Kashmir is one of the most reported-on conflicts in Asia, yet also one of the most misunderstood. International coverage tends to follow patterns that obscure rather than illuminate reality on the ground.
The India-Pakistan Frame
Most international coverage presents Kashmir as a geopolitical chess match between two nuclear rivals. This frame is not wrong, but it is deeply incomplete. It reduces a human rights crisis affecting 15 million people to a story about state rivalry. The Kashmiri people become background characters in a story fundamentally about them.
The Access Problem
In Indian-Occupied Kashmir, foreign journalists face significant restrictions. Following the revocation of Article 370 in 2019, international media access was severely limited. Stories that emerge often come secondhand, or from journalists who face serious legal risk for their work.
AJK Is Almost Invisible
The struggles of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan receive almost no international media attention at all. The JAAC protests of 2022–2024 — one of the largest civil movements in the region’s history — were largely ignored by major international outlets.
Kashmeeriyat exists partly to fill this gap. We believe the full story of Kashmir — both sides of the Line of Control — deserves to be told accurately, consistently, and with the humanity it deserves.