By Auqib Javeed, TwoCircles.net
Srinagar: The Gujjar and Bakarwal tribes in the newly created Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir are living in a state of shock and fear.
The fear of losing land, housing and their source of living is high among the community. On November 9, the UT administration of the erstwhile state started a massive demolition drive at picturesque Pahalgam area and pulled down temporary Kaccha houses (Dhokas) of Gujjar and Bakarwal people.
The administration claimed that they had retrieved 700 kanals of land that was taken over by encroachers in Pahalgam, which falls in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
For 45-year old Rafiq Ahmad Khatana, the administration targeted them and demolished their houses because they were “poor” and not “influential”.
‘Will protest on roads’
Khatana says on November 9, at 10 am, a battery of cops from Jammu and Kashmir Forest Department, J&K Police, Pahalgam Development Authority, Wildlife, Forest, Revenue, Police, and Pahalgam Development Authority demolished their Dhokas (temporary structures) and they were told that these are illegal constructions on government land.
“The dhokas have been there since 1947, they aren’t new structures. We fail to understand why we were targeted and where we will go,” Khatana told TwoCircles.net.
Khatana says he has been living in his Dhoka for decades, which belongs to his forefathers.
“Ye sara sar zadyati hai, hum sadak pai aye gay (We will come on roads to protest if the government didn’t stop this),” Khatana added.
Khatana, who lives with his three children and a wife, laments that his tribe is living in constant fear of losing the land.
The Gujjars and Bakarwal community, who stay in Kashmir for six months in the summer season, among which some families have already migrated to Jammu areas leaving behind their temporary structures here, and some families who have not migrated yet are staying in various places in Anantnag district of south Kashmir.
Both communities constitute 11.9% of the UT’s population and are spread largely in Srinagar, Anantnag, Kulgam, Baramulla, Pulwama, Ganderbal, Shopian, Bandipora, especially on the higher reaches in the Kashmir valley.
On November 12, a video was shared on a social media platform showing a Gujjar Kotha being demolished by the forest authorities.
The video was shared by Zahid Parwaz Choudhary, President Jammu and Kashmir Gujjar Bakarwal Youth Welfare Conference, and the video evoked a huge criticism against the authorities demolishing the temporary structures of these tribal people.
“I am unable to understand why the Forest Department has started to demolish the Kothas. Neither have we occupied these lands nor do we live there permanently. We live there for 6 months during summers but why is this being done,” Choudhary tweeted.
Demotion drives in Jammu
The demolition drive did not take place in Kashmir region only but in Jammu as well.
On October 20, over 11 people got the eviction notices from the Forest Department in Nagrota-Bypass and were asked to leave the land by October 25.
“We raised a hue and cry and the media also helped and refused to leave our places,” Mohammad Ashraf Bokhra, one of the Gujjar who received the notice, told TwoCircles.net.
Bokhra said that they have been living in the area for 60 years and wonder why the government is after the “poor tribe”.
Days after the uproar over the “selective demolition” drive, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Mehbooba Mufti rushed to the spot for the first time since her release and shared the grief with the victims.
Mehbooba visited the upper reaches of Pahalgam and met people whose ‘Dhokas’ (temporary shelters) were demolished by authorities as part of an anti-encroachment drive.
“This is part of the illegal process started by the central government in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, under which the people, who live here like nomads, Gujjars, Bakerwals, whose forefathers have been living here for centuries, are being evicted,” Mehbooba said.
She accused the Narendra Modi government of handing over the land to its capitalist friends and stated that, “24,000 Kanals of land have been already transferred to the industries, the administration must come clear as to who is being granted the land”.
Roshni Act
The demolition drive comes in the aftermath of the J&K High Court declaring the Roshni Act or the Jammu and Kashmir State Land (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001, as unconstitutional.
Through the Roshni Act, the state government had granted ownership rights to occupants of state-owned land for a fee. The proceeds were to be used for funding power projects in the erstwhile state. The High Court in its judgment directed all state land under unauthorized occupation to be retrieved.
Demand of Forest Rights Act grows
After the abrogation of Article 370 in August last year, most Central laws have been implemented in Jammu and Kashmir, but the Forest Rights Act is yet to be implemented on the ground.
The historic Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, popularly known as the Forest Rights Act (FRA) – is an act which gives the traditional forest dwellers their rights to access, manage and govern forest lands and resources within village boundaries.
This act protects these tribals from forced displacement, and under this act, they also have grazing rights and access to water resources.
Day after the outrage, the Jammu and Kashmir government announced that it will implement the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which was not enforced in the Union Territory for the past 14 years, an official spokesperson said on 18 November.
“It may be pointed out that the Forest Rights Act of 2006 provides for granting of rights to forest dwellers across the country,” the statement read. “This central Act was, however, not applicable or implemented in Jammu and Kashmir in the last 14 years. It became applicable to J&K only after 31 October 2019, hence, recognizing the rights of forest-dwelling communities for the first time in the Union Territory.”
This Central Act was, however, not applicable or implemented in Jammu and Kashmir in the last 14 years. It became applicable only after October 31, 2019.
Gujjars, a soft target
Guftar Choudhary, a social activist and a Gujjar leader, told TwoCircles.net it is the high time for the government to implement the Forest Rights Act. Choudhary maintained that the recent demolition drive is just an election stunt of BJP, who wanted to please the Hindu-vote in Jammu region.
“They know that by annoying the Muslims, the Hindu vote bank will be happy because apart from this they have nothing to please them,” Choudhary said.
He said that the Gujjar and Bakarwal community is the soft target for the government since they know these people are voiceless and leaderless.