CONFRONTATION NEEDLESS
It is quite intriguing that the Gujjars and Bakerwals have taken a hostile stand against the decision of the centre over granting the ST status to Pahari Community people in J&K and are protesting by adopting different means including a Paidal March (Foot March) mounting pressure on the government to revisit the decision. Despite the fact that the Home Minister Amit Shah had assured that the decision to grant ST status to Paharis won’t affect the reservation status of the aforesaid communities, the Gujjars and Bakerwals are not in a mood to budge and are going steadfast with their protests and meetings against the government’s stance. The situation has turned precarious as reports have averred that in response to the ‘Paidal March’ (foot march) by youth belonging to the Gujjar community against the move of the central government to grant Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Pahari community, the latter has started a ‘Dhanyavaad Yatra’ (thanksgiving march) in support of the decision. Though the Paidal March started from the Valley and will culminate in Kathua, the Dhanyavaad Yatra is likely to remain confined to Poonch and Rajouri districts. It is a difficult situation because the people of different communities have locked horns and are treading in a wrong direction because despite the assurance by the HM Shah and even LG Manoj Sinha over the misconception of impact of reservation to Paharis on the Gujjars and Bakerwals status things are not coming under the control. In this case, the stand taken by the Gujjars and Bakerwals seems to be unjustified because they have created a problem which in actual doesn’t exist thus creating chaos unnecessarily. In this particular case, the government should also come out with a clarification providing the details in figures to clear the doubts of all and the ambiguity prevailing among the different communities involved in the gambit. This is the only solution which can make things work as otherwise the unscrupulous elements can take undue advantage of this kind of division in the society and create unrest as already the J&K UT is passing through a tumultuous phase and such kind of long rope to elements working against the peace is not at all advisable.