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Reclaiming Azad Jammu Kashmir For Her People
The Evolution of AJK Public Agency
Citizen’s Opinion + Citizen’s Resources
=
Citizen’s Control of Public Policy
The most important aspect of modern-day governance is a consensus...
FEATURED
- All
- 'Azad' Jammu Kashmir
- British Politics
- British-Paharis
- Contentions
- Cultural Memories
- Democracy for AJK
- Dispossession
- Featured
- Global Muslim Perspectives
- Health & Fitness
- Identity Conundrum
- Identity Crisis
- Identity DIS
- Imagined Identities
- Indian-Administered-Kashmir
- Kids Corner
- Life Stories
- Lifestyle
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- Paharis
- Pakistan
- Poems
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Remembering the victims of political oppression in ‘Azad’ Jammu Kashmir
Muhammad Ali Murtaza, an innocent young man was brutally tortured to death by Pakistan's army without any explanation and worse, they tried to cover...
Fake News, False Narratives and Identity Politics, Silencing Dissent through Digital...
I’ve said on this site, at various places, that Digital Media particularly through interactive platforms like Wikipedia and Social Media, are vehicles of disinformation...
Protected: Fleeing poverty and becoming poorer; the truth of dispossession
Recently, given my father’s imminent demise, he is terminally ill with leukaemia, I started to ask him about his life in the land of...
Asking the questions, having the discussions!
Appraising Mirpur’s documented history, the story of Kashmir before and after 1846
Mirpur was the name of an historical settlement in the Princely State of Jammu & Kashmir (1846 – 1947), variably known as Kashmir State,...
What’s in a name? A brief look into place-names of the Pahar
Unknown (or often untold) stories live on in the names of villages and towns in the Pahar region of Jammu & Kashmir. Variably known...
Identity DIS Podcasts
Google Search Results; "Mirpuris"
Twitter Search Results "Mirpuris"
Mangla’s Waters
And here lived, beneath the receding waters of Mangla, my people, once upon a time.
As her waters recede, and the green grass...
Who are Azad Kashmiris? Are they Pakistanis, Kashmiris, or Occupied Indians?
Anonymous Quote
“They’re fighting over Kashmir! One way to win this fight is by splitting the people into different groups. When people are divided, or...
Protected: Who are Azad Kashmiris? Are they bonafide Pakistanis, liberated Kashmiris, or occupied Indians?
Anonymous Quote
“They’re fighting over Kashmir! One way to win this fight is by splitting the people into different groups. When people are divided, or...
Reconciliation for divided Jammu & Kashmir; working towards peace
At some point in the not too distant future, Commander Farooq of Mong and Dr Karan Singh, son of the last Dogra Jamwal Rajput...
TOPICAL
The Importance of Cultural History; Kashmir – a Fragmented Land
The immediate thoughts which sprung to mind when faced with the word ‘history’ were recollections of sitting in a high school classroom making notes...
Muslim Ummah Syndrome and Identity Politics
Some years ago, Saudi Arabia proscribed its male citizens from marrying the citizens of four nationalities. Pakistanis were included on this list. The Monarchy had...
Reclaiming AJK For Her People [Video Segment]
EXCERPT from "The Evolution of AJK Public Agency"
"Before arriving here, I can confidently assert that I was neither a patriot, nor a nationalist or...
MOST COMMENTED
Fake News, False Narratives and Identity Politics, Silencing Dissent through Digital Media and Search Engine Manipulation
I’ve said on this site, at various places, that Digital Media particularly through interactive platforms like Wikipedia and Social Media, are vehicles of disinformation and political propaganda. Whatever the nature of an online conversation, be it a family’s travel vlogs, pictures, fashion tips, food...
Ethnic tokenism in electoral politics and the laws of unintended consequences
There was a time when you could walk into any local Labour Party branch meeting in the densely populated Pakistani constituency wards of England, and you would realise that something was breathtakingly afoot. The room would be overcrowded. Almost entirely male-dominated with the usual...
Propaganda and Digital Media; the curious case of Authoritarianism and Online Bullshit
Don't trust everything you read online.
You'll be duped into believing utter tosh. This holds true for Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Had it not been for authoritarianism and control freaks, these spaces would have been wonderful places to learn facts and create vibrant friendships. Sadly,...
The curious case of the anecdote becoming narrative
Internalising the negative perceptions of out-group members is not proof that there’s something inherently wrong with your in-group identity. This has happened to lots of people who have been ‘othered’ through a combination of factors that include inaccurate media portrayals, native informants and unjust social...
Appraising Mirpur’s documented history, the story of Kashmir before and after 1846
Mirpur was the name of an historical settlement in the Princely State of Jammu & Kashmir (1846 – 1947), variably known as Kashmir State, Jammu Kingdom and/or the Dogra Raj. The name Mirpur postdates the principality’s alleged founding in the 1600s. Centuries later, the...
Pakistan’s Article 370 Delusions; the “Azad” State that is not “Free”!
It’s ‘Azad’ - 'Free'.
"Okay!?" "It's Azad!" "Free!"
This is Pakistan’s official stance on 'Azad' Jammu & Kashmir.
But what is Azad Kashmir ‘free’ of?
According to the Pakistani state-enforced narrative, Azad Kashmiris are free from Indian tyranny. Women aren’t being raped by Indian soldiers, and by ‘Indian’ they mean non-Muslim...
Understanding Disinformation and Propaganda on Kashmir
Those who argue that Kashmir is the Valley of Kashmir and that Kashmiris are the ethnic Kashmiris of the Valley are engaged in deliberate disinformation. These sinister interests want you to think that they are making ethnolinguistic claims about the people we call Kashmiris, but...
Whose Kashmir is it? Conflict & Territorial Claims; the abuse of myths
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,...
Why do anti-Semites say “Israeli Jews are not real Jews?”
You must have heard the claim that modern-day Israel is a country with another people’s language and religion?
If you haven’t, antisemitism has become so common these days (I’m speaking of hatred against Jews, and not criticism against Israel), that you’ve probably come across multiple...
The Feudalism of the Western Himalaya; Patronage, Caste Myths and Colonialism
A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting with some local guys as they consumed copious amounts of alcohol to the backdrop of a varied playlist, and it dawned upon me that my opposite number were unaware of the ‘caste-titles’ they were fondly using...
Muslim Ummah Syndrome and Identity Politics
Some years ago, Saudi Arabia proscribed its male citizens from marrying the citizens of four nationalities. Pakistanis were included on this list. The Monarchy had its reasons, no doubt, good or bad; the preponderance of such marriages was given as the primary reason. Apparently, marriages...
Are Azad Kashmiris bonafide Pakistanis?
What's the difference between 'Azad Kashmir' and Pakistan?
Mainland Pakistanis
By the term, ‘mainland Pakistanis’, I am strictly referring to Pakistanis from areas that constitutionally make up the territory of Pakistan. I am not speaking of nationality laws that apply to the citizens of Pakistan, but...
What’s in a name? A brief look into place-names of the Pahar
Unknown (or often untold) stories live on in the names of villages and towns in the Pahar region of Jammu & Kashmir. Variably known as the 'Pahari Ilaqah', or the 'Pir Panjal' region, this area has a rich cultural heritage. The names of our...
Protected: Who taught Pakistanis to hate themselves?
Nearly a decade and a half ago, I got married to a Canadian in Toronto. My mother's incessant demands, innuendoes, emotional breakdowns, insults and 'third party' interventions finally got the better of me. And so I decided to get married in Canada. Little did I...
Protected: Contextualising prejudice within its social and political settings; the phenomenon of “othering”
The following post was updated 30 October 2020
https://youtu.be/97IES3jFOg0
There comes a point for members of a community to stand up and be heard. And that time has now come for members of our community, the British-Pahari community, otherwise less popularly known as the 'Azad' Kashmiris, but...
Colonial myth making and the Martial Races
Heather Streets, author of "Martial Races; the military, race and masculinity in British imperial culture, 1857 - 1914" said,
"...the savage representations of masculinity that lay at the heart of martial race ideology* were a crucial imaginative site upon which Anglo-Indian military elites responded to,...
Race fallacy and social relationships
Steven Garner, author of "Racism, an Introduction" said,
"'Race' is a fiction that we turn into a social reality every day of our lives. It lies at the heart of the complex, historical and multifaceted sets of social relationships to which we attach the label...
The Pahari language of ‘Azad’ Jammu & Kashmir
The Politics behind Linguistic Identities
Aside from popular conventions in how we would transliterate words from one language into another, no corresponding practise exists for the Pahari language as spoken throughout 'Azad' Jammu & Kashmir. Usually Pahari expressions, phrases, and words are transliterated into English...
I’m a person who can talk
I can dance, I can sing
I only do my thing
I can run, I can hide
I take myself with pride
Because I only have one life
Sometimes I’m organised, sometimes
I’m just a mess, and I know
I will always try my very best
Shout out your opinions to me
Cuz...
Reclaiming Azad Jammu Kashmir For Her People
The Evolution of AJK Public Agency
Citizen’s Opinion + Citizen’s Resources
=
Citizen’s Control of Public Policy
The most important aspect of modern-day governance is a consensus on public narrative, which is derived from an orderly aggregate of genuine public opinion. As the citizens of Azad Jammu...
Social media is destroying young people’s lives
Meedi Mydi Media Mo...!
Meedi Mydi Media Mo
I scour the pages of friends and foe
Night and day, a restless soul
I cascade into a virtual hole
Betwixt my Egyptian sheets
My body aches, my eyes bulge
Fingers scaling, skin peeling
My head vibrates, ping pong po
I voyageur into a universe...
