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Amit Shah promises quota to J&K’s Pahadis, praises Article 370 move
At a mega rally in Jammu’s Rajouri town, Shah also attacked earlier governments in the region and said that after the effective abrogation of Article 370, power was democratised.
The removal of Jammu & Kashmir’s special status reduced terrorism and paved the way for providing reservation benefits to marginalised and backward groups, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday, announcing that the government will soon announce quotas for the Pahadi, Gujjar and Bakarwal communities.
At a mega rally in Jammu’s Rajouri town, Shah also attacked earlier governments in the region and said that after the effective abrogation of Article 370 – which bestowed special status on the erstwhile state – power was democratised. He also reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise of holding elections in the Union Territory soon.
“There was no reservation to the Pahadi community, and Gujjars and Bakarwals were also neglected by three families for decades, but PM Narendra Modi removed Article 370 that paved the way for development and reservation to the neglected and marginalised sections,” said Shah, on the second day of his three-day trip to the region.
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He said the Justice GD Sharma Commission – which was set up in March 2020 to identify J&K’s Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commission recommended reservation to three communities, Pahadis, Gujjars and Bakarwals.
“The PM also wants to implement them at the earliest. Once the administrative process gets over, these communities will get the benefits of reservation,” he said.
Gujjars have already got the status since 1991 and have been enjoying the benefits in jobs and reservations.
Pahadis are a two-million-strong community that resides in Rajouri, Poonch, Baramulla and Kupwara districts and have been demanding scheduled tribe (ST) status for decades. But Gujjar and Bakarwal groups – who were declared ST in 1991 by then Chandershekhar government – strongly oppose this and Shah’s visit was preceded by protests against the inclusion of Pahadis in the ST bracket.
The home minister sought to assuage concerns over this issue and assured all communities that their interests will be looked after. “Some people are creating a wedge between Gujjar-Bakarwal and Pahadis by stating that if Pahadis get ST status, Gujjar and Bakarwals will lose their share. I assure them, that not even a percent will decrease in their share,” he said.
Without naming opposition parties, he blamed them for the under-development of the region.“Gujjar-Bakarwals and Pahadis have been deprived of their rights by three families who ruled Jammu and Kashmir since 1947 but Modi ji changed everything by repealing Article 370.”
While in jobs there was reservation for Gujjars after they got ST status, allied acts were not implemented in J&K due to Article 370.
This was Shah’s second visit to the region since it was bifurcated into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019, and came weeks after controversy broke out over the process to carve out new electoral constituencies – widely seen as the precursor to holding the first assembly election in the region since 2014.
Weighing in on the delimitation exercise carried out recently in J&K constituencies, he said: “Delimitation was necessary before polls as earlier delimitation was not as per norms. Now, the delimitation has been done as per norms and there is increase in no of seats in hilly areas like Rajouri, Poonch, Doda, Kishtwar.”
The delimitation award increased the number of seats in the Hindu-majority Jammu from 37 to 43 and Muslim-majority Kashmir from 46 to 47, while reserving nine seats for ST communities for the first time.
Shah also hailed local body elections held in 2019 and said that earlier, just three political families used to rule the region, but now, power was with 30,000 people elected to panchayats and district councils.
“Earlier, all money sent by the Centre for development was usurped by a few, but now, everything is spent on people’s welfare,” he said.
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“I want to appeal to you to free Jammu and Kashmir from the clutches of these three families and to make hands of Modi strong for betterment and welfare of Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.
Shah argued that terrorism had dipped in Kashmir since the nullification of Article 370 and noted that 4,766 terror incidents were reported between 2006 and 2013 but came down to 721 between 2019 and 2022. “Today’s rally is a befitting reply to those who used to say that there would be bloodbath if Article 370 is abrogated,” he said.
The home minister said Modi snatched stones from the hands of stone pelters and handed them laptops and jobs. “The decline in number of deaths of security forces shows that Jammu and Kashmir is in safe hands now,” he said, adding the Modi government has started a strong drive against terrorism, stone pelters and separatist parties.
The Home minister reached Srinagar in the evening and will be addressing a rally in north Kashmir’s Baramulla town. He also met Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari in Srinagar.
