SRINAGAR: The Gujjar/Bakarwal community in the union territory is upset with the announcement made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his recent trip to J&K assuring ST status to the Pahari group.

The Gujjar/Bakarwal community of the UT was recommended for ST status in the delimitation commission's final report.

Nine of the 90 Assembly seats in J&K should be reserved for the Gujjar/Bakarwal community, and only a member of this community may run for office. This recommendation came from the delimitation panel.

The Gujjar/Bakarwal group naturally became concerned that the Paharis would take away some of their portion of the reserved status in J&K when Amit Shah stated that the Pahari community will also receive the ST designation.
Gujjars and Bakarwals were reassured by Amit Shah that Paharis would not intrude on their share of the already declared reserves, in an effort to soothe their fears.

While Gujjars/Bakarwals make up a sizable portion of the population in the Assembly constituencies designated for them by the delimitation commission, Paharis, on the other hand, exist in the Assembly constituencies of Rajouri, Poonch, Kupwara, and Baramulla district with "diffuse" numbers. This presents a significant challenge in the segregation of the ST reservations between the two communities.

For instance, the proportion of Gujjar voters in the Kashmir division's Kangan constituency is 39% as opposed to Kashmiri Muslim voters. One of the nine Assembly districts that the delimitation panel suggests be set aside for the Gujjar/Bakarwal community is Kangan.

In contrast, the proportion of Pahari voters in the Uri constituency of the Baramulla district is not higher than 25%.
How can constituencies that have previously been recommended to be reserved for the Gujjar/Bakarwal group be maintained while extending the same ST reservation to the Paharis, given the dispersed nature of the Pahari people in J&K? Despite Amit Shah's sincere desire to promote the Pahari group, which along with Gujjars and Bakarwals has long demanded reservation, doing the fine-tuning and balancing of the divide of share in STs of the two communities would be a tightrope act for New Delhi.

Amit Shah urges people to ensure Congress doesn't come to power in Gujarat

Thank God Diwali Special Trailer: Watch Ajay Devgn and Sidharth Malhotra play KMC

Kharge surrounded saying 'will dance in Muharram', BJP says it is...