Portmir Foundation

From Mahmood Ahmed Musafir's search for modern-day governance in 2018 to the Maharajah's dream of a neutral state in 1947. How can we connect the sham democracy of AJK with our diaspora living in a mature democracy in the UK. DAY 47 #ajk #AjkMagayAzadi Quote of the Day “It...

Those who argue that 'Kashmir' is really the Valley of Kashmir and that 'Kashmiris' are really the ethnic Kashmiris of the Valley are engaged in deliberate disinformation. They want you to think that they are making ethno-linguistic claims about the people we call "Kashmiris"...

Politics and politicians herd us like sheep into a protective ‘national’ net that restricts and exploits us rather than allow us to utilise our strengths. It has now been nearly three months since my naani (maternal grandmother) reunited with her brother and sister. They were...

What do we mean by the term ‘cultural heritage’? For my British-Pahari readers, I have compiled a series of short posts to educate them about their cultural heritage, as a means of showing them that modern identities have never been around since time immemorial. Identities...

I can recall quite vividly my first foray into the world of “anti-Mirpuri” racist dribble-dribble that still goes on in the world of social media. It began like this... People everywhere want to learn something about their past. I did too. I was born in the UK. The...

Vali Nasr, author of ''Forces of Fortune - the rise of the new Muslim Middle Class and what it will mean for our our world" said, "The truth is that that the West's best ally against fundamentalism and extremism in Pakistan is not, and never was, that...

Language is a miraculous ability unique to humanity, conveying culture and identity as a means of communication, among kith and kin as well as the wider world, to learn more about other nations and communities. However, in the modern era, it is tragic that...

There comes a point for members of any community to stand up and be heard. And that time has come for members of my community, the British-Pahari community otherwise known incorrectly as the ‘Mirpuris’. For far too long, our absence from the discourse on...

As in my earlier post on Israel and competing myths of exclusive origin, Kashmir serves as a good example of national myths and territorial claims. But unlike Israel, ‘Kashmir’ has a special place for us. It is the place from where our forebears originated...

And here lived, beneath the receding waters of Mangla, my people, once upon a time. As her waters recede, and the green grass shimmers in the full glory of the sun, we are taken back to the memories of our forebears, only...