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
The Malik Waseem 'Land & People' reference case has taken a new turn, especially after civil society (X-LOC) made contact with the actual inheritors of this concerned evacuee property earlier this month. Many thanks to Romi Sharma in particular:
This has obviously shaken the land mafia of Muzaffarabad and their accomplices within the so-called 'nationalist' fraternity in the capital, both at home and abroad.
Dr Shabir Choudhary zeroes in on this point in the following video:
"Pakistan is sending the wrong message to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Dispute of Waseem Malik, resident of Muzaffarabad, must be resolved honourably so that he can care for his wife and children."
(Update) 1853hrs on 20/11/2022:
Dr Shabir Choudhary continues with Malik Waseem's theme in a consecutive video, while also responding to some feedback:
"Accession treaty and India’s obligations. Who is responsible to protect the rights of Waseem Malik?
Under the obligations of United Nations Security Council Resolutions Pakistan cannot violate fundamental rights of people of Jammu and Kashmir."
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.
....
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.
....
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.
....
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:
Its a bright day and I will be going absolutely mute at 12 noon, just after I make a video appeal to the people of Luton and Kotli.
Meanwhile, here is my 'Public Will':
A Public Will
Life is dear to everybody, irrespective of its quality.
Some live with a purpose, some don't.
Some live long, some don't.
Some achieve their objectives, some don't.
I believe it is better to die active, rather than live passive.
Everybody has a set of priorities in life...
Selfishness and selflessness will always compete.
Some live for the moment, some live for eternity.
.....
I will go mute (silent) from 12 noon on the 10th of February 2022 at Martyr's Square (Shaheed Chowk) Kotli, I will continue to communicate with humankind in written form until and if I have to conduct a hunger strike till death.
I have been living in a 'lawless territory' called AJK since April 2005.
I want to create a world-class system of governance here - from scratch - using peaceful, ethical, legal and democratic means.
If I don't receive timely support in health, wealth and time from my co-citizens - at home and in the diaspora - it would be criminal on my part to continue a passive existence. My conscience will remain restless and I would prefer to exit the honourable way.
Irrespective of how and when I leave this world, I do not want to be medically treated in any shape or form preceding my exit. No tablets, no injections, no insertions and no operations.
Dead or alive, I do not wish to leave the territory of AJK or JKA under any circumstances.
I wish to be buried right on the 'bloody line' ('Khooni-Lakeer') - equidistant between Indian and Pakistani troops - known as the Line of Control (LOC) or ceasefire line (CFL) that divides JKA. The nearest point from Shaheed Chowk Kotli - as the crow flies - is Dabsi in Nakyaal tehsil at c. 24 kilometres.
I wish for my grave to hoist 4 white flags at each corner for eternity, as a testament to my struggle for peace in this region.
Reference to my action-oriented research during my struggle here can be accessed via: ajkpublicagency.org or tanveerandkashmir.blogspot.com
I have been able to publicly document only about 10% of the work that I have done so far and some people have been given access to the remaining 90%, which I hope they will make public after my departure.
In conclusion, if people wish to speculate as to why I've taken these drastic measures, they should understand that our territory is being permanently divided between India and Pakistan imminently and both countries have already taken concrete steps in that direction. I wanted to avert that with a fool-proof strategy but I cannot do so - if an insufficient number of my co-citizens are willing to provide the necessary attention and devotion - required to successfully complete this task.
I do not want to live to hear this exclamation from the rest of the world:
زندگی ہر ایک کو عزیز ہے، اس سے قطع نظر کے اس کا معیار کیا ہے۔
کچھ لوگ بامقصد جیتے ہیں اور کچھ بغیر مقصد کے جیتے ہیں۔
کچھ لمبا عرصہ جیتے ہیں، کچھ نہیں جی پاتے۔
کچھ اپنے مقصد حاصل کرنے میں کامیاب ہو جاتے ہیں اور کچھ ناکام ہو جاتے ہیں۔
میرا ایمان ہے کہ غیر متحرک فضول زندگی جینے سے بہتر ہے کہ متحرک موت قبول کر لے۔
ہر انسان کی زندگی میں اپنی اپنی ترجیحات ہوتی ہیں۔۔۔
خود غرضی اور خودداری کا ہمیشہ مقابلہ رہا ہے۔
کچھ لمحہ بھر جیتے ہیں، کچھ دائمی طور پہ جیتے ہیں۔
۔۔۔۔۔۔
میں 10 فروری 2022 رات 12 بجے کے بعد خاموش ہو جائوں گا، گوکہ میں تحریری طور پہ باقی انسانوں سے رابطہ میں رہوں گا اور اگر مجھے تا مرگ بھوک ہڑتال کرنے پڑے۔
میں اپریل 2005 سے آذاد جموں کشمیر میں رہ رہا ہوں جہاں مکمل لا قانونیت ہے۔
میں یہاں ، پر امن، اخلاقی، قانونی اور جمہوری طریقہ کو استعمال میں لاتے ہوئے مکمل طور پہ بین الاقوامی معیار کا حکومتی نظام لانے کی جدوجہد کر رہا ہوں
اگر میرے ہم وطن شہریوں سے، جو یہاں پر آباد ہیں یا بیرون ملک آباد ہیں، مجھے بر وقت صحت،وسائل اور وقت اپنے ہم وطنوں سے نہیں میسر ہوا تو پھر میرا فضول جینا مجرمانہ فعل ہے، میرا ضمیر بے تاب رہے
گا اور میں ایک باعزت طریقے سے یہاں کوچ کرنے کو ہی ترجیح دوں گا۔
اس سے بالاتر کہ میں کس طرح
اور کب اس دنیا کو چھوڑ جائوں، میں مرنے سے پہلے کسی طرح کا بھی طبی علاج کی سہولت نہیں لینا چاہوں گا، یعنی کوئی گولی، انجیکشن یا
آپریشن یا کسی دوسرے طریقے سے میرے جسم میں کوئی چیز نہ ڈالی جائے اور نا ہی نکالی
جائے،
زندہ یا مردہ، میں آذاد جموں کشمیر یا ریاست جموں کشمیر و متحدہ علاقہ جات کی دھرتی
کسی طور پہ نہیں چھوڑنا چاہوں گا
میں ریاست جموں کشمیر و متحدہ علاقہ جات کو تقسیم کرنے والی خونی لکیر جس کو سیز فائر لائن یا لائن آف کنٹرول
بھی کہا جاتا ہے، انڈیا اور پاکستان کے فوجوں کے عین
درمیان دفن ہونا چاہوں گا۔
شہید چوک کوٹلی سے عمودی
لائن میں 24 کلومیٹر کے فاصلے پر تحصیل نکیال میں ڈبسی نزدیک ترین علاقہ ہے۔ اس خطے میں امن کے لئے میری جدوجہد کی شہادت کے طور پر، میری خواہش ہو گی کہ میری قبر پر چار سفید جھنڈے لہرائے جائیں۔
میری تحقیق برائے عمل کا حوالہ
مندرجہ ذیل لنک میں موجود ہے،
ajkpublicagency.org
میں اس وقت تک اپنے کام کا صرف 10٪ عوام کے سامنے
لا پایا ہوں اور بقیہ 90٪ کام کے لئے کچھ لوگوں کو اپنے کام تک رسائی دی ہے، جس کی مجھے امید ہے کہ میرے مرنے کے بعد
وہ اس بقیہ کام کو عوام کے سامنے لائیں گئے۔
نتیجے میں، اگر لوگ یہ قیاس کرنا چاہتے ہیں کہ اس طرح کہ ہنگامی اقدامات کیوں کرنا چاہتا ہوں تو ان کو اس بات کو سمجھنا ہو گا کہ اگلے چند ماہ میں انڈیا اور پاکستان پہلے سے ہی مستقل طور پہ جو ہماری دھرتی تقسیم ہے، اس کے لئے مزید اقدامات کرنے جا رہے ہیں،
میں اس عمل کو روکنا چاہتا تھا ایک بھرپور حکمت عملی کے ذریعے سے لیکن میں نہیں کر سکا کیونکہ ایک غیر معقول تعداد میں میرے ہم وطن میری مدد کر رہے ہیں لیکن مطلوبہ تعداد جو اس کام کو مکمل کرنے چاہئے وہ ابھی نہیں ہے
22% now - target 51%
میں دنیا سے یہ سننے کے لئے یہاں نہیں رہنا چاہتا ہوں کہ آپ 75 سال تک کہاں تھے؟
تنویر احمد، ایک محقق اور آذاد جموں کشمیر میں عوامی حکمت عملی کے لئے متحرک کردار ادا کرنے والا
........
Here's my address to the Kotlians of Luton:
......
Update 1600hrs:
Syed Shafqat Gillani Sb has been supportive from the outset. He's watching my back like a true soldier of the soil:
For those of you who cannot read the Urdu text in the FB post above:
کوٹلی شہید چوک ۔۔۔۔ راجہ تنویر احمد خان
نے شہید چوک کوٹلی میں بھوک ہڑتال کا اعلان کر دیا
ٹھیک چار بجے
پہلے مرحلے میں خاموشی اختیار کرینگے
دوسرے مرحلے میں تامرگ بھوک ہڑتال شروع کر دینگے ۔
راجہ تنویر احمد کا کہنا ہے
ملک وسیم مظفرآباد کیس سے ثابت ہوتا ہے کہ آزاد کشمیر میں کوئی قانون نہیں ہے اور میں یہاں عالمی میعار کا نظام بنانے کے لیے جدوجہد کر رہا تھا
۔ ملک وسیم کو میرا ساتھ دینے کی سزا دی جا رہی ہے ۔۔اس حال میں میرا جینا بے مقصد ہے ۔۔۔۔۔
........
Update 2200hrs:
So, as anticipated....
The reason for putting Malik Waseem in jail is so that the administration - marshalled by the gentleman who was educated in public policy on British tax payer money - Commissioner Masood ur Rehman - can work on getting Malik Waseem's family to agree to a 'deal' to forego their claim to stay on (not own) Ratan Singh and Sardar Singh's land in Naluchi Muzaffarabad.
These are all old tactics of greedy inhumane bureaucrats and associated land mafia to get their way.
The AJK administration is getting desperate and will make further errors along this hard road of the 21st century.
They will not get away and will be punished as intimated before.
They think they've covered their tracks by putting the 'nuisance' away in jail until they get the deal they want.
Has started early; as much commotion has occurred over the past couple of hours, on either side of the midnight clock:
I had just updated some diary data for February the 1st 2022 which featured Saddaqat Mughal Kashmiri and Malik Waseem Kashmiri. A few minutes later (c. 2300hrs on 07/02/2022) I received information that the home where Malik Waseem's family was staying - after being evicted from their home in Naluchi Muzaffarabad - had been surrounded by Muzaffarabad police. They were looking for Malik Waseem who has gone underground for many days to evade the police. They - police > DC > Commissioner > an entangled web of beneficiaries want to make use of the increase in land price to evict poor IOK refugees from 'evacuee property' actually owned by POK refugees, namely the descendants of Ratan Singh and Sardar Singh of Naluchi, Muzaffarabad.
Here's the daily diary entry for the 1st of February 2022:
It has long been our primary public policy goal to facilitate the return of POK refugees and their descendants to AJK and thus facilitate the return of IOK refugees to 48% of the land and over 61% of the population of Jammu Kashmir & Allied areas (JKA). So, let us find Ratan Singh's descendants and then we can take Malik Waseem's family back to Kupwara in IOK. If you want to peacefully, ethically, legally and democratically prevent external demographic change anywhere in JKA, then I urge you to support me in time, health and wealth.
......
It has been tense since midday......While on approach to the courts and after evading the police for many days - despite their increasing vigil at his residence Malik Waseem was beaten and thrashed in public before being dragged to the police station of Saddar in Muzaffarabad, the capital of AJK.
His crime? Standing up to the 'land mafia' of Muzaffarabad.
We have the FIR (First Information Report) too:
I wrote the following note late in the afternoon:
I think all right-minded aspiring citizens of what is described as the 'Free' part of Jammu & Kashmir have long had enough of this bogus, inhumane, ignorant and personality based system which is hell bent on bargaining away 94% of the territory of Jammu Kashmir and Allied areas so that some rich, greedy individuals can exploit the poor people of 6% of JKA, without restriction and accountability.
I assure you, you will all be punished for what you're putting this poor refugee family through. Albeit in a peaceful, ethical, legal and democratic manner.
You are punishing Malik Waseem for his association with me. For his unreserved support in reunifying this State. For wanting all the aspiring citizens of this territory - irrespective of their religious identity and political ideology - to co-exist peacefully and prosper like many other human beings throughout the world.
If you (whoever represents the farce that is the AJK government) do not reinstate Malik Waseem and his family in their home in Naluchi, Muzaffarabad by midday tomorrow (Wednesday February the 9th) I will conduct a hunger strike till death at Shaheed Chowk Kotli, where I have been conducting a 'Public Policy Workshop' for the last 20 days, gradually developing liaison with Bury Park Luton (UK) to assert our right to obtain the original land record of AJK in 1947 and the population census record of 1941.
We have begun dialogue with the UK government on this matter and know that the AJK government and the Pakistani government doesn't have this record. We also know that the Indian government will not provide us with these records.
Bizarre though it is, we thank you for providing all the evidence we need against you.
Allah willing, we will prove 'right is might' once more.
.......
Here's a good report in Urdu with English subtitles presented by KFD TV News which is anchored by Nawaz Majeed. Note: He reads out the ridiculous FIR which is alleging Malik Waseem is defaming the police, the administration and others, in particular the Revenue Department (Mehekma e Maal). Let me remind you of the latter term here.
.........
I couldn't resist sharing this prompt from Facebook.
2 years and the 2 Assemblies:
AJK Legislative Assembly and Public Assembly - AJK
Loka Ni Assembly - AJK in Pahaari
Let me provide the whole note of the Facebook post above, for the reader's ease:
The 'cruel joke' behind me is the #AJKLegislativeAssembly - #Muzaffarabad - #AJK
It and its variants have successfully designed the most greedy, ignorant, lazy and public-fund-loss-making enterprise that perhaps the world has ever seen.
We created its alternative - #PublicAssemblyAJK - #LokaniAssemblyAJK
Based on well over a decade of publicly funded and rigorously researched representative public opinion data, unlike the 4th and the 24th of October October 1947, both of which referenced the 'people' of Jammu Kashmir.....but had no documentation to prove they were abiding by the majority of public opinion.
The public were not equipped to make any other decision than to tolerate or welcome the Indian and Pakistani armed forces into this territory.
In 2022 we are equipped with everything but do not know how to assemble it.
Yes, engagement on Malik Waseem's issue remained till about 0700hrs.
I sent the following plea to my co-citizens near and afar:
There is a lot that the diaspora in the 'free world' can do to assist the inhabitants of AJK to achieve a system of world-class governance and clarity on national identity, even as much as they enjoy these benefits to some degree wherever they are.
Even just complimenting the people's struggle on the ground here in AJK with polite inquiries to the tax revenue receiving authorities here can make a big impact on endemic corruption, especially in matters related to 'land'.
We lost a lot to external land grabbers in 1947 and are unfortunately matching them gradually inch for inch with internal land grabbing by 2022.
If we continue to ignore these life and death issues we will soon no longer be able to attach any identity to our existence.
End of note....
I did get some sleep at about 0830hrs but was woken up by Malik Waseem's call at c. 1230hrs. He had already rung me an hour earlier but couldn't succeed in waking me up at that first attempt. Waseem said he was about to meet the Commissioner and would update me after he was done.
I haven't been able to speak to him yet, at the time of writing.
Malik Waseem's issue has captured a lot of serious attention and many a cynical eye will try and focus on his impassioned plea to Narendra Modi, prime minister of India since 2014.
As I had engaged many a co-citizen near, far and wide: some of the more serious elements have been in contact with me, keen to learn of what progress has been made. The following is what I've shared:
1730hrs:
Many thanks...I have yet to get clarity on today's proceedings, from the horse's mouth so to speak. The last update was around 1pm whereby Malik Waseem was in discussion at Commissioner's office. Meanwhile, his nephew has sent me a fresh video of the sit-in protest of their womenfolk. That continues....apart from that many politicians from 'mainstream' Pakistani parties have also visited the sit-in protest since yesterday evening...
Evening in the vicinity of Malik Waseem's home:
Various 'nationalist' parties (as opposed to pro Pakistan parties) have also shown solidarity to the victim's family. The following poster is issued by Kashmir National Party (KNP) which Waseem was also a part of during his young political career:
2200hrs:
I haven't spoken to him since 1pm...Have left a few messages for him but he's either in continuous discussion with the administration or other political workers/social activists who have effectively surrounded him.
What we do understand is that the Commissioner is not in agreement with Malik Waseem's side of the story..
An early start and as per tradition it cannot happen on a better day viz. Monday..
Let's begin connecting the dots that link what was enforced (migration) on the inhabitants of Jammu Kashmir & Allied areas (JKA) in 1947 to the endemically corrupt internal land mafia of AJK in 2022.
Justice like life is not a linear curve, it is circular. The 'chickens do come home to roost' eventually.
We'll start with Dadyaal in the morning and then move on to the capital Muzaffarabad in the afternoon, evening and beyond midnight.....
Last week, a local journalist also covered this deeply troubling subject of land corruption with Waheed Raja:
Just to give our readers a comprehensive insight, the following video from another distraught expatriate namely Pervaiz Iqbal was recorded in February 2021. I particularly liked his address to the Pakistani PM viz. "You must decide whether you are in power or in the opposition. If you're in power then do something about the corrupt land mafia!"
..........
Now, some of you will remember Day 348 of 2021, Malik Waseem and Ratan Singh's land in Naluchi, Muzaffarabad adjacent to the 'Sixth Kingdom' (Chatti Badshahat) of the Sikhs.
I'll just reproduce the text of the above Facebook post here below:
The dysfunctional status of the 'AJK' State has reached its lowest depth yet. The people of JKA were forced to migrate in 1947 in all directions, depending on their religious identity. We then had further wars followed by enforced water/electricity projects to uproot our people yet again, some repeatedly. In the meantime, we had many Pakistani nationals settle here - some by stealth and some by connivance - while many of our people were forced to either settle in Pakistan or further afield. The remaining scheme of devious population transfer has been fulfilled by the endemically corrupt land mafia. The following is the freshest example available:
Malik Waseem's family were uprooted from Kupwara in 1947 and despite being allotted land since 1949, they were forcibly evicted from their home in Naluchi, Muzaffarabad this afternoon, without due process and prior notice. True to form, the AJK administration including the Divisional Commissioner of Muzaffarabad appear to be powerless to do anything about it. It is almost 0100hrs (1am) now and Malik Waseem's family is still out in the cold with nowhere to go. His father was rushed to hospital earlier in the evening after a suspected heart attack.
Further details (including a letter to the Commissioner) are available at: https://tanveerandkashmir.blogspot.com/2021/12/daily-diary-dd-day-348-of-2021.html
As any regular reader of this weblog can assess, we move from logging one issue to the next - usually without much respite - and the following issue demanding our attention relates to 'Evacuee Properties' or 'Matrooka Jaidaad', as they are referred to in Urdu.
Like most problems affecting the public here, they all either originate from the needless conflict imposed on this region in 1947 or relate to governance - usually the absence of it - and both aspects are usually inter-related or even inter-dependent, when searching for sustainable solutions.
......
Before we enter into specific details of the case I am focussing on; let's provide an overview of the status of the revenue department (Mehekma e Maal) in AJK, courtesy a video report by Dunya News (a prominent Pakistani media channel) on March the 1st 2018:
Let me provide a word for word translation of the video above:
Tazeem Yasin (presenting journalist)
According to jail records there are about 800 prisoners in Azad Kashmir, of which most prisoners have (allegedly) committed a crime - in relation to land disputes - and have landed behind bars in prison.
Lawyer in Muzaffarabad
Our whole judicial system relies on cases generated by the land revenue department. Of which the basic framework begins with the patwari (lowest rung of land record keeping and collecting staff) system, that has held all the public of Azad Kashmir as hostage and I think that if there are reforms conducted within the revenue department, the courts would just have 20% of cases left to resolve.
(Another) Lawyer in Muzaffarabad
Those who are in jail at the moment, those who are facing trial or serving sentences, most of them are comprised of those people who are embroiled in land disputes. Due to the revenue department, particularly due to their incorrect inputs on land record documents. There are murder cases, of which many are due to these incorrect/false inputs on land record documents.
Tazeem Yasin (presenting journalist)
According to judicial statistics too, the cause of most crimes committed is the weak and bogus system of the revenue department.
Journalist in Muzaffarabad
Disputes over land have increased so much, that prisons are being filled and there are thousands of cases which transfer from one generation to the next. The fundamental cause is that written note of the patwari, which who knows developed in which era.
Tazeem Yasin (presenting journalist)
In this modern information technology age we (are still) using a land revenue system developed in the 16th century, which has not been reformed yet. Whereas the hand of the criminal is equipped with modern tools to alter the land record.
As the revenue department's system is outdated and bogus, large financial scandals in Azad Kashmir are also emanating from this very department.
End of translation of video report......
Let's now move on to the private land of Ratan Singh (his widow Kishna Bi) and Sardar Singh (his widow Guru) of Naluchi in Muzaffarabad city, which so happens to be adjacent to the land of the 'Chatti Badshahat' (translated as 'sixth kingdom') in reference to Guru Gobind Singh, the 6th Guru of the Sikhs, after whom this Gurdwara is named.
In old(er) records the names Ratan Singh and Lakha Singh (both sons of Santoo Singh), Sardar Singh, Balwant Singh, Kishna Bi (widow of Ratan Singh), Guru (widow of Sardar Singh), Virnaam Singh, Jagat Singh, Bhagat Singh and Preetam Singh (all aforementioned four were sons of Hukam Singh) who had shared landholdings with Pakka Singh, all feature. Most, if not all of these Sikhs would have very likely had some devotional or even occupational connection with the 'sixth kingdom' of the Sikhs of Muzaffarabad:
We are in search of their descendants wherever they may be in the world, after being forced to flee in the 2 nation theory based 'operation' in 1947. Not least, so that they can help prevent the same tragedy happening to someone else, as happened to them in 1947. Everything does come full circle and humanity has a tradition of biting back.
We know that Ratan Singh and Sardar Singh had children. We also know that the Sikhs living in the area of Naluchi and Gojra - in the vicinity of the gurdwara - were one of the first areas that the tribesmen from Pakistan's then North West Frontier region and beyond attacked around the 22nd of October 1947.
This particular issue has been brought to my attention by Malik Waseem, the son of Ghulam Qadir, whose father was Ahmed Malik, whose wife was Sarwar Jan, the paternal grandmother of Malik Waseem. After Waseem's paternal grandfather Ahmed Malik died in 1952 his paternal grandmother Sarwar Jan later married Sher Khan in 1958. The following is the original certificate confirming proprietary rights ('maalkana huqooq' in local parlance) to this family (to Sarwar Jan) of the land of Ratan Singh (and his descendants) on 25/06/1986:
The above certificate of ownership cannot be obtained without the following declaration form, which clarifies details of the land in question, construction on those lands, details of members of family with proprietary rights, date of initial habitation (occupancy) and date of being allotted:
Malik Waseem's family (grandparents) had migrated to Muzaffarabad from Kupwara in 1947, which came on the Indian side of the divide. Specifically they migrated from what is now Union Council Luderwan, in tehsil (subdivision) Handwara - which was then part of district Baramulla - and is now a part of district Kupwara.
They began habitating on this land in 1949 since when they have been settled here, prior to which they had lived in a refugee camp, since they migrated in 1947. On 16/05/1968, Waseem's paternal grandmother Sarwar Jan was allotted 12 kanaal and 5 marla.
Here's the document (Allotment Chit in local parlance) confirming this:
Kanaal = a unit of area measuring 605 square yards (505.857 square metres) or 1/8th of an acre.
Marla = there are 20 marlas in 1 Kanaal
Malik Waseem's paternal grandmother had over the years forfeited a total of 9 kanaals and 3 marlas to 6 other refugee families who she felt were needy and deserving while retaining the remainder of her entitlement (3 kanaal 2 marlas) for her descendants.
The land in question (3 kanaal 2 marlas) is documented below with the land revenue department ref. 27/06/1986 (2 days after receiving the ownership certificate as shown at the beginning of this post):
Khevat = was Zamindar\'s record of rights prior to Zamindari Abolition
The fifth and final official document outlining her entitlement can be witnessed in the following image, which in local parlance is described as 'Khasra Gardaawari' as recorded before the re-distribution of land in 1997, in reference to the area in question namely 'Naluchi':
.....
(Update 18/01/22 at 0134hrs):
A lot happened yesterday viz. 17/01/22 and remains unresolved....
I received a call from Malik Waseem at about 1630hrs and sent out the following message when the call ended:
Our friend Malik Waseem has been evicted from his home by AJK police. His family migrated here from Kupwara in 1947. The land belongs to a Sikh family (Evacuee Property) who we have been trying to trace for the last month or so. His whole family is now conducting a sit-in protest on the road and he is threatening to commit suicide in the next hour or so if the Commissioner Muzaffarabad division does not intervene.
The following video was attached too:
The rest of the evening yesterday and up to this point have kept me engaged with Muzaffarabad, a couple of other places in AJK, the UK diaspora and their North American counterparts.
Just over an hour later....
His father has suffered from a suspected heart attack while sitting on the road after being evicted. His elderly mother, wife and 2 young children are also on the road and the police are still giving them a rough time. Meanwhile, Malik's father has been rushed to Ambor hospital:
Malik Waseem's father at Ambor hospital, Muzaffarabad:
At about 2100hrs I am informed that the commissioner suggests that there must be a written complaint in order for official action to be taken. I know Malik Waseem is in no condition to write a complaint and thus I suggest that he send me an audio clip with the necessary details to intimate to the commissioner, which I will then summarise in written form on his behalf.
Here's the letter to the Divisional Commissioner of Muzaffarabad:
Complaint ref. Land issue/eviction from evacuee property
Complainant:
Malik Waseem s/o Ghulam Qadir
ID Card number: 82203-5742876-9
Address: Mohalla Naluchi, Ward number 25, Muzaffarabad - AJK
Addressed to: Divisional Commissioner - Muzaffarabad
Copies to: Global human rights organisations & related miscellaneous
Date: 17/01/2022
Time: 1947hrs
Dear Commissioner
My family (ailing parents, wife and infant children) and I have been sitting outside on the
street since around 1500hrs (3pm) today when we were forcibly evicted from our home by
Saddar (Thana) police - earlier while only womenfolk of the house were present - and they were accompanied by tehsildar Syed Sabir Hussain Naqvi. Our property was sealed in an
opportune manner, without prior notice.
No such legal order to evict us and/or seal our property has been passed by the civil,
session, custodian, high or supreme court. We do not know who ordered this 'action'.
At around 1800hrs (6pm) while sitting with my family on the roadside and whilst trying to
fend off the police and local administration my elderly father suffered a heart attack - he
wasn't allowed access to his medicine at home either - and has since been admitted at
Ambor hospital.
On the 14th of January our stay of execution had been dismissed from civil court number
one. We appealed against this in the district judge's court and received another stay of
execution this morning. Having received this order and before I could reach home I
received a call from my parents that the police had forcibly entered our premises,
frightened my children and humiliated the womenfolk of my house.
Over the past few years, I have been writing excessively on these issues and raised them at
various public forums over the past few years but never received appropriate remedy.
Background:
Raja Tariq Khan was a judge in the Custodian court who visited England some years ago
and during that visit my adversary in this case namely, Sheikh Faisal s/o Fayaz Qureshi
(who resides in the UK) fed many people money in the (land revenue department) chain
from top to bottom, including judge Tariq.
The term 'zaid ul mayaad' (English translation means overdue) was quoted in the earlier
supreme court hearing. Our argument is that we have been living here since 1949 and fraud has been conducted to evict us. It is been allotted to someone else whilst we were still
residing here.
These lands belong to those non Muslims who were killed or driven away from this
territory.
As refugees ourselves, we were allotted this land in 1968 and had been occupying it since
1949. In 1985, we also paid 'maalkana' to the custodian for effective formal occupancy.
Since then, nobody has questioned our presence till 2019 when an application was made in
the tehsildaar's office. Patwari Ghulam Abbas Qureshi at the time misguided my father to
challenge the allotment claimed by the other party (our adversary), which didn't even have
legal status. Thus, the patwari instead of correcting our record put my father on a
deliberately misguided course, as a result of which a 'miyaadi' (effectively time limitation
clause) was enforced.
Demand:
What I am demanding is a comprehensive re-inquiry be conducted of this whole case,
which I allege widespread fraud has been committed over. A commission should be formed comprising of honest people. All the manipulation of land records in the revenue
department should be investigated. For example, the land that we have been allotted (to my paternal grandmother Sarwar Jan); if we cannot stay here then where is the land that we
have been allotted? Who has committed fraud and at what stage was it committed?
I feel that this act is simply a conspiracy to spread anarchy in this region and to spoil the
peaceful environment of AJK. This I understand. The authorities have humiliated and
disgraced us. They have forced us to conduct a sit-in protest on the roadside with nowhere
to go in this freezing cold.
My father is in hospital at the moment and if anything untoward happens to him, I did say
that I will immolate myself (burn myself to death). I have momentarily retreated from that
because the administration is saying that they will now measure the land in question. I
responded that if they do so, then we will get up from the roadside. If indeed the land
measurement exercise clarifies who is entitled to occupancy.
I also put these questions and dilemma to Muzaffarabad's social and political organisations. Furthermore, even local human rights organisations, the press and lawyer's bodies. Is
trespassing into a home of womenfolk and disgracing them an act of humanity? Is this the
standard we have set ourselves? Is duplicity in all matters the norm and are we all resigned
to that?
We remain peaceful. It should be remembered that it was this very AJK government that allotted this land to us and we do not want to fight. All we can do in reaction is sit on the road and protest. At the moment my father is critical in hospital. May Allah give him life and
health. Everything now depends on his unfolding condition and we will lay out our next
plan of action accordingly.
If anything happens to my father I will immolate myself as well as my wife and children;
either in Gilani Chowk, outside the press club or even inside the supreme court itself.
Yours sincerely
Malik Waseem
n.b.
The above letter is a translated summary derived from an audio message in Urdu and sent
to Tanveer Ahmed, an action-oriented public policy researcher working uninterrupted on
the ground in AJK since April 2005.
The audio message as well as further background details on this issue can be accessed at
I'm obviously working now beyond midnight and I do know that a range of negotiations
are taking place near Malik Waseem's 'home'. Here's an example:
As I wrap up for the day - at 0350hrs - some people may wonder why I'm stretching myself to assist Malik Waseem. Well, he has always stretched himself to assist me in matters of public interest - whenever I contacted him - since 2010. He has assisted me in all aspects of our pursuit to revive religious harmony in AJK in general and revitalise the pre-eminent centre of learning at Sharda.
He suffered and faced victimisation as a youth in his student politics days when he was with the JKNSF, facing jail and the prospect of sectarian violence. He feels that he has been targeted more intensely when he acted as one of the hosts of the Hindu (Vijay Abrol) and Sikh (Devinder Singh Behal) in Muzaffarabad, when they visited from across the LOC in 2013.
Needless to say, there are a lot of people who don't like the idea of co-existence, especially between the Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims of Jammu Kashmir & Allied areas (JKA). Anybody working on that line is automatically targeted. Most of us know what happened to Arif Shahid soon after this visit.
According to Malik Waseem, matters intensified when he assisted me in hosting a Hindu couple from Hong Kong when they visited Muzaffarabad in October 2019. The couple achieved a milestone by conducting the first Hindu puja (worship/ritual) on the banks of the river Neelam (Kishenganga) in AJK since 1947.
All told, everything has to be taken into consideration, given that we are part of the most contested territory in the world. The word 'land' takes on new dimensions here. The role of the land mafia ironically connects internal land-grabbing of 2022 with external land grabbing in 1947!
