Kashmiriat is an independent media and archive platform dedicated to documenting the conflict, culture, history, memory, and socio-political life of the historical State of Jammu Kashmir.
Founded in 2016 as a student-led project, Kashmiriat began with a simple purpose: to create a space where Kashmir could be understood through its own people, its own memory, and its own lived experiences. Over time, that purpose has grown into a wider commitment to public-interest journalism, cultural preservation, political analysis, and historical documentation.
Our Origin
The idea of Kashmiriat.com was born in 2016, at a time when Kashmiri voices were facing growing pressure across digital, political, and media spaces.
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, books and writings linked to pro-independence thought were being restricted. In Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, journalists and media institutions were facing censorship, publication bans, communication shutdowns, and restrictions on reporting. For many Kashmiris, the digital space had become one of the few remaining places to document memory, express political thought, preserve culture, and speak beyond imposed boundaries.
Kashmiriat was launched by Zafar Rathore, an IT professional deeply committed to the Kashmiri cause, with support from Jawad Ahmed Paras. Zafar initially led the technical development of the website, helping create the digital foundation for the project.
After Zafar relocated to the United States, the platform went through a temporary pause. In late 2017, Jawad Ahmed Paras took full charge of reviving Kashmiriat.com, driven by a commitment to continue amplifying Kashmiri voices and preserving the political, cultural, and historical memory of Jammu Kashmir.
Although personal and circumstantial challenges prevented the platform from operating continuously in its early years, the vision remained clear: to build an independent space where Kashmiris could document their own realities, tell their own stories, debate their own future, and preserve their collective memory.
Kashmiriat focuses on the many realities of Jammu Kashmir, including the Kashmir Valley, Jammu, Ladakh, Azad Jammu Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, the diaspora, and communities divided by borders, conflict, displacement, and political uncertainty.
Today, Kashmiriat continues that founding vision as an independent media and archive platform focused on conflict, culture, history, memory, and the socio-political life of the historical State of Jammu Kashmir.
Kashmiriat: an independent public-interest media and archive platform documenting conflict, culture, memory, and socio-political life across the historical State of Jammu Kashmir.
What We Cover
Kashmiriat works across five main areas:
Conflict and Rights
We document the human, political, legal, and social impact of conflict, including civil liberties, displacement, militarization, censorship, political movements, media freedom, and the lives of communities affected by violence and uncertainty.
Politics and Society
We examine the political structures, governance systems, public movements, constitutional questions, regional aspirations, social inequalities, and changing realities of Jammu Kashmir and its people.
Culture and Memory
We believe culture is central to the survival of a people. Kashmiriat covers language, literature, poetry, oral histories, food, music, architecture, shrines, folk traditions, festivals, crafts, and the shared cultural memory of the region.
History and Archive
We collect, explain, and preserve historical documents, timelines, maps, speeches, photographs, biographies, treaties, resolutions, and forgotten narratives that have shaped Jammu Kashmir.
Opinion and Debate
Kashmiriat provides space for serious essays, analysis, and debate from different Kashmiri perspectives. We welcome disagreement, but we do not publish hate speech, personal attacks, propaganda, or claims made without evidence.
Our Editorial Position
Kashmiriat is rooted in the belief that the people of Jammu Kashmir have the right to dignity, memory, identity, justice, and political voice.
We are not neutral about human rights, cultural survival, civil liberties, and the right of people to shape their own future. At the same time, Kashmiriat remains editorially independent from governments, political parties, armed groups, pressure networks, donors, and commercial interests.
Our work is guided by facts, context, fairness, and responsibility. We clearly distinguish between news, analysis, opinion, archive material, and editorial positions.
Our Purpose
Kashmiriat exists to:
- Document the lived experiences of the people of Jammu Kashmir.
- Preserve cultural memory and historical records.
- Provide context beyond headlines and propaganda.
- Encourage informed debate among Kashmiris and those interested in the region.
- Support young writers, researchers, journalists, artists, and students.
- Build an accessible archive for future generations.
Our Audience
Kashmiriat is for Kashmiris everywhere, including those living in the region and in the diaspora. It is also for students, researchers, journalists, policymakers, human rights workers, cultural practitioners, and readers who want to understand Jammu Kashmir beyond simplified narratives.
Our Standards
We are committed to accuracy, transparency, independence, and accountability. We aim to verify information before publication, correct errors openly, protect vulnerable sources, and avoid language that dehumanizes individuals or communities.
In a conflict region, words carry weight. Kashmiriat seeks to report and analyze with care, responsibility, and respect for human dignity.
Contribute to Kashmiriat
Kashmiriat welcomes contributions from writers, researchers, journalists, photographers, poets, artists, translators, students, and community historians.
We accept essays, reports, interviews, archival material, photographs, oral histories, translations, cultural reflections, and research-based articles related to Jammu Kashmir.
For submissions, corrections, or editorial inquiries, contact:
Our Commitment
Kashmiriat is more than a website. It is a long-term effort to preserve memory, encourage dialogue, document realities, and create an independent platform for the people and stories of Jammu Kashmir.
We believe that a people’s future cannot be understood without their history, culture, pain, resistance, creativity, and voice.
Kashmiriat exists to keep that voice alive.