- By Radha Basnet
- Tue, 04 Oct 2022 11:18 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
UNION Home Minister Amit Shah, who is on a three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir will today address a historic rally in Valley’s Rajouri. He announced the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the Pahari community in the Union Territory. The Rajouri region has a sizeable population of Paharis.
If granted the ST status, the Paharis will be eligible for reservation in government educational institutes and jobs. Meanwhile, the possible announcement has triggered a political row in the union territory as the people of the Gujjar and Bakerwal communities protested in Shopian and urged Union Government not to meddle with the ST status of the community.
Who Are The Paharis?
A socio-linguistic group known as the Paharis, they are primarily found in the hilly areas of the Poonch-Rajouri area, Mirpur, and some areas of the Kashmir Valley, such as Baramulla, Kupwara, and Uri. They represent around 20 per cent of the total population in Jammu and Kashmir.
Their native speech, Pahari, is a dialect of the Pothwari language with its own distinct culture. They usually reside in rural areas and are majorly involved in agricultural and cattle activities.
Who Is Opposing The ST Status For Paharis?
The Gujjars and Bakerwals, who were granted ST status in 1991 and form the third largest ethnic group in Jammu and Kashmir after Kashmiris and Dogras, are opposing the status of ST to the Paharis. Gujjars and Bakerwals communities enjoy 10 per cent reservation in government jobs and admissions to educational institutions.
The Gujjars and Bakerwals communities argued that Paharis should not be classified as ST because they are not an ethnic group but a conglomerate of different religious and linguistic communities.
This argument was made in response to the Paharis' demand that they too are given the ST designation because they live, like the Gujjars and Bakerwals, in the harsh and underdeveloped Pir Panjal region besides Baramulla and Anantnag districts.
Earlier, on September 23, BJP fulfilled its promise to the Dogra community as it declared a public holiday to commemorate the birth of Maharaja Hari Singh, the last Dogra King of Jammu and Kashmir.