MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s tourism and archaeology department on Tuesday organised a webinar on ‘Bakarwals’ to throw light on different aspects of the culture, traditions and ethnicity of the Muslim nomadic tribe.

The online event was held at the city campus of University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (UAJK) and was joined by scholars and experts from all three parts of the divided state of Jammu and Kashmir as well as Pakistan and USA.

They shared their observations, experiences and information on the Gujjar Bakarwal community that follows an annual cyclic movement between winter and summer for grazing grounds to find pastures for their herds of goats and sheep.

Those who read papers included Ambassador Arif Kamal (Bakarwals and our habitat: great connectors in our unity-in-diversity), Shahid Rehman of Himalayan Literacy Network (Bakarwal tribes of Jammu and Kashmir), Prof Dr Rukhsana Khan of UAJK (Travelling routes of Bakarwals in AJK: integration in tourism industry), Saleem Beg, a Srinagar-based former head of IHK tourism department (crafts and creative arts of Bakarwals), Mohammad Hassan Hasrat, a noted scholar and writer from Baltistan (Habitation, living style, pattern of seasonal migration and customs of Bakarwals in Gilgit-Baltistan), Javaid Rahi, a Jammu-based writer, researcher and translator (Enthnography of Bakarwals), Dr Mehmood Nasir, a former conservator of forests in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Bakarwal culture and tourism potential) and Wayne E. Losey,an American linguist and research scholar who had set up a mobile school system in Pakistan in 2007 for nomadic children (Education for Bakarwal).

Besides, Midhat Shahzad, AJK’s secretary for information, tourism and information technology, Pirzada Irshad Ahmed, director general tourism and archaeology, UAJK vice chancellor Prof Dr Kaleem Abbasi, AJK Zakat Council chairman Sahibzada Saleem Chishti, AJK PM’s implementation and inspection commission chairman Zahid Amin and director college education Prof Dr Abdul Rehman also spoke.

At the conclusion of the webinar, Ms Sabahat Akram, a researcher from the University of Kotli, presented before the audience suggestions that would be forwarded to the government for the appropriate action to mitigate the problems of the Bakarwal community.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2020