Under .. Name games, we speak about the politics behind a particular name, for a particular place. For example, the official name of an area known earlier as POK is now POJK. Why? Anantnag is nowadays referred to as Islamabad in unofficial communications. The government Press releases still carry the old name, Anantnag. For the Press releases emanating with that
Read moreA new word has entered the lexicon, or nomenclature, recently, whenever a reference is to be made to what comprised Doda (district) earlier. Incidentally, three new districts were created out of much larger Doda when Ghulam Nabi Azad was the Chief Minister (November 2002 to July 2008). These new districts are Kishtwar, Doda and Ramban. This comparatively new word is
Read moreHistorically, Anantnag is one of most ancient settlement or towns of the Kashmir Valley. Comprising two words Anant + Nag, it means a land where there are countless (anant) springs. Of course, one of the most famous springs is the district is Verinag. It is considered the origin of river Jhelum which drains the entire Kashmir Valley and meanders its
Read moreIn May 2016, a controversy broke out when a government advertisement referred to Hari Parbat as Koh e Maran. It was an issued by Tourism Department of the state government regarding Fort Festival. The celebrations were a sort of mix of tourism promotion and cultural extravaganza. A joint effort of the Tourism Department headed by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, the
Read moreThe areas of Jammu and Kashmir which are in illegal possession of Pakistan were earlier called POK, or Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. After Narendra Modi assumed charge as Prime Minister of India, on May 26, 2014, one of the first things his government did was to change the name POK to POJK (Pakistan Occupied Jammu Kashmir). That this name change effected
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