Kashmiris in Azad Kashmir

Kashmiris in Azad Kashmir are the ethnic Kashmiri people who reside in Azad Kashmir, a territory which constitutes part of Pakistani-administered Kashmir since the end of the First Kashmir War. Their demographic includes up to 40,000 registered Kashmiri refugees who have fled the Kashmir Valley, located in Indian-administered Kashmir, to Pakistan since the late 1980s due to conflict in the region.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] As of 2010, only around 60 percent of Kashmiri refugees had acquired Pakistani citizenship.[10]

This article is about ethnic Kashmiris in Azad Kashmir. For the native residents of Azad Kashmir who are not ethnically Kashmiri but are also referred to as "Kashmiris", see Demographics of Azad Kashmir.
Kashmiris in Azad Kashmir
Regions with significant populations
Languages
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Kashmiri diaspora

History and demographics

Christopher Snedden writes that most of the native residents of Azad Kashmir are not of Kashmiri ethnicity; rather, they could be called "Jammuites" due to their historical and cultural links with that region, which is coterminous with neighbouring Punjab and Hazara.[11] Because their region was formerly a part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and is named after it, many Azad Kashmiris have adopted the "Kashmiri" identity, whereas in an ethnolinguistic context, the term "Kashmiri" would ordinarily refer to natives of the Kashmir Valley region.[11]

The Neelam and Leepa Valleys in northern Azad Kashmir are home to a significant Kashmiri Muslim population, as these areas border the Kashmir Valley.[11] Many Kashmiris who support their state's accession to Pakistan or had ties to pro-Pakistani separatist parties left their homes out of fear of persecution, settling on the Pakistani side of the border. Some of them came from places as distant as Srinagar, and intermarried with locals in Azad Kashmir.[12]

Language

Kashmiri is spoken by roughly five percent of Azad Kashmir's population.[13] According to the 1998 Pakistan Census, there were 132,450 Kashmiri speakers in Azad Kashmir.[14] Native speakers of the language were dispersed in "pockets" throughout Azad Kashmir,[15][16] particularly in the districts of Muzaffarabad (15%), Neelam (20%) and Hattian (15%), with very small minorities in Haveli (5%) and Bagh (2%).[14] The Kashmiri spoken in Muzaffarabad is distinct from, although still intelligible with, the Kashmiri of the Neelam Valley to the north.[16] In Neelam Valley, Kashmiri is the second most widely spoken language and the majority language in at least a dozen or so villages, where in about half of these, it is the sole mother tongue.[16] The Kashmiri dialect of Neelum is closer to the variety spoken in northern Kashmir Valley, particularly Kupwara.[16]

A process of language shift is observable among Kashmiri-speakers in Azad Kashmir according to linguist Tariq Rahman, as they gradually adopt local dialects such as Pahari-Pothwari, Hindko or move towards the lingua franca Urdu.[15][16] This has resulted in these languages gaining ground at the expense of Kashmiri.[17][18] There have been calls for the promotion of Kashmiri at an official level; in 1983, a Kashmiri Language Committee was set up by the government to patronise Kashmiri and impart it in school-level education. However, the limited attempts at introducing the language have not been successful, and it is Urdu, rather than Kashmiri, that Kashmiri Muslims have seen as their identity symbol.[19] Rahman notes that efforts to organise a Kashmiri language movement have been challenged by the scattered nature of the Kashmiri-speaking community in Azad Kashmir.[19]

Refugees from Jammu and Kashmir

There are also Kashmiri populations spread out across the districts of Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Bhimber, Bagh, Poonch and Sudhanoti.[20] The first wave of Kashmiri refugees arrived in 1947–48 against the backdrop of the partition of British India. More refugees poured in during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, followed by a third wave in the 1990s as a result of the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir.[20] These refugees included people from the Kupwara and Baramulla districts of Kashmir.[12] Farooq Haider Khan, Azad Kashmir's prime minister, claimed that as many as 2.2 million people from Jammu and Kashmir sought refuge in Azad Kashmir between 1947 and 1989.[21]

Once refugees become registered, they are eligible to buy land, own businesses and vote in Azad Kashmir elections.[22]

Politics

In the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, there are twelve seats reserved for the Jammu and Kashmiri immigrant community across Pakistan.[23] Six of these seats are reserved for immigrants from the Kashmir Valley, and the other six for Jammu Province.[12]

The refugees from Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir have been historically overrepresented in the Azad Kashmir legislatures, despite their residence outside Azad Kashmir. In 1961, there were 10,000 refugees of Kashmiri origin in Pakistan, who had voting rights in elections of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. They were given an equal amount of representation in the election as the 109,000 Jammu refugees.[24][25] In 1990, there were 400,000 refugee voters, compared to 1.2 million Azad Kashmir residents. The refugees continued to receive higher representation in the legislatures compared to the residents, Kashmiris being favoured more. This was justified on the grounds of showing "solidary with the Kashmiris in the Indian-administered Kashmir". Snedden remarks that the higher representation given to refugees endows opportunities to the central government of Pakistan to influence the election results.[25] Previously, the government of Azad Kashmir had allocated a quota system of 25 percent in government jobs for Kashmiri settlers; however, following the refugee influx of the 1990s, that quota reportedly dropped to six percent.[6]

In Jammu and Kashmiri politics, the phrase Muzaffarabad chalo ("Let's go to Muzaffarabad") has been used as a call for public protest in response to restrictive state policies, where marchers attempt to symbolically "break the LoC" and cross to the Pakistani side of Kashmir.[26][27][28]

Culture

The Sharada Peeth temple located in Neelam Valley is one of the three holiest sites for Kashmiri Pandits.[29][30] It lends its name to the Sharada script, which was extensively used in the region to record medieval Kashmiri literature.[31] As of 2019, the Pakistani government had approved a plan to establish a cross-border corridor allowing Hindu pilgrims access to the site.[32] Altaf Mir is a Kashmiri settler and singer from Muzaffarabad whose rendition of the classical Kashmiri poem, Ha Gulo, on Coke Studio Explorer remains widely popular and was the first Kashmiri song featured on the show.[33][34] The city of Muzaffarabad is known for its Kashmiri shawls, which are an iconic product of Kashmir.[35]

See also

References
  1. Hashim, Asad (18 September 2013). "Kashmir refugees living a life on hold". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  2. Virk, Mobarik A. (24 August 2019). "Kashmiri refugees in AJK in as much trauma as those in IHK". The News. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  3. "Refugees in Pakistan fearful after India abolishes Kashmir autonomy". The Express Tribune. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  4. Ankit, Rakesh (24 July 2013). "From muhajir to mujahid in Azad Kashmir". Himal Southasian. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  5. Shabbir, Saima (15 August 2019). "Kashmiri families divided by LoC fear for each other's well-being". Arab News Pakistan. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  6. Naqash, Tariq (11 June 2013). "Protesting Kashmiri refugees want demands fulfilled". Dawn. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  7. Pintak, Lawrence (5 September 2019). "Pakistan on Kashmir: "They have colonized the territory" (interiew)". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 21 October 2020.: Sardar Masood Khan, President of Azad Kashmir: "It's a widely known fact that we sent mujahideen across the line of control because this was a popular demand from the people of Kashmir. They were being brutalized, they migrated. We have 40,000 refugees from that time in Azad Kashmir camps. They wanted to train and go back and fight. But that's a closed chapter. The line of control is heavily fortified. It's fenced by India."
  8. "Kashmiri families in Pakistan fear for relatives across border". Al Jazeera. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  9. Gilani, Iftikhar (12 December 2019). "Refugees in Pakistani-administered Kashmir seek attention". Anadolu Agency. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  10. Ahmed, Issam (13 October 2010). "Thousands fled India-controlled Kashmir. Are they better off in Pakistan?". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  11. Christopher Snedden (15 September 2015). Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris. Hurst. pp. 21–24. ISBN 978-1-84904-622-0.
  12. Cabeiri deBergh Robinson (8 March 2013). Body of Victim, Body of Warrior: Refugee Families and the Making of Kashmiri Jihadists. University of California Press. p. 19, 52, 61, 62. ISBN 978-0-520-95454-0. Many of these refugees spoke the Kashmiri language, had close ties with pro-Pakistan political parties, and were advocates of Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan. Identified as pro-Pakistan activists, they left their homes to escape persecution.
  13. Bukhari, Shujaat (14 June 2011). "The other Kashmir". The Hindu. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  14. Shakil, Mohsin (2012). "Languages of Erstwhile State of Jammu Kashmir (A Preliminary Study)". University of Azad Jammu and Kahsmir. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  15. Kachru, Braj B. (3 July 2002). "The Dying Linguistic Heritage of the Kashmiris: Kashmiri Literary Culture and Language" (PDF). Kashmiri Overseas Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  16. Akhtar, Raja Nasim; Rehman, Khawaja A. (2007). "The Languages of the Neelam Valley". Kashmir Journal of Language Research. 10 (1): 65–84. ISSN 1028-6640. Additionally, Kashmiri speakers are better able to understand the variety of Srinagar than the one spoken in Muzaffarabad.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  17. "Up north: Call for exploration of archaeological sites". The Express Tribune. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2020. He said Kundal Shahi and Kashmiri languages, which were spoken in the Neelum Valley, were on the verge of dying.
  18. Khan, Zafar Ali (20 February 2016). "Lack of preservation causing regional languages to die a slow death". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 25 October 2020. Dr Khawaja Abdul Rehman, who spoke on Pahari and Kashmiri, said pluralistic and tolerance-promoting Kashmiri literature was fast dying, as its older generation had failed to transfer the language to its youth. He said that after a few decades, not a single Kashmiri-speaking person will be found in Muzaffarabad...
  19. Rahman, Tariq (1996). Language and politics in Pakistan. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-577692-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  20. Nizami, Ah (10 January 2012). "Disillusioned: Unfulfilled promises, discrimination add to Kashmiri refugees' plight". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  21. Wani, Riyaz (2 October 2018). "Urgent need to explore human dimension of Kashmir conflict". Tehelka. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  22. "Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas". Refworld. 1 August 1997. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  23. "Refugee seats: AJK court puts all political groups on notice". The Express Tribune. 7 June 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  24. Snedden, Christopher (2017), "Azad Kashmir: Integral to India, Integral to Pakistan, Lacking Integrity as an Autonomous Entity", in Chitralekha Zutshi (ed.), Kashmir: History, Politics, Representation, Cambridge University Press, p. 124, ISBN 978-1-108-22612-7
  25. Snedden, Christopher (2013) [first published as The Untold Story of the People of Azad Kashmir, 2012], Kashmir: The Unwritten History, HarperCollins India, pp. 134–136, ISBN 978-9350298985
  26. Ajay Gandhi; Barbara Harriss-White; Douglas E. Haynes; Sebastian Schwecke (30 September 2020). Rethinking Markets in Modern India: Embedded Exchange and Contested Jurisdiction. Cambridge University Press. pp. 212–. ISBN 978-1-108-80112-6.
  27. Deepak Mehta; Rahul Roy (2018). Violence and the Quest for Justice in South Asia. SAGE Publishing India. pp. 181–. ISBN 978-93-5280-655-3.
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  29. Bhandari, Shashwat (16 July 2019). "WION exclusive: Kashmiri Pandits seek access to Sharada Peeth, an abandoned Hindu temple in PoK". WION. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  30. "Pakistan okays plan to open Sharda Peeth corridor for Hindu pilgrims in PoK". Business Standard. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  31. Bukhari, Shujaat (9 February 2018). "Saving Sharda a shared demand in AJK". The Friday Times. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  32. Hassan, Aakash (26 March 2019). "With Pak Nod to Sharada Peeth Corridor, Kashmiri Pandits May Get to Visit Their Kuldevi Soon". News 18. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  33. Mehraj, Irfan (26 September 2018). "A Kashmiri overnight music sensation recounts a grim past". TRT World. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  34. Ganai, Naseer (30 July 2018). "How A Band Featured In Coke Studio Pakistan Is Winning Hearts In The Valley". Outlook India. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  35. Naqvi, Mubashar (8 December 2017). "Kashmiri warmth for the winter". The Friday Times. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
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