancestral renovated home. Trust gap widens.Kashmiriyat stabbed by islamic jehad again.I am saddened as a peace builder.This is not done. Om Shanti pic.twitter.com/BFiJ0oNzyE

— Ravinder Pandita (@panditaAPMCC63) June 8, 2020

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One feels humbled to read about such events, even if one is relying on a colonial traveller to tell the tale. I also wonder if others have written on this event from 1863:

An account of a generally unknown massacre of civilians in Yasin Valley conducted by Dogra soldiers in 1863.https://t.co/v9t4YM8yNT

— The Kashmir Discourse (@TheKDiscourse) June 8, 2020

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