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{{short description|Ethnic Kashmiris living in the Pakistani-administered territory of Azad Kashmir}}
{{About|ethnic Kashmiris in Azad Kashmir|the native residents of Azad Kashmir who are not ethnically Kashmiri but are also referred to as "Kashmiris"|Demographics of Azad Kashmir}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Kashmiris in Azad Kashmir
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| flag = Flag of Azad Kashmir.svg
| flag_caption =
| poptime =
| ref1 =
| popplace = {{hlist|[[Muzaffarabad District|Muzaffarabad]]|[[Neelum District|Neelum]]|[[Hattian Bala District|Hattian]]}}
| langs = {{hlist|[[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]]|[[Urdu]]}}
| rels = [[Islam]]
| related = [[Kashmiri diaspora]]
}}
'''Kashmiris in Azad Kashmir''' are the ethnic [[Kashmiris|Kashmiri people]] who reside in [[Azad Kashmir]], a territory which constitutes part of [[Pakistani-administered Kashmir]] since the end of the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948|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 [[Kashmir conflict|conflict in the region]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2013/09/18/kashmir-refugees-living-a-life-on-hold/?gb=true|title=Kashmir refugees living a life on hold|work=Al Jazeera|date=18 September 2013|access-date=21 October 2020|first=Asad|last=Hashim}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/516548-kashmiri-refugees-in-ajk-in-as-much-trauma-as-those-in-ihk|title=Kashmiri refugees in AJK in as much trauma as those in IHK|work=The News|date=24 August 2019|access-date=21 October 2020|first=Mobarik A.|last=Virk}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2029209/refugees-pakistan-fearful-india-abolishes-kashmir-autonomy|title=Refugees in Pakistan fearful after India abolishes Kashmir autonomy|work=The Express Tribune|date=6 August 2019|access-date=21 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.himalmag.com/muhajir-mujahid-azad-kashmir/|title=From muhajir to mujahid in Azad Kashmir|work=[[Himal Southasian]]|date=24 July 2013|access-date=21 October 2020|first=Rakesh|last=Ankit}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.arabnews.pk/node/1540506/pakistan|title=Kashmiri families divided by LoC fear for each other's well-being|work=Arab News Pakistan|date=15 August 2019|access-date=21 October 2020|first=Saima|last=Shabbir}}</ref><ref name="Naqash">{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1017478|title=Protesting Kashmiri refugees want demands fulfilled|first=Tariq|last=Naqash|work=Dawn|date=11 June 2013|access-date=21 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mei.edu/publications/pakistan-kashmir-they-have-colonized-territory|title=Pakistan on Kashmir: "They have colonized the territory" (interiew) |work=Middle East Institute|date=5 September 2019|access-date=21 October 2020|first=Lawrence|last=Pintak}}: 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."</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/8/7/kashmiri-families-in-pakistan-fear-for-relatives-across-border|title=Kashmiri families in Pakistan fear for relatives across border|work=Al Jazeera|date=7 August 2019|access-date=21 October 2020}}</ref><ref name="AA">{{Cite web|last=Gilani|first=Iftikhar|date=12 December 2019|title=Refugees in Pakistani-administered Kashmir seek attention|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/refugees-in-pakistani-administered-kashmir-seek-attention/1671364|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031234837/https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/refugees-in-pakistani-administered-kashmir-seek-attention/1671364|archive-date=31 October 2020|access-date=7 November 2020|website=Anadolu Agency}}</ref> As of 2010, only around 60 percent of Kashmiri refugees had acquired [[Pakistani nationality law|Pakistani citizenship]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2010/1013/Thousands-fled-India-controlled-Kashmir.-Are-they-better-off-in-Pakistan|title=Thousands fled India-controlled Kashmir. Are they better off in Pakistan?|work=Christian Science Monitor|date=13 October 2010|access-date=21 October 2020|first=Issam|last=Ahmed}}</ref>

==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 "[[Jammu]]ites" due to their historical and cultural links with that region, which is coterminous with neighbouring [[Punjab region|Punjab]] and [[Hazara, Pakistan|Hazara]].<ref name="Snedden2015">{{cite book|author=Christopher Snedden|title=Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a19eCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT23|date=15 September 2015|publisher=Hurst|isbn=978-1-84904-622-0|pages=21–24}}</ref> Because their region was formerly a part of the [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|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.<ref name="Snedden2015"/>

The [[Neelum District|Neelam]] and [[Leepa Valley]]s in northern Azad Kashmir are home to a significant [[Kashmiri Muslim]] population, as these areas border the Kashmir Valley.<ref name="Snedden2015"/> 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.<ref name="Robinson2013">{{cite book|author=Cabeiri deBergh Robinson|title=Body of Victim, Body of Warrior: Refugee Families and the Making of Kashmiri Jihadists|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O39522tvQqQC|date=8 March 2013|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-95454-0|page=19, 52, 61, 62|quote=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.}}</ref>

===Language===
[[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]] is spoken by roughly five percent of Azad Kashmir's population.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/The-other-Kashmir/article13834085.ece|title=The other Kashmir|first=Shujaat|last=Bukhari|work=The Hindu|date=14 June 2011|access-date=24 October 2020}}</ref> According to the [[1998 Pakistan Census]], there were 132,450 Kashmiri speakers in Azad Kashmir.<ref name="Shakil">{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/6485567|title=Languages of Erstwhile State of Jammu Kashmir (A Preliminary Study)|last=Shakil|first=Mohsin|date=2012 |journal=University of Azad Jammu and Kahsmir|access-date=24 October 2020}}</ref> Native speakers of the language were dispersed in "pockets" throughout Azad Kashmir,<ref name="Kachru">{{cite web|url=http://koausa.org/language/pdf/DyingLinguistic.pdf|title=The Dying Linguistic Heritage of the Kashmiris: Kashmiri Literary Culture and Language|work=Kashmiri Overseas Association|date=3 July 2002|access-date=24 October 2020|first=Braj B.|last=Kachru|author-link=Braj Kachru|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619010025/http://koausa.org/language/pdf/DyingLinguistic.pdf|archive-date=19 June 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="KJLR">{{Cite journal| last1 = Akhtar| first1 = Raja Nasim| last2 = Rehman| first2 = Khawaja A.| date = 2007| title = The Languages of the Neelam Valley| journal = Kashmir Journal of Language Research| volume = 10| issue = 1| issn = 1028-6640| pages = 65–84| quote = Additionally, Kashmiri speakers are better able to understand the variety of Srinagar than the one spoken in Muzaffarabad.}}</ref> particularly in the districts of [[Muzaffarabad District|Muzaffarabad]] (15%), Neelam (20%) and [[Hattian Bala District|Hattian]] (15%), with very small minorities in [[Haveli District|Haveli]] (5%) and Bagh (2%).<ref name="Shakil"/> The Kashmiri spoken in Muzaffarabad is distinct from, although still [[Mutual intelligibility|intelligible]] with, the Kashmiri of the Neelam Valley to the north.<ref name="KJLR"/> 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.<ref name="KJLR"/> The Kashmiri dialect of Neelum is closer to the variety spoken in northern Kashmir Valley, particularly [[Kupwara district|Kupwara]].<ref name="KJLR"/>

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]].<ref name="Kachru"/><ref name="KJLR"/> This has resulted in these languages gaining ground at the expense of Kashmiri.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/897933/up-north-call-for-exploration-of-archaeological-sites|title=Up north: Call for exploration of archaeological sites|work=The Express Tribune|date=4 June 2015|access-date=24 October 2020|quote=He said Kundal Shahi and Kashmiri languages, which were spoken in the Neelum Valley, were on the verge of dying.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1051223/lack-of-preservation-causing-regional-languages-to-die-a-slow-death|title=Lack of preservation causing regional languages to die a slow death|work=The Express Tribune|date=20 February 2016|access-date=25 October 2020|first=Zafar Ali|last=Khan|quote=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...}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Rahman">{{cite book|last=Rahman|first=Tariq|author-link=Tariq Rahman|title=Language and politics in Pakistan|date=1996|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn =978-0-19-577692-8}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Rahman"/>

=== Refugees from Jammu and Kashmir ===
{{disputed section|Dubious labels|date=October 2020}}

There are also Kashmiri populations spread out across the districts of [[Muzaffarabad District|Muzaffarabad]], [[Mirpur District|Mirpur]], [[Bhimber District|Bhimber]], [[Bagh District|Bagh]], [[Poonch District, Pakistan|Poonch]] and [[Sudhanoti District|Sudhanoti]].<ref name="Nizami">{{cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/318979/disillusioned-unfulfilled-promises-discrimination-add-to-kashmiri-refugees%E2%80%99-plight|title=Disillusioned: Unfulfilled promises, discrimination add to Kashmiri refugees' plight|first=Ah|last=Nizami|work=The Express Tribune|date=10 January 2012|access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref> The first wave of Kashmiri refugees arrived in 1947–48 against the backdrop of the [[Partition of India|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]].<ref name="Nizami"/> These refugees included people from the [[Kupwara district|Kupwara]] and [[Baramulla district|Baramulla]] districts of Kashmir.<ref name="Robinson2013"/> [[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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://tehelka.com/urgent-need-to-explore-human-dimension-of-kashmir-conflict/|title=Urgent need to explore human dimension of Kashmir conflict|work=Tehelka|first=Riyaz|last=Wani|date=2 October 2018|access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref>

Once refugees become registered, they are eligible to buy land, own businesses and vote in Azad Kashmir elections.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a83ac.html|title=Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas|work=Refworld|access-date=21 October 2020|date=1 August 1997}}</ref>

==Politics==
In the [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly]], there are twelve seats reserved for the Jammu and Kashmiri immigrant community across Pakistan.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/718683/refugee-seats-ajk-court-puts-all-political-groups-on-notice|title=Refugee seats: AJK court puts all political groups on notice|work=The Express Tribune|date=7 June 2014|access-date=21 October 2020}}</ref> Six of these seats are reserved for immigrants from the Kashmir Valley, and the other six for [[Jammu Division|Jammu Province]].<ref name="Robinson2013"/>

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.<ref>
{{citation |last=Snedden |first=Christopher |chapter=Azad Kashmir: Integral to India, Integral to Pakistan, Lacking Integrity as an Autonomous Entity |editor=Chitralekha Zutshi |title=Kashmir: History, Politics, Representation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CPFKDwAAQBAJ |year=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-22612-7 |page=124}}
</ref><ref name=UnwrittenHistory>
{{citation |first=Christopher |last=Snedden |author-link=Christopher Snedden |title=Kashmir: The Unwritten History |publisher=HarperCollins India |year=2013 |isbn=978-9350298985 |orig-date=first published as ''The Untold Story of the People of Azad Kashmir'', 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0cPjAAAAQBAJ |pages=134–136}}</ref> 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.<ref name=UnwrittenHistory/> Previously, the [[government of Azad Kashmir]] had allocated a [[Quota system in Pakistan|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.<ref name="Naqash"/>

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 [[Line of Control|LoC]]" and cross to the Pakistani side of Kashmir.<ref name="GandhiHarriss-White2020">{{cite book|author1=Ajay Gandhi|author2=Barbara Harriss-White|author3=Douglas E. Haynes|author4=Sebastian Schwecke|title=Rethinking Markets in Modern India: Embedded Exchange and Contested Jurisdiction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pun_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA212|date=30 September 2020|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-80112-6|pages=212–}}</ref><ref name="MehtaRoy2018">{{cite book|author1=Deepak Mehta|author2=Rahul Roy|title=Violence and the Quest for Justice in South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zw1FDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA181|year=2018|publisher=SAGE Publishing India|isbn=978-93-5280-655-3|pages=181–}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/12-dead-in-police-firing-kashmir-tense-108081301009_1.html|title=12 dead in police firing, Kashmir tense|work=Business Standard|date=29 January 2013|access-date=22 October 2020|last1=India|first1=Press Trust Of}}</ref>

==Culture==
The [[Sharada Peeth]] temple located in Neelam Valley is one of the three holiest sites for [[Kashmiri Pandit]]s.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-wion-exclusive-kashmiri-pandits-seek-access-to-sharada-peeth-an-abandoned-hindu-temple-in-pok-2772420|title=WION exclusive: Kashmiri Pandits seek access to Sharada Peeth, an abandoned Hindu temple in PoK|work=WION|date=16 July 2019|access-date=22 October 2020|first=Shashwat|last=Bhandari}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/pak-approves-plan-to-open-ancient-hindu-temple-corridor-in-pok-119032500855_1.html|title=Pakistan okays plan to open Sharda Peeth corridor for Hindu pilgrims in PoK|work=Business Standard|date=5 December 2019|access-date=21 October 2020}}</ref> It lends its name to the [[Sharada script]], which was extensively used in the region to record medieval [[Literature of Kashmir|Kashmiri literature]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thefridaytimes.com/saving-sharda-a-shared-demand-in-ajk/|title=Saving Sharda a shared demand in AJK|first=Shujaat|last=Bukhari|work=The Friday Times|date=9 February 2018|access-date=24 October 2020|author-link=Shujaat Bukhari}}</ref> As of 2019, the Pakistani government had approved a plan to establish a cross-border corridor allowing Hindu pilgrims access to the site.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.news18.com/news/india/with-pak-nod-to-sharada-peeth-corridor-kashmiri-pandits-may-get-to-visit-their-kuldevi-soon-2078429.html|title=With Pak Nod to Sharada Peeth Corridor, Kashmiri Pandits May Get to Visit Their Kuldevi Soon|work=News 18|date=26 March 2019|access-date=21 October 2020|first=Aakash|last=Hassan}}</ref> 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 [[Music of Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh|Kashmiri song]] featured on the show.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/a-kashmiri-overnight-music-sensation-recounts-a-grim-past-20460|title=A Kashmiri overnight music sensation recounts a grim past|first=Irfan|last=Mehraj|work=TRT World|date=26 September 2018|access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://magazine.outlookindia.com/story/how-a-band-featured-in-coke-studio-pakistan-is-winning-hearts-in-the-valley/300402|title=How A Band Featured In Coke Studio Pakistan Is Winning Hearts In The Valley|work=Outlook India|date=30 July 2018|access-date=22 October 2020|first=Naseer|last=Ganai}}</ref> The city of Muzaffarabad is known for its [[Kashmir shawl|Kashmiri shawls]], which are an iconic product of Kashmir.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thefridaytimes.com/kashmiri-warmth-for-the-winter/|title=Kashmiri warmth for the winter|work=The Friday Times|date=8 December 2017|access-date=16 November 2020|first=Mubashar|last=Naqvi|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116102006/https://www.thefridaytimes.com/kashmiri-warmth-for-the-winter/|archive-date=16 November 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Kashmiris of Punjab]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Azad Kashmir topics}}
[[Category:Pakistani people of Kashmiri descent| ]]
[[Category:Kashmiri diaspora|Azad Kashmir]]
[[Category:Social groups of Azad Kashmir]]
{{Azad-Kashmir-stub}}

Kashmiris in Azad Kashmir - Revision history

>Citation bot at 11:06, 5 July 2021