Neelum District

Neelum (spelt also Neelam; Urdu: نیلم [niːləm]) is a district of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.[1] It is the northernmost of 10 districts located within the Pakistani-administered territory of Azad Kashmir. Taking up the larger part of the Neelum Valley, the district has a population of around 191,000 people (as of 2017).[3] It was among the worst-hit areas of Pakistan during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake.[4]

Map of the Pakistani-administered territory of Azad Jammu and Kashmir with the Neelum District highlighted in red

Neelum District
ضلع نیلم
District of Azad Kashmir administered by Pakistan[1]
Photograph showing the heavily-forested landscape of the Neelum Valley in April 2015
Photograph showing the heavily-forested landscape of the Neelum Valley in April 2015
Interactive map of Neelum district
A map showing Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir (shaded in sage green) in the disputed Kashmir region
A map showing Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir (shaded in sage green) in the disputed Kashmir region[1]
Coordinates (Athmuqam): 34.59°N 73.91°E / 34.59; 73.91
Administering countryPakistan
TerritoryAzad Kashmir
DivisionMuzaffarabad Division
Founded byMufti Mansoor ur Rehman in his rule during 2005 on Feb 5
HeadquartersAthmuqam
Government
 • TypeLocal bodies elections conducted after 31 years gape
 • Deputy CommissionerSardar Tahir Mehmood up (Mian Abdul Waheed MLA(PPP) Shah Ghulam Qadar MLA (PMLN))
 • District Police OfficerSajid Imran
 • District Health OfficerAbdul Mateen
Area
[2]
 • Total3,621 km2 (1,398 sq mi)
Population
 (2020)[3]
 • Total216,000
 • Density53/km2 (140/sq mi)
Hindko Kashmiry Gojri shina Pashto
 • OfficialUrdu
 • LocalHindko, Kashmiri, Shina, Gojri, Kundal Shahi
Number of Tehsils2

Location

The district is bordered on the north and north-east by the Diamer District, the Astore District, and the Skardu District of Gilgit-Baltistan, on the south by the Kupwara District and the Bandipora District of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, on the south-west by the Muzaffarabad District, and by the west by the Mansehra District of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

The Neelum Valley was known before the partition as Kishanganga and was subsequently renamed for the village of Neelam.[5] It flows from the Gurez Valley in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir and roughly follows first a western and then a south-western course until it joins the Jhelum River at Muzaffarabad. The valley is a thickly wooded region with an elevation ranging between 4,000 feet (1,200 m) and 7,500 feet (2,300 m), with mountain peaks on either side reaching 17,000 feet (5,200 m).[6] The Neelum Valley is 144 kilometres (89 mi) long.[7] The Line of Control runs through the valley, either across the mountains to the south-east or in places right along the river, with several villages on the left bank falling on the Indian side of the border.[8]

Administration
Dosut

The Neelum District was part of the Muzaffarabad District until 2005.[6] It is made up of two tehsils:[9] the Athmuqam Tehsil, in which the district headquarters is located, and the Sharda Tehsil. The Neelum District is the largest district of Azad Kashmir by area. The valley extends for approximately 200 kilometers along the Neelum River. This is a generally poor region, reliant on subsistence agriculture and handicrafts, with tourism growing in importance in recent years.[10] According to the Alif Ailaan Pakistan District Education Rankings 2015, The Neelum District is ranked 33 out of 148 districts in terms of education. For facilities and infrastructure, the district is ranked 136 out of 149.[11] The Neelum Valley has opportunities for everyone, including hiking, fishing, white-water rafting, and kayaking.[12]

Languages

Several languages are spoken natively in the district. The predominant one is Hindko. It is the language of wider communication in the area and is spoken at a native or near-native level by almost all members of the other language communities, many of whom are abandoning their language and shifting to Hindko.[13] This language is usually called Parmi (or Parimi, Pārim), a name that likely originated in the Kashmiri word apārim 'from the other side', which was the term used by the Kashmiris of the Vale of Kashmir to refer to the highlanders, who spoke this language. The language is also sometimes known as Pahari, although it bears a closer resemblance to the Hindko of neighbouring Kaghan Valley than to the Pahari spoken in the Murree Hills.[14] Unlike other varieties of Hindko, Pahari or Punjabi, it has preserved the voiced aspirated consonants at the start of the word: for example, gha 'grass' vs. Punjabi kà, where the aspiration and voicing have been lost giving rise to a low tone on the following vowel. This sound change however, is currently spreading here as well, but it has so far only affected the villages situated along the Neelam highway.[13] This variety of Hindko is also spoken in nearby areas of India-administered Kashmir. Since Partition, the language varieties on either side of the Line of Control have diverged in a number of ways. For example, in the Neelam Valley, there is a higher proportion of Urdu loanwords, while the variety spoken across the Line of Control has retained more traditional Hindko words.[15]

The second most widely spoken language of the Neelam Valley is Kashmiri. It is the majority language in at least a dozen or so villages, and in about half of these, it is the sole mother tongue. It is closer to the variety spoken in northern Kashmir (particularly in Kupwara District) than to the Kashmiri of the city of Muzaffarabad.[16]

The third-largest ethnic, though not linguistic,[17] group are the Gujjars, whose villages are scattered throughout the valley. Most of them have switched to Hindko, but a few communities continue using the Gujari language at home. Gujari is more consistently maintained among the Bakarwal, who travel into the valley (and beyond, into Gilgit-Baltistan) with their herds in the summer and who spend the winters in the lower parts of Azad Kashmir and in Punjab.[18]

In the upper end of the valley, there are two distinct communities speaking two different varieties of Shina (locally sometimes called Dardi). One of them is found at Taobutt and the nearby village of Karimabad (formerly known as Sutti) near the border with India. Its speakers claim that their variety of Shina is close to the one spoken further up the valley in Indian Gurez. The community is bilingual in Kashmiri and is culturally closer to the neighbouring Kashmiri communities than to the other Shina group, who inhabit the large village of Phulwei 35 kilometres (22 mi) downstream. The Shina people of Phullwei claim to have originally come from Nait near Chilas in Gilgit-Baltistan.[19]

A Pashto dialect is spoken in two villages (Dhaki and Changnar) that are situated on the Line of Control. Because of cross-border firing since the early 1990s, there has been large-scale migration away from these villages. The local dialect is not completely intelligible with the ones spoken in the rest of Pakistan.[20]

One language that is unique to the Neelum Valley is the endangered Kundal Shahi. It is spoken by some of the inhabitants of the Kundal Shahi village near Athmuqam.[21]

Additionally, Urdu is spoken by the formally educated and, like English, is used as a medium of instruction in schools.[22]

Education

According to Pakistan District Education Ranking 2017, a report released by Alif Ailaan, the district of Neelum stands at number 58 nationally in the ranking related to education, with an education score of 60.87. The Neelum District is lowest-ranked district in all of Azad Kashmir.

See also

References
  1. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary sources (a) through (e), reflecting due weight in the coverage. Although "controlled" and "held" are also applied neutrally to the names of the disputants or to the regions administered by them, as evidenced in sources (h) through (i) below, "held" is also considered politicized usage, as is the term "occupied," (see (j) below).
    (a) Kashmir, region Indian subcontinent, Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 15 August 2019 (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent ... has been the subject of dispute between India and Pakistan since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. The northern and western portions are administered by Pakistan and comprise three areas: Azad Kashmir, Gilgit, and Baltistan, the last two being part of a territory called the Northern Areas. Administered by India are the southern and southeastern portions, which constitute the state of Jammu and Kashmir but are slated to be split into two union territories.";
    (b) Pletcher, Kenneth, Aksai Chin, Plateau Region, Asia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, retrieved 16 August 2019 (subscription required) Quote: "Aksai Chin, Chinese (Pinyin) Aksayqin, portion of the Kashmir region, at the northernmost extent of the Indian subcontinent in south-central Asia. It constitutes nearly all the territory of the Chinese-administered sector of Kashmir that is claimed by India to be part of the Ladakh area of Jammu and Kashmir state.";
    (c) "Kashmir", Encyclopedia Americana, Scholastic Library Publishing, 2006, p. 328, ISBN 978-0-7172-0139-6 C. E Bosworth, University of Manchester Quote: "KASHMIR, kash'mer, the northernmost region of the Indian subcontinent, administered partlv by India, partly by Pakistan, and partly by China. The region has been the subject of a bitter dispute between India and Pakistan since they became independent in 1947";
    (d) Osmańczyk, Edmund Jan (2003), Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements: G to M, Taylor & Francis, pp. 1191–, ISBN 978-0-415-93922-5 Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute between India and Pakistan. It has borders with Pakistan and China."
    (e) Talbot, Ian (2016), A History of Modern South Asia: Politics, States, Diasporas, Yale University Press, pp. 28–29, ISBN 978-0-300-19694-8 Quote: "We move from a disputed international border to a dotted line on the map that represents a military border not recognized in international law. The line of control separates the Indian and Pakistani administered areas of the former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir.";
    (f) Skutsch, Carl (2015) [2007], "China: Border War with India, 1962", in Ciment, James (ed.), Encyclopedia of Conflicts Since World War II (2nd ed.), London and New York: Routledge, p. 573, ISBN 978-0-7656-8005-1, The situation between the two nations was complicated by the 1957–1959 uprising by Tibetans against Chinese rule. Refugees poured across the Indian border, and the Indian public was outraged. Any compromise with China on the border issue became impossible. Similarly, China was offended that India had given political asylum to the Dalai Lama when he fled across the border in March 1959. In late 1959, there were shots fired between border patrols operating along both the ill-defined McMahon Line and in the Aksai Chin.
    (g) Clary, Christopher, The Difficult Politics of Peace: Rivalry in Modern South Asia, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, p. 109, ISBN 9780197638408, Territorial Dispute: The situation along the Sino-Indian frontier continued to worsen. In late July (1959), an Indian reconnaissance patrol was blocked, "apprehended," and eventually expelled after three weeks in custody at the hands of a larger Chinese force near Khurnak Fort in Aksai Chin. ... Circumstances worsened further in October 1959, when a major class at Kongka Pass in eastern Ladakh led to nine dead and ten captured Indian border personnel, making it by far the most serious Sino-Indian class since India's independence.
    (h) Bose, Sumantra (2009), Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace, Harvard University Press, pp. 294, 291, 293, ISBN 978-0-674-02855-5 Quote: "J&K: Jammu and Kashmir. The former princely state that is the subject of the Kashmir dispute. Besides IJK (Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir. The larger and more populous part of the former princely state. It has a population of slightly over 10 million, and comprises three regions: Kashmir Valley, Jammu, and Ladakh.) and AJK ('Azad" (Free) Jammu and Kashmir. The more populous part of Pakistani-controlled J&K, with a population of approximately 2.5 million.), it includes the sparsely populated "Northern Areas" of Gilgit and Baltistan, remote mountainous regions which are directly administered, unlike AJK, by the Pakistani central authorities, and some high-altitude uninhabitable tracts under Chinese control."
    (i) Fisher, Michael H. (2018), An Environmental History of India: From Earliest Times to the Twenty-First Century, Cambridge University Press, p. 166, ISBN 978-1-107-11162-2 Quote: "Kashmir’s identity remains hotly disputed with a UN-supervised “Line of Control” still separating Pakistani-held Azad (“Free”) Kashmir from Indian-held Kashmir.";
    (j) Snedden, Christopher (2015), Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris, Oxford University Press, p. 10, ISBN 978-1-84904-621-3 Quote:"Some politicised terms also are used to describe parts of J&K. These terms include the words 'occupied' and 'held'."
  2. AJK at a glance 2015 (PDF) (Report). p. 22.
  4. "rmc.org.pk - Earthquake Map". Archived from the original on 21 September 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  5. Akhtar & Rehman 2007, p. 65. The village is 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) upstream from Athmuqam. An alternative etymology links the name to the colour of the river: "sapphire". (Faruqi 2016)
  6. Akhtar & Rehman 2007, p. 65.
  7. "Length of Neelum Valley". en.dailypakistan.com.pk. 8 May 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  8. Baart & Rehman 2005, p. 4; Akhtar & Rehman 2007, pp. 65–66.
  9. "Tehsils of Neelum District on AJK map". ajk.gov.pk. AJK Official Portal. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  10. Faruqi 2016.
  11. "Individual district profile link, 2015". Alif Ailaan. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  12. Asia, Incredible. "Incredible Asia". Incredible Asia. Faysal Islam. Retrieved 30 December 2022. {{cite web}}: External link in |ref= (help)
  13. Akhtar & Rehman 2007, p. 69.
  14. Akhtar & Rehman 2007, p. 68. The variant Parimi as well as the local use of the terms Pahari and Hindko are from Rehman (2011, p. 227).
  15. Sohail, Rehman & Kiani 2016, p. 108.
  16. Akhtar & Rehman 2007, p. 70. Additionally, Kashmiri speakers are better able to understand the variety of Srinagar than the one spoken in Muzaffarabad.
  17. Akhtar & Rehman 2007, p. 72.
  18. Akhtar & Rehman 2007, pp. 71–72.
  19. Akhtar & Rehman 2007, pp. 72–74.
  20. Akhtar & Rehman 2007, pp. 74–75.
  21. Baart & Rehman 2005.
  22. Akhtar & Rehman 2007, pp. 75–78.

Bibliography
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