Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday began his three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir amid unexpected support from the Pahari community, for which he may announce a “bonenza” of sorts.
There is speculation that Shah will grant Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the community during his rallies in Rajouri and Baramulla on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.
Unlike the Gujjars and Bakarwals decades ago, the Pahari community has been bleeding deeply for not granting ST status to Kashmiri regional parties.
The two communities are neighbors in the hilly area, but there has always been a silent conflict between the two.
Gujjar Sulki
Over the past few months, amid reports of Shah’s visit, Pahari leaders, irrespective of party they belong to, have been quietly calling on their supporters to attend rallies in large numbers.
The ruckus about granting ST status to hills due to reservation in government jobs, scholarships, college and university admissions has irked the Gujjars. They feel that this will harm them because the hill people are doing better than them in terms of jobs, economy and risk.
Busy nights early in the morning.
For mass communication for mass communication for transition from different media. pic.twitter.com/mEmBHIZ76V
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) 3 October 2022
The possible “empowerment” of the hills has led to differences among the cadres in the National Conference (NC). While the Pahari people are waiting for Shah’s visit and openly supporting him, the Gurjar tribe is angry.
In Shopian, some Gujjar members asked the government not to play with the ST status of the community. Guftar Choudhary, a young Gujjar leader from Pir Panjal, told News18 that the Center should reconsider the proposed move and not give the gift of status to the “affluent” community and pull the Gujjars down.
“Why should Gupt, Verma, Syed, Mirza who ruled the region in the past be given ST status,” he said, adding that “creamy layers of society” should be kept out.
the hills celebrate
While the Gujjars are angry, Pahari seems to be in a celebratory mood. Senior NC leader and former MLA Khafeel-ul-Rehman, in a meeting with his supporters on Wednesday, gave a call to participate in the rally in Baramulla.
“We all should join the rally and show our collective strength. I want you to be at the forefront of Amit Shah’s rally. If we don’t get ST status today, we will never get it,” he told the gathering in Tangdhar, a constituency that lies along the Line of Control and has a mix of Gujjar and Pahari communities.
With the combination of Gur, Bakarwal Vasthala and Psychic in Shaka and Ki. pic.twitter.com/CzKkj5AegH
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) 3 October 2022
He said he has kept 20 buses ready for the journey to Baramulla, where Shah will address a rally on Wednesday.
Muzaffar Baig, former deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and a formidable hill leader from Baramulla, in a video message asked his supporters to make Shah’s rally a success.
Shah Saheb will fulfill the demand we have been raising for the last 35 years. This will be a positive and historic decision. I appeal to everyone to join the rally and demand justice.
Other Feedback
In the past few weeks, Mushtaq Bukhari, a senior NC leader from Rajouri, Mohammad Ehsan from the PDP and several others have resigned and openly supported the BJP on the issue of giving ST status to the hills.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday alleged that the BJP was polarizing communities in the greed of ST status. In a tweet where he inserted a video bite, he appealed to the communities to stay united.
There is tension in Pir Panjal in view of the Home Minister’s visit and possible announcement of ST status. Old relationships are falling apart. Earlier, Hindus and Muslims stood against each other and now they want Gujjars and Paharis to fight,” she remarked.
Senior BJP leader and former deputy CM Nirmal Singh, however, hit back at Mufti and said that it was his party and others in Kashmir who were pitting communities, religions, regions and tribes against each other and their The party stands for inclusiveness and empowerment of all.
Meanwhile, Shah’s announcement to grant ST status to the Pahari community will require follow-up action in Parliament to become a law. This will be the first reservation in the country to be gifted to a linguistic group. For this, the Center will have to amend the Reservation Act.
Many say that giving ST status to hill people may boost the BJP’s chances in Jammu and Kashmir, where nine seats have been reserved for the community.
Although elections in J&K are not yet scheduled, many see Shah’s visit to J&K as a pre-election.
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