Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 15: Several OBC organizations in Jammu & Kashmir, under the banner of “OBC Adhikar Tiranga Yatra,” have announced a protest march at the Press Club and a Gherao of the Legislative Assembly on March 24. The protest is against the proposed Reservation Bill-2025, introduced by MLA Bashir Ahmed Veeri, which they claim is detrimental to the rights of OBC, Scheduled Caste (SC), and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities.
A joint meeting, chaired today by Faquir Chand Satia, president of the All India Backward Classes Federation, saw participation from multiple OBC organizations, including the All J&K OBC Mahasabha, OBC Welfare Forum Srinagar and Backward Classes Union Rajouri-Poonch. The meeting strongly opposed the Bill, urging the Speaker not to allow its presentation, citing its violation of constitutional rights.
Convener of OBC Mahasabha, Bansi Lal Choudhary, emphasized that past and present governments have denied OBC communities their rightful 27% reservation as per the Supreme Court’s 1992 Mandal Commission ruling. Instead, they have allegedly allocated these benefits to upper-caste groups by creating the Pahari-speaking category under ST-1, granting them a 10% reservation. The leaders urged National Conference chief patron Dr Farooq Abdullah to expel MLA Veeri for introducing the Bill.
Additionally, Kewal Krishan Fotra, president of All J&K Sain Samaj, criticized the recent OBC survey conducted by the Government, calling it fabricated and misleading. He accused the authorities of deliberately under-representing OBC populations to limit their political representation in panchayats and urban local bodies.
Balwant Katria, general secretary of AIBCF, highlighted that after J&K’s transition into a Union Territory in 2019, several urban OBC castes-Barber, Dhobi, Kumhar, and Teeli-were unfairly excluded by the insertion of “rural only” criteria in the central OBC list, violating previous state regulations.
Other prominent OBC leaders, including Kasturi Lal Basotra, Raj Kumar Chalotra and Mohan Lal Pawar, supported the call for mass participation in the upcoming protest to safeguard the rights of marginalized communities in J&K.
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