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| Feeling neglected, Gujjars pinned faith in Modi | | Political reservation | | Neha
JAMMU, Dec 15: Gujjar and Bakerwals, besides Gaddis and a few other tribal communities, got Scheduled Tribe (ST) status in 1991after years of relentless struggle. It was the government of Chandra Shekhar which conceded their demand. He could do so because the state at that time was under the President’s Rule. Had the NC or the Congress
been at the helm in Jammu & Kashmir, the tribal communities would not have got the ST status under which they have been getting reservation in government jobs, educational and technical institutions and enjoying a few other rights which are available to their counterparts in rest of the country. The Kashmiri leaders belonging to all political parties only exploit the religious sentiments of Gujjars and Bakerwals to garner votes but do nothing in concrete terms to address
the political and other issues facing them. Paradoxically, the leaders of Gujjars and Bakerwals, who are in the
government and occupy important positions, also exploit their own community members, playing the games of the Kashmiri leadership and enjoy the loaves of fishes of office at the cost of their own community. There are three Gujjar ministers in the Omar Abdullah-led coalition government and two belongs to the Congress and one to the
NC. Even more importantly, the bulk of the gullible Gujjars and Bakerwals walk into the trap of their leadership and vote for parties which are responsible for their utter neglect and backwardness. Take, for example, the negative attitude of the NC, the Congress and similar other Kashmir-based outfits towards the demand of Gujjars and Bakerwals for political reservation. They have been demanding political reservation for more than two decades now, but with no result. On the contrary, the Kashmir-based parties like NC have all along tried to create a powerful counterpoise to the Gujjars' aims by pitting the Pathowari-speaking people against them. The politically conscious Gujjars and Bakerwals know this. It is a different story that their leaders play their own games to keep their community members under check so that they do not create troubles for them and for the state government with which they maintained very good relations. But things seem to be changing and this is evident from the statement
Bhartiya Gujjar Mahasabha (BGM) president Eshfaq- ur-Rehman Poswal issued on Saturday. Expressing gratitude to BJP's prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi for his concerns for Gujjar and Bakerwal communities in Jammu & Kashmir, Poswal said Modi had rekindled a new hope among his community members. "Modi has rekindled a new hope among Gujjars and Bakerwals that their long-pending problems would be solved very soon," Poswal said, and added that the "communities had approached all political parties urging them to address their problems, but with no result" and that "now they have a lot of hopes from the BJP as it has raised the issues during its 'Lalkar Rally' here on December 1". "We extend heartiest gratitude to Modi and the BJP for showing extreme concern towards the issues of Gujjars and Bakerwals," he also said. What Poswal said does suggest that there is a chunk among the Gujjar and Bakerwal communities that is thinking in terms of discarding the parties like the NC and the Congress and turning towards Narendra Modi - a trend that is visible across the nation. |
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