Amit Shah’s J&K visit begins, reservation for Pahadi community on the cards
Union home minister Amit Shah reached Jammu late on Monday, kicking off a three-day trip to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders from the Union Territory (UT) said Shah is likely to make an announcement on the issue of Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the Pahadi community during the visit.
“Reached Jammu on a three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir today. Eager to interact with the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” the home minister tweeted late on Monday.
Shah is scheduled to address two rallies in the UT — one in Rajouri district of Jammu region on Tuesday and another in Baramulla in north Kashmir on Wednesday.
This is Shah’s first visit to Jammu and his second to Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state.
According to J&K BJP functionaries, the issue of ST status for the Pahadi community is expected to come up during the home minister’s visit.
The Gujjar community, which has ST status, is opposing the move to grant the tag to Pahadis as they believe the move will eat into their share of employment opportunities. Gujjars have held protests over the past week in Rajouri, Poonch and Jammu regions opposing ST status to Pahadi community.
Mohammad Afzal Khan, general secretary of the All J&K Pahadi Cultural and Welfare Forum, said they were confident an announcement would be made with regard to the ST status for the community during Shah’s visit. ”Our community members have been deprived of this status for years. Now, the time has come that we get ST status, which is our right.” Khan said.
Earlier, J&K BJP spokesperson Altaf Thakur had indicated that Shah would be mentioning the issue during his visit. “Yes, Shah will make an important announcement regarding ST status to the Pahadi community during his visit to the UT,” he had said last week.
According to a state BJP leader, Shah’s rallies are scheduled in areas where the Pahadi community members hold influence.
Senior BJP leader and former MLA Surinder Ambardar said they were expecting the announcement of several development projects as well. “We expect some developmental projects will be announced for J&K during the rally of Amit Shah,” he said.