Hamid Hashmi
There is a dire need to empower the relegate community which is facing adverse poverty and backwardness and living a life of rusticity. The word ‘pahari’ derived from an Urdu word ‘pahar’ means mountain or hills and thus pahadi means people who are denizens of hilly areas. They speak pahari dialect and identify themselves as pahari speaking people. Pahari mostly dwell in Poonch and Rajouri belt of Jammu and Baramula and Kupwara district of Kashmir division. They represent 20% of State population. Pahari Community is economically, educationally and socially most backward community of our State. Their economic growth is trivial due to plethora of reason like topographical disadvantage and non availability of infrastructure facilities and other basic amenities of life. An ignored, demoralized and poverty ridden community that lives under the same geographical condition as Gujjar community and face similar problem but does not enjoy special privilege and treatment as Gujjar community is enjoying. Paharis are facing acute identity crisis. Despite being sizeable population of the state, there is very poor representation of pahari in politics, government services and various other sectors. A sense of social exclusiveness is prevalent in the community.
The various issues faced by the community have not been addressed or even reported adequately and objectively. A few years ago a mega rally was organised in SK Park Srinagar by Pahari Community for raising their issues in which thousands of people from far flung and obscure areas such as Poonch, Rajouri, Uri, Karnah participated but it was not reported in print and electronic media. The State government in 1989 recommended to the centre to accord pahari status to Pahari, Gujjar Bakarwal and some other community in Ladakh. All others were granted ST status except pahari. Similarly, the three member panel of interlocutors led by Dilip Padgonkar and his team in Kashmir also recommended the special status for pahari but this long pending demand was never met. But still the community is facing a never ending cycle of abject poverty, social and economic backwardness and their demands remain unattended. Reservation on the whole have been a debatable issue in India especially the criterion adopted for granting the reservation .The reality is that many communities have been granted reservation and many other ignored irrespective of who deserve and who does not deserve. Most of the times it has been observed that majority of such classification were politically driven and least based on intelligible differentia. Gujjar versus Pahari has, however, served one important purpose that it has been successfully employed by different political parties during elections to garner votes. Some constituencies even witnessed severe violence in the name of such constructs which created a further gulf between two sister communities. The gravity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that Gujjars have been adamantly opposing grant of any type of reservation to pahari due to various artificial apprehensions.
However, it must be known to all that mere creation of Pahari Advisory Board and few student hostels are not enough to uplift and ameliorate the deplorable conditions of the disadvantaged lot. Even the Constitution of India guarantees similar set of opportunities and benefits to those who are similarly circumstanced. Paharis don’t seek privilege on linguistic basis but are striving hard to preserve their identity. Mehbooba Mufti led government should have recommended the bill seeking reservations for paharis and made necessary amendment that would have satisfied the constitutional and administrative pre requisites rather than putting it in a cold storage. The careless and frivolous attitude of various governments towards this human right issue would add another dimension to this problem and may compel the community to come on the road and start agitation for full filling their demands like Jats of Haryana, Patidars of Gujarat and Gujjars of Rajasthan.
(The author is Lecturer, Dogra Law College, Jammu)
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
Follow our WhatsApp channel