Javaid Trali

Lam, a beautiful village in Tral, holds great promise for adventure tourism. Here, @JKPI_ works to improve green areas, maintain cleanliness, and protect its rich natural and cultural assets.

Exclusive: Iranian airstrikes have damaged or destroyed at least 228 structures or pieces of equipment at U.S. military sites since the war began, according to a Post analysis. The amount of destruction is far larger than what was previously reported. wapo.st/3OXKBTv

Remote. Idyll. Path less taken!

STORY | 2 Indian journalists win Pulitzer Prize for highlighting cyber fraud Indian journalists Anand RK and Suparna Sharma have won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for their work highlighting digital surveillance and cyber fraud. READ: ptinews.com/story/national…

Dr Prannoy Roy personifies class. One of the truly decent gentleman of the tribe. Always a pleasure to watch him. @DeKoderAI

'Harassed by wife, sister-in-law': Inside shocking death of 30-yr-old Delhi judge who was found hanging | India News - The Times of India timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/delhi-ju…

There seems to be an odd discomfort, almost offence, in speaking Koshur. We always end up talking about bigger issues, and end up gaining nothing. Here, at the very least, we could simply be who we are, Kashmiris.

Across the rest of South Asia, where language and culture plays a central role in shaping politics and social conversations, in Kashmir our political class, and the social, educated elite often distance themselves from their mother tongue.

Dropping Urdu or continuing with it (for some exam) isn’t really the issue, it is one of our official languages and will remain so. It serves as a language of connection across a region as diverse as J&K.

Srinagar opd 2nd May

Tral.

So if speaking Kashur makes you uncomfortable or if you don’t know the language (no judgements), forgive my bluntness, but perhaps it’s worth asking why. And may be a little self reflection is in order.

The language is one of its deepest, most defining pillars, it shapes who we are far more than slogans ever will. Article 370 does not make me a Kashmiri. My mother tongue, Koshur (Kashmiri), does!

My concern for Kashmiri identity is not performative.. Noon chai, chachwoer, wazwan, pheran and monjeh hakh etc. ( lovely things, all of them) are the least of what truly constitutes our identity.

I laugh at them a little, not because they ignore the language I chose, but because they don’t really know Urdu either.

I’ve often felt awkward addressing some Kashmiri officials, teachers, bankers and some POLITICIANS (who loudly champion “identity, identity” ) in Kashmiri, only to be answered back in Urdu or English… as if our mother tongue doesn’t belong in our own spaces.

Don’t we encourage our children to speak Urdu or English, and then hesitate, almost feel embarrassed, when they speak in Kashmiri? And take pride in that? That reflects a deep- seated sense of inferiority.