Kashmiri Diaspora

The Kashmiri diaspora refers to Kashmiris who have migrated out of the larger Kashmir region into other areas and countries, and their descendants.

India

Punjab

Estimated, 1,000-1,200 Kashmiri Hindus live in Pathankot, Gurdaspur and the Cities of Doaba region and Punjab.

Gujarat

10,000 Kashmiri Hindus live in Gujarat. They settled here after the 1990 exodus.

Himachal Pradesh

The state of Himachal Pradesh in India has the second-largest Kashmiri language speakers after Kashmir Valley and adjoining areas. Kashmiri Pandits migrated to this region over centuries and including from 1947–48 to 1989–91. Large number of Kashmiri Pandits also came here after the eruption of militancy in the valley.

Pakistan

Punjab

Heavy taxes under the Sikh rule, coupled with famine and starvation, caused many Kashmiri Muslim villagers to migrate to the plains of Punjab. These claims, made in Kashmiri histories, were corroborated by European travelers. When one such European traveler, Moorcroft, left the Valley in 1823, about 500 emigrants accompanied him across the Pir Panjal Pass. The 1833 famine resulted in many people leaving the Kashmir Valley and migrating to the Punjab, with the majority of weavers leaving Kashmir. Weavers settled down for generations in the cities of Punjab such as Jammu and Nurpur. The 1833 famine led to a large influx of Kashmiris into Amritsar. Kashmir's Muslims in particular suffered and had to leave Kashmir in large numbers, while Hindus were not much affected. Sikh rule in Kashmir ended in 1846 and was followed by the rule of Dogra Hindu maharajahs who ruled Kashmir as part of their princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Many Muslim Kashmiris migrated from the Kashmir Valley to the Punjab due to conditions in the princely state such as famine, extreme poverty and harsh treatment of Kashmiri Muslims by the Dogra Hindu regime. The Punjab Census Report, in 1891, enumerated 111,775 Muslims born in Kashmir who settled in Punjab, which was also equivalent to the entire population of Srinagar, back then standing at 118,960. According to the 1911 Census there were 177,549 Kashmiri Muslims in the Punjab. With the inclusion of Kashmiri settlements in NWFP this figure rose to 206,180.

Scholar Ayesha Jalal states that Kashmiris faced discrimination in the Punjab as well. Kashmiris settled for generations in the Punjab were unable to own land, including the family of Muhammad Iqbal. Scholar Chitralekha Zutshi states that Kashmiri Muslims settled in the Punjab retained emotional and familial links to Kashmir and felt obliged to struggle for the freedom of their brethren in the Valley.

According to the 1921 Census the total Kashmiri population in Punjab was 169,761. However, the Census report stated that only 3% of Kashmiris settled in Punjab retained their Kashmiri language. The number of people speaking Kashmiri in 1901 was 8,523 but had decreased to 7,190 in 1911. By 1921 the number of people speaking Kashmiri in Punjab had fallen to 4,690. The 1921 Census report stated that this fact showed that the Kashmiris who had settled in Punjab had adopted the Punjabi language of their neighbours. In contrast, the 1881 Census of Punjab showed that there were 49,534 speakers of the Kashmiri language in the Punjab. The 1881 Census recorded the number of Kashmiris in the Punjab as 179,020 while the 1891 Census recorded the Kashmiri population as 225,307 but the number of Kashmiri speakers recorded in the 1891 Census was 28,415.

Common ''krams'' (surnames) found amongst the Kashmiri Muslims who migrated from the Valley to the Punjab include Butt (Bhat), Dar (Dhar), Lun (Lone), Wain (Wani), Mir and Shaikh. The 1881 Census of the Punjab recorded these major Kashmiri sub-divisions in the Punjab along with their population. The Butt (Bhat) tribe numbered 24,463, the Dar (Dhar) tribe numbered 16,215, the Lun (Lone) tribe numbered 4,848, the Wain (Wani) tribe numbered 7,419, the Mir numbered 19,855 and the Sheikhs numbered 14,902. Watorfield also noted the presence of the Butt (Bhatt) and Dar (Dhar) castes amongst the Kashmiris of the town of Gujrat in Punjab.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir

In 1961, there were 10,000 Muslim 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.

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". Scholar Christopher Snedden remarks that the higher representation given to refugees endows opportunities to the central government of Pakistan to influence the election results.

During the 1990s around 50,000 Kashmiri Muslims fled from Indian Kashmir to Pakistan, which as of 2010 had not granted citizenship to up to 40 per cent of the refugees. Ms Lucas suggests that the Pakistani government has been slow in providing citizenship to the refugees because doing so might nullify their right to self-determination.

Sindh

The city of Karachi is home to a significant diaspora of Kashmiri Muslims. According to the 2017 Pakistan Census, 63,784 people in Karachi reported Kashmiri as their mother tongue.

United Kingdom

Around 70% of all British Pakistanis in England trace their origins to the administrative territory of Azad Jammu and Kashmir in northeastern Pakistan, mainly from the Mirpur, Kotli and Bhimber districts. Many of them migrated to the United Kingdom in the 1960s to work as labourers after the construction of the Mangla Dam by the Pakistani government. Large Azad Kashmiri communities can be found in Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester, Leeds, Luton and the surrounding towns.

The Indian Kashmiris in the UK maintain that they are "Kashmiris" and the Azad Kashmiris are "''nouveaux'' Kashmiris".

United States

Approximately 40,000-45,000 members of the Kashmiri diaspora live in the United States.

Canada

In the 2016 Canadian census, approximately 6145 people reported being of Kashmiri descent.

Singapore

A community of approximately 250 Kashmiri Pandits lives in Singapore.

Overseas organisations

Stand With Kashmir

Kashmir Civitas



Kashmir Global Council

Australian forum for Kashmir

Kashmiri Womens council

Daughters of Kashmir

Free Kashmir Organisation Germany

Friends of Kashmir Canada

Friends of Kashmir Dallas Texas USA

International Kashmir Peace Forum Spain


Jammu and Kashmir Council on Human Rights UK
* Jammu and Kashmir Overseas Community Saudi Arabia
Indo-Canadian Kashmiri Forum

Jammu Kashmir Forum France

Jammu and Kashmir Human Rights Movement UK
* Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front London UK

The Jammu Kashmir Self Determination Movement International
*

Justice For Kashmir Los Angeles

Justice Foundation UK

Kashmir American Welfare Association
* Kashmir awami Society Kuwait

Kashmir Awareness Forum of Canada
* Indo-European Kashmiri Forum
* Kashmiri Overseas Organisations

Million Voices for Kashmiri Unity

See also

* Mirpuri diaspora
* Kashmiris
* Kashmir conflict
* List of Kashmiri people

Notes

References

External links

Kashmiri Overseas Association

{{Pakistani diaspora

Indian diaspora