KASHMIR GETS AN ETHNIC TWIST

A bill introduced by the Union government in the Lok Sabha on July 26 has ignited a fire of ethnic anger in the mountainous regions of Jammu and Kashmir.

- Moazum Mohammad

Should it pass through Parliament, the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2023, holds the potential to reshape the educational and employment quota framework in what is at present a Union Territory, even if that latter status were to change.

The legislation aims to append the 'Pahari Ethnic Group' to J&K's list of Scheduled Tribes (ST) along with three other communities'Gadda Brahmin', 'Koli', and 'Paddari'. However, the move has sparked fervent opposition from the Gujjar and Bakerwal tribal communities, who are currently protesting in Kashmir and Jammu, demanding the withdrawal of the bill. These groups, most of whom share the Pir Panjal high ranges with the Paharis, contend that the bill's implementation could allow socially and economically forward communities to avail of reservation benefits.

The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes had approved the quota proposed by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs in October 2022, based on recommendations of the Justice G.D. Sharma Commission. The three-member panel, set up by the UT administration in March 2020, was entrusted with addressing the concerns of socially, educationally and economically disadvantaged groups in Jammu and Kashmir. This legislative effort, thus, aligns with the Centre's broader strategy of empowering what it says were social groups marginalised under Article 370, and is a natural extension of its annulment.