In Kashmir, community of Pashtuns strives to protect its culture, identity

Far away from the hustle and bustle of the city, a community in Jammu and Kashmir is trying to preserve their culture and tradition.

The Pathans in the Gotli Bagh area of Kashmir migrated from parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. They speak what they deem "pure Pashto."

Abdul Wadud Khan's father was a teenager when he migrated from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the northwest of Pakistan. Wadud, now 90, spends his life living in both countries since their migration. Often he travels to meet his two sons settled in Abbottabad.

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Sitting on a charpoy with his grandchild and great-grandchild, he is a father of 10. He remembers why his family migrated to Kashmir.

"We wanted to live a peaceful life, and our father travelled from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Kashmir and decide to settle here," says Wadud adding that they marry within the community.

Wadud and his family were given the state subjects which helped them own the land. Before this, they were considered as outsiders and were taxed till mid-20th century.

Now the family of more than dozen owns orchards and exports apples. He wants his offsprings to teach their children their native language. He says, "our language is pure Pashto, we have kept our tradition alive. We teach Pashto to our grandchildren too."

His grandson, Khalid Mehmood is a local school teacher, who watches news broadcast from Peshawar and Kabul and informs his grandfather about the daily happenings in the region. They say they are pained by the news about the violence on Pathans in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"We watch Khyber TV, Voice of America and other channels which broadcast from Pakistan and Afghanistan."

In this village, they carry on customs such as holding 'jherga' councils to decide disputes. Villagers put the current numbers of Pathans in Gotli Bagh at around 10,000.

There are only a few buses which carry the villagers from the mountains to the market.

Sana Ullah Yousafzai is the head of 'jherga' council, having worked in the All India Radio, he now spends most of his time with his grandchildren teaching them about their identity with a fear that with time they may get mixed with the majority.

"95 per cent of marriages take place within the community so that our language and culture remain preserved," says Sana Ullah, whose family travelled during the British rule and settled here.