Daily Diary (DD) - Day 1 of 2022

2038hrs:

I wish everybody a prosperous new year. Another even one is 2022.

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I get the feeling that flags, national sovereignty, development and public policy are going to feature heavily in our public interest activity this year, even more so than in previous years. Hence, the following update:

Influences on JKA to date:

Alternative influences sought to develop world class governance in JKA, subject to the people's reference and without compromising neutrality and sovereignty:

The following photo which has appeared in various media this afternoon - I took it from a Facebook post - provoked a multitude of sentiments in me and I immediately decided to share it with my co-citizens, to elicit a response to the following question:

What do you take from this image?

The photo above - released at one of four points on the LOC where similar exchanges of sweets were made on New Years Day 2022 - provoked a flurry of instant responses from many of my co-citizens, as follows:

1)

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Meanwhile, here's direct footage of the Chelhana-Teetwaal meet of both armies today:

Another date added by Indian & Pak army to exchange sweets -1 Jan 2022.Good to see that.
We hope both the armies will help civilians too to meet on whiteline at LoC.
Let's fix up this year sharda divas to meet at LoC. It will be a big CBM@adgpi @OfficialDGISPR @PakPMO @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/Vtq1pcWAwf

— Ravinder Pandita(Save Sharda) (@panditaAPMCC63) January 2, 2022

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Also on this very eventful day some disturbing news emerged, over which the family of the deceased have asked me to become their voice. 

The following video was released a day after this incident:

Let's clarify the acronym BAT first. It is described by Google as follows: The BAT (Border Action Team) of the Pakistan Army include both regular Army personnel and mercenaries from groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and are tasked to carry out surprise hits on Indian positions along the LoC.

Now, let's move on to the information we have gathered so far:

On this day (the first day of 2022) Muhammad Shabir Malik s/o Suleiman Malik of Sharda was killed by the Indian army - apparently on suspicion of being an armed infiltrator - relatively deep on the other side of Keran (the Indian-controlled side) according to Indian sources, about 36 kilometres south of his hometown Sharda.

Daily Diary (DD) - Day 257 of 2021

1945hrs: 

With so many thoughts and responsibilities going through my mind, it is difficult to pin down what to write but it is important to be as frank as possible. That is my defence as well as attack. I am not working for any ideology with global aspirations but am pursuing geographic nationalism viz. a neutral State with regional as much as global solutions in the shape of water management.

This alone will not save me from political exploitation despite my pursuit being peaceful, educational, economic and cultural.  

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Today was the third day in a row of cross LOC interaction aiming to create cultural possibilities, primarily through rebuilding religious harmony. 

Here's a compilation of videos which cover today's activity:

The following video was taken on the other side of the divide. In Teetwaal village itself:

There was coverage of this event by local media too:

Urdu:

English:

Then, finally at the end of the event I gave my closing statement in Urdu:

This was probably the first time in 74 years that civil society interaction between both sides of divided Jammu Kashmir & Allied areas (JKA) took place in such a manner. Whereby a group of Hindu devotees of Sharda (on this side of the divide) led by Ravinder Pandita (Head of Save Sharda Committee), performed puja on the banks of the River Neelam (Kishenganga) to revive a centuries old yatra (journey), that pre 1947 would begin in Kupwara (now, on the Indian controlled side) and end at Sharda (now, on the Pakistani controlled side).

Ravinder Pandita and a few of his colleagues were also able to come to the bridge linking the two sides. However, civil society on the Pakistani-controlled side were not and in fact were misinformed by the Pakistani army that no such activity is happening on the other side.

What was essentially a cultural event striving towards long lost religious harmony via people to people contact on both sides couldn't escape the arousal of political sentiment when all 3 co-existing nationalist narratives in the contested territory of JKA came face to face.

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Daily Diary (DD) - Day 197 of 2019

1124hrs:

A lot of attention has been focused on what happened in Neelam yesterday. The dead and missing count is rising too....

For a matter of fact, Neelum originates around Sonamarg in Indian Occupied Kashmir and the flows into Pakistan administered Kashmir through Gurez and ends in Muzarafabad.

So this river is being diverted from #Kashmir to Kashmir to kill Kashmiris.

OK Genius. https://t.co/5gUP3D9rP3

— The God’s Particle! (@BurhanSpeaks) July 16, 2019

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Here's our second clip of 2 series of public opinion on Sharda. This was taken from the business community in all 16 major hubs throughout the valley and district. Here are the names of the hubs in sequence from South to North:

1) Chelhana
2) Baarian
3) Jura
4) Kundal Shahi
5) Athmaqam (district capital)
6) Keran
7) Nagdar
8) Lawaat
9) Diwaarian
10) Chaangan
11) Dudhnial
12) Tejian
13) Dosut
14) Khwaja Seri
15) Sharda
16) Kel



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Meanwhile, on AJK's diplomatic front we have this to report from Mashad in Iran:

Photo 1 of 2

Chairman Human Rights Commission AJK-GB and columnist Quayyum Raja attended a peace meeting in Iran's spiritual capital Mashad. 

The meeting was held by Attaq Fikar Farhang Sullah and Doosti Tuesday morning in which the founder of the Iran-based Peace Initiative, Dr. Shah Rukh Arab briefed the meeting on peace efforts. He said that cause of conflict in the Muslim world and its solution must be found and everyone should play their role to restore the image of Islam; which is a religion of peace, love and equality. 

Quayyum Raja said he briefly described the cause of conflict in the Indian sub-continent and suffering of the people but delayed going into details till the next meeting. 

Photo 2 of 2

Khanum Sus Nake, Khanum Masooma Mahmoodi, Afghanistan representative Syeda Tahmeena, Tajik representative Dr. Huma and Dr. Abadullah also described their peace efforts and pledged to continue their work for the noble cause. 

End of report...

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