A large number of people from Gujjar Bakerwal tribe protested in Rajouri against the inclusion of elite, influential, privileged, socially and economically advanced upper caste Paharis in the list of Scheduled Tribe communities.
BDC Chairpersons, Panchs, Sarpanchs representatives of Employees Association, retired bureaucrats, Students from different degree colleges and BGSBU university, youths, activists and citizens from different parts of district Rajouri joined together at Bela Colony park.
Protest call was given by general public as it was a non political gathering not lead by any leader and social activist. Protestors came all the way from thanamandi, Saj, Dodasan, Darhal, Peeri Prori,Koternka, Palma, Kalakote, Lam
Darhal, Nowshera, Kallar, Agrathi, Bathuni, Manjakote and different far flung areas of district Rajouri. They were holding slogan boards, national flags, Protest banners and raising slogans against the inclusion of elites in ST.
Number of activists, students and leaders addressed the gathering and media as well to put forward their demand to not dilute status of Schedule Tribes in Jammu Kashmir. According to protestors from last few months many news reports and rumours are circulating in the media and social media that the Central Government has promised Paharis to include them in the list of STs and since then marginalised Gujjars, Bakerwals, Sippis Gaddis, and STs from Gurez feeling worried about their future in JK.
Thousands of protestors then marched from Bela Colony park towards Gujjar Mandi Rajouri via Abdullah bridge and reached DC office Rajouri and submitted a detailed memorandum to DC Rajouri and requested him to forward the copies of memorandum to President, Prime Minister and Home Minister of India.
Protesting tribal community requested Government of India to do justice with the tribals of Jammu and Kashmir and not to include any undeserving, elite and privileged community in the Scheduled Tribe list.
Protesting youths were saying that these Pahari People are not defined categorically by any historical, sociological or anthropological research and their whole movement is based on lies and Propagandas. They have treated tribals like second class citizens since centuries in the region and with the help of reservation a small percentage of people came in the mainstream and joined various job sectors which these paharis cannot digest. These paharis have ruled the region since recent past and were very influential during dogra regime too. They were tax collectors and Gujjar Bakerwals used to do manual jobs on their orders. Gujjar Bakerwals make up more than 40% of the total population in the Pir Panjal region and even today they do not control more than 10% of the economic affairs in the area.
Notified tribes of JK are saying that Pahari people have always been the rulers in the region and never faced discrimination on the basis of their social identity, they are the upper caste people from different religions. Paharis don’t even fulfil one criteria out of all to be notified as a tribe, they are not primitive, neither they have any kinship among them and nor marginalised. There are Brahmins and Rajputs who are upper caste Hindus and then Syeds, Jarals, Maliks, Khans (Rajputs) Mughals etc who are the upper caste and privileged Muslims and then Sikhs too who all came together for a common politically motivated goal.
BJP is playing vote bank politics with both tribals and non tribals by making false, tall and illogical promises. How a syed and brahmin can be a primitive, backward and tribal when they have controlled all the systems like educational, political and business in the region since decades. If BJP is thinking about including them in the list of STs it will a historic and grave injustice with Gujjar Bakerwals of Jammu and Kashmir and we will knock the doors of Courts
and will protest at all the platforms to oppose the unjust move of BJP.
Tribal activists further said that the non-existent Paharis are already enjoying 39% reservation under various categories like RBA, ALC, OBC, EWS etc under JK Reservation rules right from 1994 till date. It is established beyond any shadow of doubt that the conspirators are all out to jeopardize the legitimate rights and interests of the tribals and render them unreal and ineffective socially, educationally, economically and politically and create a pre1919 situation and all this is totally unacceptable to us and we will oppose them openly.
An activist said that various Commissions and committees appointed by the successive governments in J&K, not even once referred Paharis as a tribal group.
Similarly, the census reports of 1941, 1961, 1971, 1981, to mention only a few, also didn’t refer to the so-called Paharis as a distinct tribal group. Even the BJP-led NDA government in 2002 rejected their unjust demand to include them in the list of notified tribes.
Protestors concluded their protest by saying that any move on the part of the government in J&K and at the Centre to grant ST status to the non-existent Paharis, who basically represent feudalism and continue to occupy, vital positions in the Government, would create serious problems in the border-belt of Jammu and parts of Kashmir and if it happened, the consequences would be disastrous for the government.