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Wadwan:The miniature Kashmir and the forgotten cousins of Kashmiris 


Afti(Wadwan) 

July 21,2024


It won't be an exaggeration to call Warwan valley ( Wadwan) an miniature Kashmir as far as it's landscape and raw beauty is concerned. 


But it is also an irony that very few people from Kashmir visit this fairy land. In fact many wouldn't have heard of it. 


I first heard about this fairy land in 90's when the militancy was at its peak in the region. Since then I had been yearning to visit this place. That yearing has now materialised into reality and I was in the area between July 20 and 22,2024.


In April 1995 al-Faran kidnapped a multinational trekking group of five from Pahalgam, never to be seen again. 


Following that unfortunate kidnapping, the Wadwan valley again gained prominence  when two western authors and investigative  journalists described it in their famous book- Meadows. 


Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott Clark in their book "The Meadow" note  the hikers were brought to Wadwan via Sonasar Gali and were held hostage in a hut at Sukhnai, the last village of Wadwan. As per local accounts, produced by the authors in the book, the hikers were in Wadwan village for many months.


Before the kidnapping, Wadwan was quite popular among Westerners seeking pleasure in trans-Himalayan treks which would commence from Daksum forests just above Kokernag in Anantnag district and touch Wadwan villages particularly the terminal Sukhnai village before the expeditions moved to Panikher in Ladakh via Kanital. 


The local elders in Wadwan still remember those days. "In those days Angrez people (Westerners) were a common sight in Wadwan. The ladies would roam around in shorts while the Angrez men would wear pants", said Ghulam Ahmad Ahanger, the Mukhiya ( Village head) in Afti village. He said the flow of Western tourists soon dried after following the eruption of militancy. He says life in Wadwan villages was hard before the region was connected via road to the Anantnag district of Kashmir province. 


 Administratively Wadwan is part of Kishtwar district but till date it has no direct road connectivity with the Kishtwar district headquarters. Electricity has still not been introduced in the region comprising three sub-Himalayan valleys of Wadwan and, Marwah and Dachna. 


People heavily rely on solar panels for meeting their energy demands through forest wood is still the dominant fuel to keep home and hearth running during harsh winters which lasts up to seven months. 


Dr Waqar Bashir, an avid trans-Himalayan trekker and consultant, who has been trekking to the region and has a lot of interaction and knowledge about the area, whom I met in Wadwan, was of the opinion that AC current if introducing in the area would take a lot of loaf off the local forests besides providing an alternative source of energy to the locals. 


"I have seen the Wadwan when there was no road connectivity here. But since the road connectivity, things in the area have transformed. Though development is good I fear in the next decade or so, Wadwan may lose the pristine touch if things are not planned in a proper manner" , Dr Waqar said while voicing his concerns about unplanned development in the Valley with scant regard for conservation of traditional architecture and culture. 


Though the construction of the road to the region has solved many problems like ensuring abundant supplies of ration and vegetables, it has also led to instruction of new diseases.


Moreover, a steady flow of local income means supplementary income for the locals but the greed among locals has also increased, a downfall of tourism activity. " People here are losing their innocence. Greed is creeping in", said Waqar, who first came to the area some 15 years ago via Ladakh trans-Himalayan trek. 


Culturally and linguistically majority of the people in Wadwan, Marwah and Dachna are close cousins of Kashmiris but for some strange reasons or call it lack of political will by previous political dispensation of Kashmir, the region has remained part of Kishtwar district of Jammu province. In fact Ahanger remembers the first visit of National Conference stalwart Shiekh Abdullah to the region, when he asked his deputy in which language he should address the people of Wadwan. "To his astonishment, Shiekh Abdullah was informed that the people speak and understand Kashmiri" Ahanger recalled. This in fact depicts the ignorance of Kashmir's old political class about the people surrounding Kashmir and living in sub-valleys. 

Since then the region has come a long way and the people here seem politically mature.


To know more about the region and the people of Wadwan follow my YouTube channel and link onto the vlog 

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