Kashmiri Gujjar-Bakarwal: A Struggle for Justice

The Gujjar and Bakarwal communities of Kashmir protested at Srinagar’s Press Enclave against the BJP government’s decision to include upper-caste Paharis in the Schedule Tribes category. The Centre proposed the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2023. Gujjars and Bakarwals were recognised as Scheduled Tribes under Article 341 by the Constitution’s drafters. Scheduled Tribes are historically underprivileged groups. Paharis, an ethnic group, would be classified as a Scheduled Tribe along with three other ethnic groups in Jammu and Kashmir: Paddaris, Gadda Barahmins and Kolis. In recognition of the need to address these underprivileged groups’ historical disadvantages and advance their inclusion in society, the classification of ‘Scheduled Caste’ provides unique safeguards, opportunities and socioeconomic growth for these underprivileged communities.