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Srinagar: Tucked deep into the foothills of south Kashmir, in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the twin villages of Cheki- Isherdas and Wantrag sit along a narrow irrigation canal, surrounded by terraced fields, winter vegetable patches, and groves of walnut and apple trees.<\/p>\n
According to Kashmir Media Service, Bashir Ahmad Pakhtoon (70), a retired teacher and Pashto activist, wrapped in a traditional Pathani outfit with a woollen chadar over his shoulders, said: \u201cOur village still carries a Pashtun imprint.\u201d says. \u201cOur language, food and customs distinguish us even today.\u201d Home to nearly 600 Pashtun households, the villages form a rare enclave of Afghan-origin tribal culture in Islamabad district.<\/p>\n
Pashtun settlements also exist in other parts of Kashmir, including Gutlibagh- Ganderbal, Srinagar, Baramulla, Kupwara and Pulwama. Wantrag, however, remains one of the few places where Pashto language and customs are still prominently visible. The road to Wantrag climbs a hill about 15 kilometres from Islamabad town, cutting through apple orchards.<\/p>\n
The village presents scenes uncommon in much of Kashmir- shop signboards in Pashto, the aroma of Kabuli Pulaw, and men in Pathani dress and chadar working along canal banks. For outsiders, communication can be difficult, as many residents primarily speak Pashto. Social affairs are governed by a traditional Jirga system, elders say.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe community continues to follow the Jirga, a traditional council that resolves disputes and takes collective decisions based on consensus, guided by Pashtunwali, the Pashtun code of conduct,\u201d said Basheer, a tribal elder who is also head of the local jirga. \u201cThe crime rate here is almost zero. Very few matters ever reach the courts.\u201d Children play cricket on narrow roads, while mud-and-wood houses line the slopes, giving the area the appearance of a Pashtun settlement rather than a typical Kashmiri village. The Pashtun presence in Wantrag dates back more than a century.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the rule of Maharaja Pratap Singh, this land was granted as a jagir to Isherdas, a Pashtun ruler who came from present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,\u201d says Dost Muhammad Khan (80), a retired Tehsildar. \u201cMy parents were brought here by Isherdas, and we settled permanently,\u201d he adds. \u201cI was born and raised here. In those days, there were only a few Pashtun families.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over time, Pashtuns from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Afghanistan joined the settlement. Farming particularly vegetables and walnuts became the main source of livelihood.<\/p>\n
\u201cLiteracy levels were very low earlier,\u201d Dost Muhammad says. \u201cWhen I completed my graduation and later joined the revenue department, it encouraged others to educate their children.\u201dThat change is now visible. \u201cToday, we have graduates and postgraduates,\u201d Bashir says.<\/p>\n
Dost Muhammad\u2019s son, Ali Muhamad, recently retired as a higher secondary school principal.\u201d Despite social progress, residents say the community remains excluded from official protections. \u201cWe are described as Pathans, Pashtuns or sometimes even Paharis,\u201d Bashir says. \u201cBut when it comes to reservations in jobs and education, we are left out.\u201d Reservation eligibility in Jammu and Kashmir has often been linked to the Pahari language, which many Pashtuns say excludes them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no constitutional basis for linguistic based reservation,\u201d Bashir says. \u201cWe are a tribal community. That alone should make us eligible.\u201d While many Pashtuns today speak Kashmiri and Pahari, Bashir insists Pashto ethnicity remains central to their identity.<\/p>\n
Pashto once enjoyed official recognition in Kashmir. \u201cWhen Radio Kashmir began broadcasting in 1948, Pashto news and cultural programmes continued until 1967,\u201d Bashir says. \u201cNo other regional language had that status at the time.\u201d That support has since disappeared. \u201cToday, Pashto survives mainly as a spoken language,\u201d he says. \u201cThere are no textbooks, no schools and no institutional backing.\u201d In 1953, Pashtuns were granted Indian citizenship and recognised as a backward community.<\/p>\n
A 1986 government survey later grouped them under the Gujjar community, but that classification was eventually withdrawn. \u201cToday, we have no formal recognition,\u201d Bashir says. \u201cOur struggle is for visibility.\u201d Cultural practices in Wantrag are gradually changing. \u201cEarlier, the tribe strictly stuck to endogamic marriages\u201d Bashir says. \u201cIn recent years, however, inter-community marriages have become more common.\u201d Traditional attire has also evolved. \u201cThe Pheran was once unfamiliar to us, but now many people wear it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Still, elders are making efforts to preserve their heritage. A small Pashto booklet has been published for children, and families encourage tailors to continue stitching traditional Pathani clothing.\u201cWe are deeply rooted in Kashmir,\u201d Bashir says, \u201cbut preserving our language and culture is essential to knowing who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Srinagar: Tucked deep into the foothills of south Kashmir, in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the twin villages of Cheki- Isherdas and Wantrag sit along a narrow irrigation canal, surrounded by terraced fields, winter vegetable patches, and groves of walnut and apple trees. According to Kashmir Media Service, Bashir Ahmad Pakhtoon (70), a retired …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":193663,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-193662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indian-occupied-jammu-and-kashmir"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/01\/afghan.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193662"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193664,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193662\/revisions\/193664"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}