JAMMU: None of the Gujjar and Bakerwal activists and students, who were detained in Rajouri, Srinagar and Jammu, when they made abortive attempts to take out a march from Rajouri to Delhi, have not reportedly been released till late Friday evening.
The authorities prevented Gujjar and Bakerwal groups from taking out a ‘Delhi Chalo’ march on Thursday (December 7, 2023) to protest the likely passage in Lok Sabha of two controversial Bills which were aimed at providing Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to Paharis of Jammu and Kashmir.
Unconfirmed reports said that several Gujjar and Bakerwal activists were 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. The police have not made any official statement on the issue.
Some students in Jammu, Srinagar and other towns of both the regions posted videos of their protest and police making attempts to arrest some of them. It could not ascertained where were these videos recorded. They were posted on their ‘Tribals Bachao March’ handle on the Facebook.
The posts on Facebook said, “Police trying to arrest them. It’s the collective responsibility of the community right now to protect them. We cannot afford to see them behind the bars.”
Another video of students taking out a candle-march was also posted on the same handle. The youth activists and students including women marched with candles outside Jammu University. They marched through the main roads of Jammu city outside Jammu University Campus.
Candle March against the draconian anti-tribal bill in University of Jammu.
The students are raising slogans in support of their demands for doing away with the Bills in the Parliament. They also demanded release of their leaders and activists, who were reportedly arrested during the past three days. In one post, the protesting students sought release of Talib Hussain, who has spent three days in jail.
Students protesting against the anti-tribal bill for J&K. Demanding immediate withdrawal of the bill.
One post on Facebook identified some of their Gujjar and Bakerwal leaders, who have been arrested by the J&K police. The post appealed the police and Rajouri administration to release them.
The activists have been posting some of the live videos of their protests and candle march during the past three days. But no fresh video has emerged since Thursday evening.
“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 Bakerwal Youth Welfare Conference J&K.
A report in The Wire quoting 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 asked to alight from the vehicles.
One more video by Journalist Riaz Choudhary was also posted on Facebook claiming to have been released after two and a half days of detention. He said that he was covering the call given by some youth to hold a protest march against the Bills.
Two bills, J&K Reservation (Amendment) Bill 2023 and The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 were taken up for discussion in Lok Sabha on Day 2 of the winter session of the Parliament. The J&K 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.
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”, a report in The Wire said.
“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 were taken up in the Parliament despite assurances from the central government and the J&K administration that the reservation percentages for the Gujjar and Bakerwal 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 reducing the prospects of the already-defined ST communities of J&K.
Feeling dismayed, the Gujjars and Bakerwals took to the streets in parts of Jammu as well as on social media to give vent their anger.
A protest was also planned by Gujjar and Bakerwal groups in Srinagar city on Thursday against the two Bills. However, authorities didn’t allow the protest. The hurried called press conference was held in a local hotel after they were not allowed to hold a protest in the Press Enclave area of Srinagar city. A video was also posted on the Facebook through the same handle ‘Tribals Bachao March’.
Some activists and students addressing a press conference in Srinagar. (Facebook Post)
“Students and leaders from Gujjar Bakerwal Community weren’t allowed to protest in Press Colony Srinagar and were detained in Kothi Bagh Police Station Srinagar.
Later they addressed an urgent press conference in Srinagar.”
One of the activists, who could not be identified said, “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.”
In New Delhi, 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,” Shah said.
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.
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, these Bills will provide political reservation for the Tribal communities besides Scheduled Caste (SC) in Jammu and Kashmir. This will be the first of such a kind reservation for the Tribal population in the country.
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. The latest Mahapanchayat was organized on December 3, 2023 in Jammu.
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.
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