Police had a tough time after hundreds of youths from Gujjar and Bakerwal communities blocked Sher-e-Kashmir Bridge over Tawi River on Friday evening to protest the government’s move to grant schedule tribe (ST) status to Paharis in Jammu and Kashmir.
A strong posse of police force was deployed to prevent the protesting youth from blocking the bridge.
However, the angry protestors staged a sit in on the bridge to express their anger against the government’s move.
“We are fighting to safeguard the constitution and we have a right to do so. The BJP government is hell bent upon ruining social harmony in the region,” said one of the protestors.
“The BJP has pitted one community against another,” said another protestor.
The protestors and the policemen also had a scuffle on the bridge. Police detained some of the protestors.
On Thursday, senior BJP leader Mohammad Iqbal Malik had congratulated the Pahari tribals on induction of a Bill in Lok Sabha that would grant ST status to them.