Decades after I was a child, on the 9th of April 2017, I once again witnessed floating boats in rainwater at Upper Adda Chowk, a central intersection in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Kashmir.
Holding umbrellas in their hands, people – including children, youth and a few senior citizens – could be seen busy with paper boats.
What exactly was going on? My curiosity compelled me to ask a man standing next to me. His facial expression, I am sure, was not too different from mine.
There was backlash due to Faisal's critiques and pinching cartoons aimed at former Pakistani president General Pervez Musharraf and his Kashmir policy. Faisal was also fired from his
Radio Pakistan job
I was told that the small gathering of people is the brainchild of a young man Faisal Jameel Kashmiri and the purpose of arranging the paper-boat show was to attract the attention of authorities towards the civic problems of local communities.
So they are not here to recall their childhood days, I thought. Not so, indeed.
But the next morning, these paper-boats were in the headlines of local newspapers and remained under discussion for at least a couple days, in the offices of local civic bodies.
The concerned quarters took notice of this exercise and repaired broken roads and the sewerage system in the city; even though it turned out to be a temporary relief for the citizens.
It was neither the beginning nor the end of Faisal’s creativity. People witnessed of a ‘Bheek March’, ‘Chanda Bharay Haspatal’ and a ‘Khatam Shareef’ among other activities.
Last year, during the general elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Faisal and some other youth activists started questioning candidates through newspaper ads regarding their future policies and development vision for their constituencies. Civil society highly appreciated the initiative.
But who is Faisal?
A cartoonist, journalist, poet, artist, youth activist and Naat-Khawan born in a religious family, he started his professional career through a fortnightly magazine Aatish-e-Channar under the direct supervision of his late father Khursheed Anwar. In the meanwhile he also remained affiliated with Radio Pakistan as a broadcaster. During 2003, the publication had to be suspended – there was backlash due to Faisal’s critiques and pinching cartoons aimed at former Pakistani president General Pervez Musharraf and his Kashmir policy. Faisal was also fired from his Radio Pakistan job.
Faisal also served as Secretary Information to the Azad Kashmir Region of Pakistan Editors Council when Zia Shahid and Najam Sethi were President and General Secretary of the body respectively.
After the devastating earthquake of 2005, Faisal was appointed as Bureau Chief of Daily Pakistan from Muzaffarabad. The paper had a specific point of view regarding particular issues, which Faisal didn’t follow and consequently he lost his position.
Faisal is eager to speak of what motivates his work and activism:
“Our collective consciousness is in a serious deadlock as compared to other, more developed societies. This is despite the fact that we posses thousands of years of civilisational history. There were two main reasons behind my activism and unconventional methods of inviting public as well as institutional attention. The first reason is the silence – I used to say ‘criminal silence’ – of my people over the violations of their fundamental rights. This gave the right direction to my scattered thoughts. I decided not to be silent anymore! The second one was the uncivilised way of protests being observed everyday in our society: methods which end up disrupting the routine life of a common person. I thought to take up social issues in a different way without creating any trouble for my fellow citizens. Thanks to God, it worked well and my message effectively reached people, media and concerned quarters.”
Faisal believes he has seen success in AJK:
“I am quite satisfied with my efforts as they brought a steady but constructive change in society. There is ownership and empowerment amongst the youth; civic bodies are answerable to a common man and our elected representatives are well aware that the youth would ask them about the commitments made during their electoral campaigns.”
Senior journalist and columnist Tariq Naqash who keenly observed Faisal’s methods, and often wrote about them, describes his efforts:
“Honestly speaking, we see very few of this breed in today’s world.” He further adds:
“And what is heartening is the fact that he develops and pleads his case in the most convincing manner. Since he is adept at both prose and poetry, he presents his point in such a way that nobody can resist paying attention to it. The unique aspect of his life and work is that he has not restricted himself to mere propagation of his viewpoint on any particular issue, either verbally or through social or mainstream media. Instead, almost always he has set an example by taking the first practical step for that particular cause. For example, I have often seen him organising gatherings for the resolution of civic issues and for a number of humanitarian activities, such as the provision of free books, stationery and food items to needy people.”
Mubashar Naqvi is a freelance writer based in Muzaffarabad. He may be reached at mubashar_naqvi@yahoo.com