Zaffar Iqbal Manhas

Zafar Iqbal Manhas is a noted Indian freelancer, writer, poet, social activist and Pahari politician hailing from Jammu and Kashmir. He was an MLC of Shopian district.[3] He was a senior member of the Peoples Democratic Party until joining the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party in March 2020[4] He is also vice-president of the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages.[5] Zafar belongs to a Pahari speaking Muslim Rajput family and is proud of being a Kashmiri. He is very vocal about the plight of Kashmiris especially displaced Kashmiri Pandits[6].Zafar was the front line leader of the Pahari Movement that resulted in the reservation for pahari speaking people in government jobs and educational institutions. Zafar Iqbal Manhas is a highly educated person and apart from his mother tongue Pahari, he can fluently speak English, Kashmiri, Urdu, Hindi, Persian, Dogri, Gojri and Punjabi.