DOGRA HERALD BUREAU
JAMMU, Feb 2
The All J&K Gujjar Bakerwal Co-ordination Committee (AJKGBCC) held a massive protest/Press Conference here in Jammu today opposing the move of central Govt. to grant ST status to Paharis and expressed their concern in this regard. The leaders of co-ordination committee while addressing the protestors said that the developments for sometimes and reports in a section of print and social media all indicate that the non-existent Paharis and their self-styled leaders having connections at right places in the J&K establishment & in the Central Government have joined hands to convince the authorities in J&K and New Delhi to their spurious and unjustifiable claim to Scheduled Tribe (ST) Status, so that they could share the benefits the tribals, including Gujjars, Bakerwals, Gadis and Sippis, have been getting since April 1991. The tribals got ST status after decades of a relentless struggle and got reservation in government employment and educational institutions. The Gujjar leaders and social activists of community while speaking in the peaceful protest & Press Conference at Panama Chowk under the statue of Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar said that the non-existent Paharis were granted 39% reservation under various categories under J&K Reservation rules right from 1994 till date. The Paharis do not constitute a tribe and don’t deserve ST status. 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 pre-1991 situation and all this is utterly unacceptable to us.
Anwar Choudhary Advocate Convener of the Coordination Committee making the point said that the various Commissions and Committees appointed by the successive governments in J&K, not even once referred to the non-existent 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, he said, adding that the BJP-led NDA too in 2002 rejected outrightly the unjustifiable claim of the so-called Paharis to ST status, saying the laid down rules didn’t allow any such status to them. So much so, even their claim to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) status was never considered tenable and lawful by the successive governments in J&K and even by the Backward Classes Commission rejected their demand seeking OBC status, he further said.
Further dismissing their claim to the ST status, the leaders of various Gujjar- Bakerwals Organizations said that the entire UT of J&K, barring parts of Kathua and Samba districts in Jammu, is hilly and mountainous, and asked how could the well-entrenched so-called Paharis demand ST status for such people inhabiting only the Poonch-Rajouri border belt in Jammu and parts of Kupwara and Baramulla districts in Kashmir where the tribals are more numerous put forth such a mischievous demand.
While addressing the gathering many leaders of Gujjar Bakerwal Community that any move on the part of the authorities in J&K and at the Centre to grant ST status to the non-existent Paharis, who basically represent feudalism and who occupied, and continue to occupy, vital positions in the Government, would create serious problems in the border-belt in Jammu and parts of Kashmir and if it happened, the consequences would be disastrous for the nation and UT of Jammu and Kashmir. The AJKGBCC urged PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to reject the demand of the non-existent Paharis seeking ST status and reassured the fullest possible support to the tribals Gujjar & Bakerwal as guaranteed under the constitution of India.
