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| BJP under pressure to give reservation benefits to Paharis of Kathua also | | | Early Times Report
jammu, Feb 8: Decision of the UT administration to grant four percent reservation to Pahari speaking people of J&K has landed BJP in a piquant situation because residents of hilly areas of Kathua district have also started projecting themselves as Paharis to get reservation benefits.
Residents of Bani tehsil of Kathua district have already constituted Pahari Forum to substantiate their claims that like residents of other hilly areas they too have claim staked claim on reservation.
Kathua is stronghold of BJP so party leadership is under pressure because ignoring demand of these people would be proved disastrous for the party in coming days.
Earlier only people of twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri of Jammu province and residents of Kupwara district of Kashmir were claiming themselves as Paharis and agitating for getting ST status and reservation.
For the last more than a decade, Pahari speaking people of Poonch,
Rajouri and Kupwara have been struggling to get ST status. Following pressure of the Pahari speaking people, the UT government has already announced four percent reservation for them.
Interestingly during the last more than a decade people of Poonch, Rajouri and Kupwara were struggling for reservation now residents of other areas especially of Kathua district too have joined this campaign.
People of Bani and Billawar areas of Kathua claimed that they too are Pahari. Like residents of Poonch, Rajouri and Kupwara they too have right on reservations. They pointed towards topography of their areas and claimed that there was no logic to exclude people of this belt from the list of Paharis. They argued that residents of Bani and adjoining localities were Pahari in real sense. Residents of Bani and Basholi have been seriously thinking to launch a struggle reservation and other benefits being given to the Pahari speaking people of Poonch, Rajouri and Kupwara and Baramulla.
"I don't know what criteria the government has adopted to identify Pahari people", asked one resident of Bani and demanded that representation should be given to all hilly areas in the Development Board. |
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