Amid protests in Jammu, Lok Sabha passes Bill to include Paharis in J&K’s ST list

Lok Sabha passes Bill to include Pahari Ethnic group in Jammu and Kashmir's Scheduled Tribes list, ensuring existing STs' benefits remain unaffected, amid protests.

Amid street protests led by the Scheduled Tribe Gujjar-Bakarwal community in Jammu against the inclusion of the Pahari Ethnic group in the Union Territory’s Scheduled Tribes list, Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Bill to include this community in the UT’s ST list, with Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda categorically asserting that benefits meant for existing STs in the UT will not be disturbed whatsoever. 

The Lok Sabha passed the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order Amendment Bill, 2023, through voice vote with support from across party lines even as Anantnag MP Hasnain Masoodi sought guarantees from the government on its specific strategy to ensure the quota for existing STs is protected. Other Opposition MPs questioned the government over its delay in processing requests for inclusion from other communities in other states.  

In addition to the Pahari Ethnic Group, the Bill also adds the Gadda Brahman, the Paddari Tribe, and the Koli communities to the ST list of Jammu and Kashmir. Together with this, Lok Sabha also discussed and passed a Bill to add the Valmiki community to the Scheduled Castes list of the UT, along with its synonyms.

With the government considering the proposal to include Paharis for a couple of years now, the Gujjar-Bakarwal community has been mounting a stiff opposition to it. The ST community has argued that the Paharis were a forward caste community and that including them in the ST list would invariably result in Gujjar-Bakarwal and other marginalised ST communities being crowded out of benefits meant for tribespeople.

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Protests by the Gujjar-Bakarwal community in Jammu and Kashmir have been consistent, with scores of students from the Gujjar and Bakerwal communities holding street protests in Jammu on Tuesday even as students at the Jammu University held a protest the previous night. 

Guftar Ahmad, a prominent Gujjar leader, termed the move to grant ST status to “upper caste” in J&K as a black day for the community, even as Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda in the House on Tuesday called the passing of this Bill a sign of how the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35a had shown their government’s intent to unit India - “from Kashmir to Kanyakumari”.