Daily Diary (DD) - Day 88 of 2026

0321hrs:

A false start again but not quite in the manner of previous false starts. I did try and go to sleep, admittedly as late or as recent as 0200hrs but of course I couldn't get to sleep, despite a firm shut-eye policy.

Let's hope we can build on this and make our mark before our looming 21st anniversary of returning 'home'.

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Another trip to Dadyaal looms later this morning, to remember the following gentleman:

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Public Finance Update:

Number of co-citizens who have paid their share (over 20 years): 

16

Number of co-citizens who have paid a portion to date, since direct public funding began in 2012:

213

Number of co-citizens who have promised to pay:

86

Number of co-citizens I have directly contacted since the 9th of October 2025 (of total 5,000):

580

Cash in Hand: 58,890

Cash Deposits: 266,128

Immediate Debts: 0

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Daily Diary (DD) - Day 47 of 2026

2306hrs:

An 0800hrs start it was, though posting at this late stage is dangerous, even if it is in the wake of a funeral of a writer. A rare commodity in AJK.

Quayyum Raja on the death of Younus Taryaby, who died yesterday afternoon in Mirpur city (Sunday 15 February 2026):  

A gentle giant with a clean heart. 

Ideologically and actively committed to the very end. 

May the Lord bless his soul and enable our co-citizens to ensure all his written work is archived and publicly available. 

Writers are rare in our society. 

They need to be celebrated. 

JKA PUBLIC AGENCY Note: #E223016022026

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Public Finance Update:

Number of co-citizens who have paid their share (over 20 years): 

16

Number of co-citizens who have paid a portion to date, since direct public funding began in 2012:

208

Number of co-citizens who have promised to pay:

86

Number of co-citizens I have directly contacted since the 9th of October 2025 (of total 5,000):

539

Cash in Hand: 41,280

Cash Deposits: 261,795

Immediate Debts: 0 

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Daily Diary (DD) - Day 69 of 2020

1129hrs:

Aah..that faithful vehicle..........needs utmost public attention.

So much so that our senior companion over the past few days Younus Taryaby felt inclined to post the following:



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Daily Diary (DD) - Day 67 of 2020

2136hrs:

Anchoring in Dheerkot tonight while noting local culture and hospitality........very cold, almost persistent rain since we entered the Poonch belt en route to Muzaffarabad on Wednesday the 4th of March, 4 days ago.

Observing an 80 year old researcher and political activist over the past 4 days, leaves me in wonder at his determination and ability to negotiate travel in such weather, when landslides are most likely while trying to cover a good portion of AJK, in the space of 5 days.   

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Daily Diary (DD) - Day 353 of 2019

1054hrs:

Our 3rd day in Dadyaal as our friends in Mirpur are not yet ready to proceed.

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We had a long but wonderful session at Taryabi ni Baithak in Balathi near Khadimabad in Dadyaal. Shafaq Hussain of Kashmiri Worker's Association in Britain and pioneer of the KNIC (Kashmir National Identity Campaign) in Britain also participated and contributed with his valuable suggestions, along with other local members of civil society. Here's an Urdu write-up on the event by Taryabi Sahaab:



Here's a belated upload (updated: 2100hrs on 22/12/19) of just a glimpse of the discussion: 



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Daily Diary (DD) - Day 317 of 2019

1522hrs:

I picked up some sort of flu virus on Saturday and till today, have yet to recover.  

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Many thanks to Younis Taryaby Sahaab for his hospitality and advice yesterday:



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I wonder if there could be similar measures adopted for J & K? After all, this is also in the list of British political legacies:

UK ministers threaten sanctions on Hong Kong officials https://t.co/XyDDx6bMIu

— The Guardian (@guardian) November 13, 2019

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Daily Diary (DD) - Day 246 of 2019

2335hrs:

So, it appears that my second online petition to the UK parliament has been rejected too!

The first was rejected after 5 days while this second one took 18 days to obtain a response of rejection.

Link to notes on 1st rejection.

Details of email on 2nd rejection:

"Support democracy in an internal J & K political process, not Indo-Pak hegemony."

It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do.

Petitions need to call on the UK Government or Parliament to take a specific action. We understand that you're concerned about the political situation in Jammu and Kashmir, but we're not sure exactly what you'd like the Government or Parliament to do. 

There are already petitions about the situation in Kashmir, which you might like to sign if they call for something you'd like to happen. You're more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition. 

Table Kashmir issue before the UN Security Council as an urgent threat to peace. 

I cannot sign the above because the UN only discusses this issue in respect of the divergent territorial claims of India and Pakistan. Their suggestions are non-binding (thus, unenforceable) and don't even consider us the primary stakeholders. This is not a question of accession, so holding an unlikely plebiscite would be pointless. This is a question of the 'right to rule' of the inhabitants and the UK has conveniently shifted responsibility from itself under its own created Indian Independence Act (that determined the rules and format of power transfer) and disenfranchised us further by repeatedly quoting non-binding UN resolutions.  

Urge India to de-escalate conflict and respect the special status of Kashmir.

This petition also cannot be signed because the special status was only a stop-gap measure adopted by the Indians to curtail local aspirations for the right to rule. It was practically eroded over the decades and has lost its utility. What is internally required throughout the divided parts of J & K is an internal political process. Defined and determined by the local inhabitants without external interference. This would be the most effective means of finding a durable solution. It would be democratic and representative, however the UK seems disinclined to support democracy in this region whereas it has shown a lot of vigilance in other parts of the world. 


Click this link to see your rejected petition: View your rejected petition

After detailed consultation with my co-citizens it has been agreed that I will continue pursuing the Petitions Committee for a response to questions raised over these rejected petitions. I will also continue pursuing my local MP for an EDM (Early Day Motion). Finally, I will also complete reviewing a book written by my co-citizen Younis Taryaby which sheds light on the British role in dividing Jammu and Kashmir and denying the right of rule to its people.

Meanwhile, I am now going to make my 3rd and final attempt - using this online petition medium - to effectively ask the UK to take their share of responsibility in resolving this unavoidable dispute.

Here's the text of my final online petition to the UK parliament:

(Update 06/09/19 at 0505hrs): 

We are still deliberating over the text of this petition.

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Having said all that, a lot has happened in London today, which provides indication of a far more assertive Kashmiri or internal or AJK or J & K narrative.

It has been widely reported that 3 conformist (conforming to the Pakistani narrative) politicians of AJK; namely the current AJK PM Raja Farooq Haider, a previous PM of AJK Barrister Sultan and the leader of the opposition in AJK's assembly Choudhary Yasin were not permitted to speak at the march today, which formed a large procession beginning from Hyde Park via Parliament Square to the Indian High Commission in Aldwych:



Here's another angle:



We will have to assess to what extent was this an endeavour by the Jammu & Kashmir diaspora and how much of it - if at all - was encouraged in a practical sense by the Pakistani State. We understand that there was a code of conduct agreed upon many days ago, that there wouldn't be any other country's flag used in the march, except that recognised as the flag of 'Azad Kashmir'.

Here's an example of the very few exceptions:



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Daily Diary (DD) - Day 245 of 2019

0521hrs:

Working for your nation upon whom your neighbours and some of those further afield have spent vast resources to keep ignorant is clearly an uphill endeavour. 

Its just as well that we live in the foothills of the Himalayas, where each peak reminds us that the sky isn't beyond reach.

The discussion continued in Dadyaal yesterday and many thanks to the Azad Kashmir Adabi (Literary) Society and Younus Taryabi Sahib in particular for summarising the meeting in the following post:

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Another meeting of national interest took place in Dadyaal yesterday, at a different venue and at a different time:

In discussion with Sardar Sagheer Khan of Rawalakot

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Conditions in Gilgit Baltistan will continue to be an almost constant feature here. Our politicians of the Kashmir Valley neglected Ladakh and look at what we are facing today in terms of State dismemberment. We in AJK cannot afford to commit the same crime with GB:

#Hasnain_Ramal, #socialmedia activist & leader of Awami action Tehreek was #arrested & #tortured on 22nd July 2019 & stopped him carrying out protest in front of #UN sub office in Jutial, #Gilgit. 1/3#FreeHasnainRamal pic.twitter.com/RnyRlbuHVz

— Sayeed Ali Baig (@SayeedAliBaig2) September 2, 2019

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This sounds like its travelling in the right direction, indeed it even validates my focal point about this being the end of Indo-Pak bilateralism in Jammu & Kashmir. A process I've been arguing against since my Rising Kashmir days in 2011:



If you can't read the text in the post above, here it is:

Speaking with the PM of “Azad” Kashmir this afternoon. He says the dispute is between India and the people of Kashmir and that Pakistan has no claim on the territory. Hence it cannot be resolved as a bilateral issue.

So said Phillip Bennion, a British liberal democrat MEP (Member of European Parliament) for the West Midlands. Though I would maintain that this is a pertinent matter for the UK parliament.

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Daily Diary (DD) - Day 222 of 2019

0257hrs:

Plugging on........

Meanwhile, interest towards Jammu & Kashmir in the UK has increased exponentially to unprecedented levels.

We even have some biting poetry from the 'Land of Blighty':

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Remaining on the theme of absent responsibility in reference to the United Kingdom on J & K, the following FB post sheds further light on the matter:



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