Zafar Choudhary

Choudhary won the State Award from the Government of Jammu and Kashmir in 2017 for his contribution in the field of journalism. He has also been awarded by a number of Universities, NGOs for his outstanding work in the field of journalism and research.

Choudhary's book titled Kashmir Conflict and Muslims of Jammu (2015) addresses a historical gap in scholarship on Jammu and Kashmir. The story of the Muslims of Jammu, their political views, and pro-India outlook, was not known before this book was published. In an interview to Daily O of the India Today group, Choudhary said, the Muslims of Jammu are lost in oblivion. Jammu and Kashmir's leading English daily newspaper Daily Excelsior termed the book a "masterly narrative of Kashmir conflict and identity profile of Jammu Muslims". The Friday Times of Lahore said "Zafar's book in itself is the first of its kind, as successive historians only made passing references to the Jammu massacre. Its launch kick-started a fresh debate around the subject". In an article titled "Of the 'Other' and 'Outsider', India's leading English daily The Hindu said, "Choudhary's is an important work which will, I hope, help in addressing the impressions of Muslims of Jammu division that they are taken for granted, that the government of India, and the world, seeking to bring to final resolution the conflicts that have plagued the state of J&K over the last century, seek primarily to determine simply the views of different sections of the community residents in Kashmir."

Zafar Choudhary (Urdu: ظفر چودھری) is an Indian journalist, author, policy analyst, and practitioner of peace-building. He is founder and Chief Editor of The Dispatch. Educated at the London School of Economics and Political Science, he is Asia Society Fellow (2012). He was born in a remote village Rehan in district Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir in 1975.

Choudhary is a well-known name in the India-Pakistan Track II process with a focus on peacebuilding in Jammu and Kashmir. He has worked with Conciliation Resources (London) since 2008 on a comprehensive India-Pakistan initiatives to build peace in the region. He has worked closely with government officials, political and civil society actors across the political divides in both sides of the Line of Control to create unique and exemplary institutes like a Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a Consortium of Vice-Chancellors, drawing members from both sides of India-Pakistan divide in Kashmir.