New Delhi: The Modi government Wednesday introduced three bills in Lok Sabha related to reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) in Jammu & Kashmir. According to political analysts, the move is likely to benefit the BJP in the Union territory, where elections have been long delayed.
The Jammu & Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, introduced in the House by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, redefines the “socially and educationally backward classes” — who enjoy four percent reservation in jobs and education in J&K — as OBC. Meanwhile, the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill introduced by Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda seeks to add the UT’s Pahari community to the list of STs who enjoy reservation in J&K.
Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Dr. Virendra Kumar also introduced the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Castes Order (Amendment) Bill, which proposes to add ‘Valmiki’ as a synonym for the Chura, Bhangi, Balmiki, and Mehtar communities in J&K’s SC list.
ThePrint had earlier reported that reservation for Paharis has been a long-pending demand in J&K. In October last year, Home Minister Amit Shah announced at a rally that the Justice Sharma Commission had recommended that Paharis, Bakerwal and Gujjars be included in ST quota benefits. “These recommendations have been received and soon after completion of legal procedure, Gujjars, Bakerwals and Paharis will get the reservation benefits,” he had said at the time.
Currently, STs enjoy 10 percent reservation in jobs and educational institutes in the UT, while it’s 8 percent for SCs.
While the opposition Congress has welcomed the proposal to give SC status to Paharis, it said BJP does not alone deserve credit for the move. “It was a long-pending demand. It was first recommended in the 1980s by the NC (National Conference)-Congress government. In 2014, under the NC-Congress government, 5 percent reservation bill was brought,” senior Congress leader Ravinder Sharma, a former member of legislative council and a Pahari, told ThePrint.
BJP spokesperson Abhijeet Jasrotia meanwhile said that the three bills have resulted in “justice for all”.
He added, “This reservation of Paharis, Gujjar-Bakerwals is more terrain-based, rather than the caste. Where they live, they are unable to get facilities which the general public is able to get. The person who resides on the mountains, how will he compete with other people? (sic)”
On the inclusion of the Valmiki community in the SCs list, Jasrotia told ThePrint, “Decades ago, the Valmiki community was brought from Punjab for cleaning purposes after local sweepers went on strike. They were promised at the time by the NC government that they will make all the (Valmiki) families state subjects of J&K. After that, the NC never made them state subjects. Even well-educated people from the community could only work as sweepers. What kind of humanity was this? Both NC and Congress were involved in this.”
Politically significant Paharis in scheduled tribes list
The Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill allows for the inclusion of four tribal communities in the ST list for J&K, thus allowing them the benefits of reservation in jobs, education and political representation.
These communities include Gadda Brahmins, Kolis, Paddaris, and the most politically- significant, Pahari-speaking people.
Paharis are a linguistic tribe, comprising both Hindus and Muslims, though the former are reportedly more in number than the latter. The community is mostly concentrated in Rajouri and Poonch districts, where it comprised over 50 percent of the population in 2011, according to a population survey conducted at the time by the State Advisory Board For Development Of Pahari Speaking People.
A J&K-based political analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity, told ThePrint that reservation for the Paharis is likely to benefit the BJP in the Rajouri-Poonch area.
“There is no Pahari community as such. There is a language. Brahmins, Rajputs, Sayeed, Mahajan all constitute the Pahari community among others. BJP wants to consolidate its base in Rajouri-Poonch belt to enhance its chances in the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat”, said the political analyst.
Traditionally, the Rajouri-Poonch belt has been a National Conference (NC) stronghold. However, in the 2014 J&K polls, the contest became open with all major parties winning seats in the belt.
Nasir Geelani, a member of the executive committee of the Pahari Tribe ST Forum, had earlier told ThePrint that they’re grateful the government has finally heard their demands. “We have been waiting for this for over 30 years. The demand was made in 1974 but we were left out and the Gujjars were given special status and reservations in 1991. After so many years, we have been heard and we are extremely grateful to this government.”
The issue of reservation for the Pahari community has, however, caused unrest among the Gujjar-Bakerwals — a community of mostly Muslims — which has enjoyed reservation since 1991. This economically weaker nomadic tribe fears the dilution of its own status if Paharis also become eligible for reservations.
Mohammad Yusuf Gorsi, a politician based in Kashmir’s Anantnag, had expressed concerns about reservations for Paharis following Shah’s October announcement.
“Paharis are the elite, who have access to all resources, barring a few who live in remote areas. All we [Gujjars] say is, give reservations upon analysis of who requires it. We do not have a problem if they get reservations, we are just worried that they will eat into our share,” he had then told ThePrint.
Since the home minister had earlier said that the percentage of reservation for Gujjar-Bakarwals will not be diluted, it is yet to be seen if overall reservation for ST is increased in the UT to accommodate the proposed additions to the list.
Jammu sends 43 representatives to the J&K assembly, while Kashmir sends 47. Nine seats — 6 in Jammu and 3 in Kashmir — are reserved for STs.
While the Gujjar-Bakerwal community account for about four lakh people in Rajouri and Poonch, Paharis account for about six lakh among the population in these two districts. The total population of the two districts is around 11 Lakh population, according to government data.
All three communities are a crucial factor in eight assembly seats in Rajouri and Poonch districts in J&K’s Pir Panjal belt.
Meanwhile, the Paddari tribe, one of the other three communities whose inclusion in the ST list has been proposed in the bill, too is electorally significant.
The Paddari community is mostly concentrated in the Padar valley of Kishtwar district.
According to the J&K-based political analyst mentioned above, reservation for the Paddaris would have a significant impact on the newly-constituted Padder-Nagseni assembly seat, where the Padar valley lies.
The analyst added that the other two tribes are very small in terms of population and would not make much difference politically.
Explaining the objective of their inclusion in the ST list, the bill reads, “On the basis of the recommendation of the Administration of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and after consultation with the Registrar General of India and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, it is proposed to amend the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order, 1989.”
The other reservations
The second bill to be introduced Wednesday — The Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Castes Order (Amendment) Bill — proposes Valmiki as a synonym for four communities included in the SC category in the UT.
The bill states: “The Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir has recommended for inclusion of Valmiki community as a synonym of Chura, Bhangi, Balmiki, Mehtar at Sl. No. 5 in the list of Scheduled Castes of Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.”
About the inclusion of Valmikis, the analyst said, “Valmikis are concentrated only in the Jammu city. In the 1950s Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad’s government got them from Punjab for manual scavenging. But they never got voting rights since they came from outside.”
Meanwhile, the third bill proposes to amend section 2 of the Reservation Act to change the term “weak and underprivileged classes (social castes)” to “other backward classes” in line with what is followed in the rest of the country. Currently “weak and underprivileged classes (social castes)” enjoy four percent reservation in the state, but there is no OPC class in J&K.
“The above amendments have been proposed on the recommendations of the Jammu and Kashmir Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commission (SEBCC), so as to remove the confusion amongst the general public as well as the competent authorities issuing certificates to eligible persons due to difference in such nomenclature. The proposed amendment will also enable implementation of the Constitution (One Hundred and Fifth Amendment) Act, 2021, in letter and spirit.” reads the bill.
This is a just a change in nomenclature, to align the quota category with what is followed in the rest of the country, and is unlikely to have any social or political impact.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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