Taking a cue from the Gurjjars of Rajasthan, the Pahari community in Jammu-Kashmir is planning to intensify their agitation for Schedule Tribe status. Sources said leaders of the community convened a series of secret meetings in Rajouri and Poonch over the past week to chalk out an agitation that can take their demand to its logical conclusion. It was decided to launch a Rajasthan-like agitation to compel the government to agree to their demand. Shahbaz Khan, a top leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Pahari Forum, confirmed that meetings had been convened, but refuse to divulge details. He, however, said the proposed agitations would be much different from the path followed by the Pahari Forum till now. Forum leaders Vijay Kochak and Lokesh Sharma also refused to give details of the meeting presided by them. It is, however, learnt that forum chairman Sharafet Ali Khan is likely to visit Rajouri and Poonch to launch the agitation. In Jammu and Kashmir, Paharis are concentrated in Rajouri, Poonch and certain parts of Baranmulla and Kupwara. The Paharis’ demand for ST status is over three decades old. But they started a series of protests after the Central Government accorded Scheduled Tribe status to Gurjjars of the state in 1990. Even during a recent visit of the region, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had told the community that their demand for SC status was under process.
