Skip to main content

Pakistan's digital Census2023 will make the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir invisible.

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics started the first digital Census 2023 in Pakistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and Gilgit Baltistan. However, the people of Kashmir are concerned that the fundamental flaws in the #Census2023 form will make their national identity invisible. It will also seriously undermine the ability of the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir living in Pakistan and its administered areas to have access to their accurate population and housing data. The people of and Azad Government of the State of Jammu and Kashmir and the Government of Gilgit Baltistan wouldn't get a fair share in resources and representation at all levels. Furthermore, it will affect J&K Citizen's account in the Census data, which would not help in making arrangements to facilitate their participation in the plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nation to exercise their right to self-determination to decide the future status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Kashmir Development Foundation (KDF), a community development organisation, is spearheading a campaign for the inclusion of "Bashinda-e-Riyasat Jammu and Kashmir" (Citizens of Jammu and Kashmir) and main community languages, Pahari, Gojri, and Brushuski as one of the core data entry options in the Pakistan Census 2023 data collection forms.

 Sardar Aftab Khan, Executive Director, KDF, said: The Census Data is one of the primary data sources. It helps the Government make decisions for equitable allocation of resources for planning and development of all sectors within four provinces, AJK and Gilgit Baltistan (GB). However, the people of the State are concerned that if the 2023 Census goes ahead under current procedures and plans. It will not accurately identify the numbers of the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir living in Pakistan, AJK, and Gilgit-Baltistan as citizens of the State. The population of these areas will be subsumed in the Census data, and significant discrepancies in the data will rob them of their future and vital financial resources.”

The KDF campaign is gaining momentum and becoming a mass movement. KDF has produced briefing papers and written letters to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, all the members of the AJK assembly and the Bar Councils in AJK. The members and the leader of the Opposition in the AJK Assembly highlighted the issue in the AJK Assembly on 5th February 2023 while the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mian Mohammed Shahbaz Sharif, was in attendance. The District Bar Associations of Kotli, MirpurBaghPoonch and Bhimber and Tehsil Bar Council Baloch and Hajira have passed resolutions supporting KDF demands. The People Rights Forum Poonch has started a long march and included KDF demands as one of its core missions.

 The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) is using an impugned approach and putting a question mark on the Pakistani people and the Government's solidarity with the Kashmiri people. Their actions will erase the State's identity as 'citizens of Jammu and Kashmir' from the census data. The PBS policy and practices concerning J&K State Citizens are much like the Indian Government Policies for demographic changes in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir after 5th August 2019. When the Indian Government revoked article 370, which provided a special status to J&K within the Indian Constitution and Article 35-A, which has protected the state identity of 'citizens of Jammu and Kashmir'."

 KDF estimate that over 40% of the AJK population generally lives for over six months to work, study, or conduct business in Pakistan. The 2023 Census will erase them from the total count of the AJK and Gilgit Baltistan population data.

·       There will be no identifiable population data about the refugees of Jammu and Kashmir living in Pakistan.

·       The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics identifies no credible data analysis mechanisms to measure the demographic makeup of the population classed as Citizens of Jammu and Kashmir under State subject rules of 20th April 1927 and recognised as such under the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951 and AJK Interim Constitution, 1974 who are living in Pakistan, AJK and Gilgit Baltistan.

 Consequently, the right to self-determination of the Citizens of Jammu and Kashmir living in Pakistan, AJK and Gilgit Baltistan and their participation in the plebiscite to determine the future of the State of Jammu and Kashmir will be compromised.

The ability of the people and the Government of AJK will be seriously affected to have equitable access to financial resources from Govt. of Pakistan. It will also affect utilising AJK resources to effectively plan infrastructure development in every aspect of socioeconomic development, health, education, population welfare and economic regeneration in AJK.

 In a letter to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, KDF has reminded him of his commitment to investigate the subject matter - Inclusion of the “Bashinda -e- Riasaat Jammu and Kashmir” in the Online Census 2023 form while responding to the issue highlighted in the AJK Assembly on 5th February 2023 by the leader of the opposition Ch Latif Akbar Advocate MLA.

 KDF has asked PM Pakistan to give due regard to the urgency of the matter and highlighted the need to resolve the issue created by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. KDF has requested PM Pakistan to issue directions to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics to amend the 2023 Census online form before the commencement of Population Census 2023 and include the following;

a)    “Bashinda -e- Riasaat Jammu and Kashmir” as an option in response to Question 8 What is your nationality?

b)    Pahari, Gojri, and Brushuski languages as an option to answer Question 7 What is your mother language?

 KDF has highlighted that the 2023 Population and Housing Census will be a primary data source for supplying disaggregated data needed to measure the progress of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Census data will be an essential data source, especially in assessing people's situation by income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migration status of J&K citizens, disability and geographic location, or other characteristics. It will be a primary reference for data to help Federal and Provincial Governments and the AJK and Gilgit Baltistan governments formulate, implement and monitor policies and programmes aimed at Inclusive socioeconomic development, resilience building and environmental sustainability.

Therefore, KDF and the people of AJK and Gilgit Baltistan demand that the Government of Pakistan and PBS respond to the following questions of Jammu and Kashmir immediately; otherwise, they will reserve the right to boycott the Census 2023.

 They want to know the following:

 1-    What considerations and due regard has the Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Projects and Pakistan Bureau of Statistics given to the demand for inclusion of "Bashinda -e- Riassat Jammu and Kashmir” as an option in the 2023 Census form?

Kashmir Development Foundation has regularly submitted the demand via an online petition at https://chng.it/ZLgN4czP95 .   

2-   What steps Pakistan Bureau of Statistics is undertaking to include "Bashinda -e- Riassat Jammu and Kashmir” as an option in the Census form and have the Pahari, Gojri, Balti and Brushuski languages as an option in the Census form? These languages are commonly spoken by over 3.5 million people of AJK, J&K refugees living in Pakistan and people of Gilgit Baltistan. Why have they not been included as an option?

3-   Is there any evidence to confirm that the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics has ever consulted with the civil society and AJK Govt. representatives at the design and development stages of the 2023 Census form questionnaire? 

4-  How will the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics reconcile the invisibility of the Citizens of Jammu and Kashmir without including “Bashinda -e- Riassat Jammu and Kashmir" as a distinct ethnocultural characteristics classification in the demographic statistics Database?

5-   How will the Govt. of Pakistan and the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics address the invisibility and marginalisation of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in the Census data?

Civil society cannot allow any manipulation or excuses for technical errors in the Cenus 2023 data census to justify compromising the fair distribution of national resources. The sacrifices of millions of Kashmiri people prove that the people of the State are united in protecting their identity as the 'Citizens of the state of Jammu and Kashmir' and reject any deliberate or unintentional attempt to destroy the State's identity and unity in any way. We have the knowledge, awareness, understanding and courage to fight to protect our national interest and identity as 'Bashinda-e-Riyasat Jammu and Kashmir’.

 Kashmir Development Foundation – a civil society organisation that empowers the voices of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and its diaspora in Pakistan and internationally. For further details, visit: www.kdf.ngo or www.facebook.com/kdfuk



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

#FreeYasinMalik Campaign - Yasin Malik's Biography, Political Evolution, and Civil Resistance.

  Prime Minister’s Office (2006) Introduction Yasin Malik, born in Srinagar in 1966, has emerged as one of the most influential leaders in Kashmir’s struggle for freedom and political rights. His journey captures the transition of Kashmiri resistance from the revolutionary phase of the late 1980s to a movement increasingly shaped by civil resistance and international advocacy. His lifelong struggle embodies Kashmir’s dynamic history and the resilience of its people’s aspirations for independence, territorial integrity, national unity, and liberation from colonial domination and foreign occupation by all available means, including armed struggle (United Nations General Assembly, 1983). Malik’s path spans youthful activism in the tumultuous streets of Srinagar to his engagements with Indian and Pakistani prime ministers, international mediators, and leading human-rights organisations, underscoring his recognition as a legitimate political actor. Renowned as Chairman of the Jammu ...

آزاد کشمیر اسمبلی کی انتخابی حلقہ بندی میں عدم توازن — جمہوری مساوات کی بحالی کا وقت

   آزاد جموں کشمیراسمبلی میں سب کے لیے برابر نمائیندگی کا فارمولہ — مہاجرین کے لیے انتخابی حلقہ بندی کا منصفانہ حل تحریر: سردار آفتاب خان ریاست جموں و کشمیر کے اس حصے میں جہاں جمہوری اُمنگیں گہری جڑیں رکھتی ہیں، آزاد جموں و کشمیر (آزاد کشمیر) کی قانون ساز اسمبلی کا موجودہ ڈھانچہ ایک پریشان کن عدم توازن ظاہر کرتا ہے۔ مہاجرین جموں کشمیر مقیم پاکستان کے حلقے، اگرچہ تاریخی طور پر اہمیت رکھتے ہیں، لیکن ان حلقوں سے منتخب ہونے والے ممبران اسمبلی اب آزاد کشمیر کے رہائشی آبادی کے منتخب ممبران اسمبلی کے مقابلے میں غیر متناسب نما ؑیندگی اور حکومت اور قانون سازی کا اختیار رکھتے ہیں۔ یہ عدم توازن فوری انتخابی اصلاحات کا متقاضی ہے۔ اعداد و شمار پر مبنی عدم مساوات جمہوریت کا بنیادی اصول سیدھا سا ہے: ہر ووٹ کی حیثیت اور طاقت برابر ہونی چاہیے۔ لیکن آزاد جموں و کشمیر (اے جے کے) کی قانون ساز اسمبلی کا موجودہ انتخابی طریقہ کار اور اسمبلی ممبران کے لیے مختص حلقہ بندی اس اصول کی مکمل عکاسی نہیں کرتے۔ آزاد کشمیر اسمبلی میں 12 نشستیں مہاجرین مقیم پاکستان کے لیے مختص ہیں — 6 نشستیں پاکستان میں آباد...

A New Dawn for Jammu and Kashmir: Why the UN Must Lead a Multilateral Path to Lasting Peace

A New Dawn for Jammu and Kashmir: Why the UN Must Lead a Multilateral Path to Lasting Peace.  By Sardar Aftab Khan   London, July 2025 – Seventy ‑ seven years after the first ceasefire drew the line across Jammu & Kashmir, the bitter legacy of partition still haunts its mountain passes and river valleys. Civilians on both sides of the Line of Control live under heavy military shadow, even as hopes for resolution flicker in the chilly night air. It’s time, argues Sardar Aftab Khan of the Jammu Kashmir Council on Foreign Affairs (JKCFA) , to break this cycle—not through bilateral brinksmanship, but by harnessing the full weight of United Nations multilateralism. From Frozen Conflict to Transformative Process Since 1947, conflicts over the former princely state have cost countless lives, displaced families, and bred a siege mentality that stifles voices of moderation. Traditional diplomacy has treated Jammu and Kashmir like a problem to be “settled”—with ceasefires, plebiscit...