STATE TIMES NEWS
POONCH: Advocate Ronik Sharma, President of the All Jammu and Kashmir Pahari Tribe Joint Forum, urged the Central Government, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members, and others to include the Pahari tribe on the list of scheduled tribes.
In his statement to media, Ronik said the Lok Sabha passed a measure on Monday that will add the ‘Darlong’ clan to the list of Tripura’s scheduled tribes as a sub-tribe of the ‘Kuki’. The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was presented in the Lok Sabha. Mr. Sharma further said that in the context of reservations in Jammu and Kashmir, the Pahari tribe is still discriminated against in comparison to other scheduled tribe categories, despite a long gap of more than three decades.
Sharma said the Pahari tribe is the only tribe that shares not only social harmony and unity in variety, but also a rich culture and civilisation. Pahari tribe people are still fighting for their identity, which they have been denied since the 1990s. The Pahari Tribe has not only been pushed back generations, but they have also been denied access to many other opportunities, such as education, admittance, jobs, scholarships, developmental activities, and so on, that other scheduled categories have enjoyed. He further stressed that without a question, the Union administration is trying to improve the living conditions of the economically and socially disadvantaged, and positive effects will be seen in the areas of health, education, and employment. He explained that everyone is aware that the Pahari tribe in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir is economically and socially backward, and that their inclusion in the schedule category list is urgently needed, he added.