Srinagar: Authorities prevented Gujjar and Bakkerwal groups from undertaking a ‘Delhi Chalo’ march on Thursday (December 7) against the likely passage in the Lok Sabha of two controversial Bills which seek to provide Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Paharis of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), a linguistic minority.Several Gujjar and Bakkerwal activists have been reportedly detained along with some students, while unofficial curbs were imposed in Rajouri on Thursday to foil the march to the national capital against the Bills.“Some 50,000 people were planning to march from Rajouri to Delhi today in protest against the Bills. However, authorities foiled the march and restrictions similar to the day when Article 370 was read down were imposed in Rajouri. This is undemocratic, but we will continue to raise our voice,” said Zahid Parwaz Choudhary, a Gujjar leader and president of the Gujjar Bakarwal Youth Welfare Conference J&K.Senior superintendent of police (Rajouri) S.P.N. Amritpal Singh could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts.Witnesses said that security personnel set up checkpoints and blockades on roads in Thanamandi and adjoining areas of Rajouri district on Thursday morning, where passenger and private vehicles were frisked and all those who were planning to join the march against the Bills were deboarded.‘The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023’ and ‘The Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2023’ were introduced in parliament during the monsoon session in July this year.In a recent notification, the Union Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs said that the two Bills, which will also extend political reservation to the Paharis, are listed under ‘Legislative Business’ which is “likely to be taken up” during the ongoing session of parliament.Also Read: Parliament Passed Two Important Laws on J&K. Here’s What They Will Do.Guftar Ahmad Choudhary, a Gujjar activist, said that J&K’s tribal communities were feeling betrayed by the listing of the two Bills and the crackdown on protesters was “adding salt to our wounds”.“We are a democratic country. Peaceful protest is our constitutional right but unfortunately it is not being allowed. The government has been telling the world that the tribals benefited after the reading down of Article 370, but why are people in J&K on the roads then?” he said.The two Bills came despite assurances from the Union government and the J&K administration led by lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha that the reservation percentages for the Gujjar and Bakkerwal tribes will not be affected by the addition of a new chunk of J&K’s population to the ST category.Besides Paharis, the Bills will provide reservation in jobs, educational institutions and the J&K legislature under the ST category (10% in J&K) to the ‘Gadda Brahmin’, ‘Koli’ and ‘Paddari Tribe’ communities, thereby shrinking the prospects of the already-defined ST communities of J&K.Feeling dismayed, the Gujjars and Bakkerwals took to the streets in parts of Jammu as well as on social media to vent their anger.Sporadic protests also broke out in parts of the Jammu division against the Bills. At the University of Jammu, a protest was held on Wednesday (December 6) by tribal students, prompting the police to enter the campus.A video of the protest verified by The Wire shows more than a dozen policemen in riot gear striding around the university campus.Police entered in Jammu University campus and started arresting Gujjar Bakerwal students as they were doing Protest against the Bills in which all elite classes being added into ST Status. pic.twitter.com/ABVbv7Er2w— Zahid Parwaz Choudhary (@ZahidParwaz) December 6, 2023Another video shot on Wednesday showed the protesting students shouting anti-police slogans and taking out a candlelight march while alleging that they were assaulted by cops “merely for exercising their democratic rights”.Halla in Jammu University Gujjar students protesting against unconstitutional Bill which has been enlisted in this Parliament session. pic.twitter.com/PSYKtZHPef— Zahid Parwaz Choudhary (@ZahidParwaz) December 6, 2023A protest was also planned by Gujjar and Bakkerwal groups in Srinagar city on Thursday against the two Bills. However, authorities didn’t allow the protest.Later, some activists from the tribal communities held a press conference at a hotel in the Lal Chowk in the city’s centre, during which they urged the government to withdraw the two Bills.“Some 130 activists and several students, some of whom are set to appear in exams, have been detained. We urge the authorities to reconsider the Bills and release all the detainees,” an activist who addressed the presser said.He could not be immediately identified.Union home minister Amit Shah defended the Bills in parliament on Wednesday, saying that they will add “another pearl to the chain of hundreds of progressive changes” brought by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.“These Bills are going to provide rights and justice to those who were treated unjustly and insulted and ignored for 70 years,” he said.As per the 2011 census, there are between eight and 12 lakh Pahari-speaking people, and about 15 lakh Gujjars and Bakkerwals in J&K, most of whom live in the Pir Panjal region, which comprises the Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu division.Together, they can collectively impact the outcome of elections in 25 out of 90 seats in the J&K assembly, according to one estimate.The BJP has been wooing the Paharis to make inroads in the Pir Panjal region, where it hopes to dent the prospects of the traditional parties like the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party. Critics allege the party is attempting to create divisions between the Gujjars and Bakkerwals on the one hand and the Paharis on the other.Also Read | A Culture of Indifference: What the Bakarwals of Jammu and Kashmir EndureThe Gujjar-Bakkerwal tribes and the Pahari community share a similar social and cultural milieu, and together they form a majority in the Pir Panjal region.While the Gujjars and Bakkerwals mostly live a nomadic life by shuttling between the Kashmir and Jammu regions with their livestock of buffaloes, sheep and goats, the Paharis are a socially stratified community with caste and other ethnic divisions who are joined by the thread of language.If passed, the Bills will be the first of their kind to not only grant tribal status to a linguistic group, but also provide them with political reservation.Besides the two Bills on ST status for Paharis, three more Bills on J&K, which will restructure the reservation rules and representation in the legislative assembly, are likely to be taken up during the ongoing parliament session which started on December 4.Tribal groups in J&K have been protesting against the Union government’s decision since December 25, 2019, when a delegation of Paharis met Union home minister Amit Shah and sought ST status for the community.Over the last four years, the Gujjars and Bakkerwals have been organising events, candlelight marches, protests and even a couple of mahapanchayats in J&K to express their anger against the likely grant of ST status to Paharis.In January 2020, the Paharis were given a 4% reservation in the OBC category. In 2021, the J&K Commission on Socially and Educationally Backward Classes headed by G.D. Sharma was set up by the government.In its 2022 report, the commission recommended the inclusion of Paharis, Paddari, Koli and Gadda Brahmin communities as Scheduled Tribes.
