Suhail Bhat
In Aragam, a small village in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, 27-year-old Shahida Khanam has turned her family home into a cultural sanctuary.
At a time when tribal traditions are fading, she is determined to preserve the vanishing heritage of her community. “Since childhood I have been attached to these things,” Khanam said, pointing to a hand-embroidered krishida shirt once worn by Gujjar women. “I had this dream to make our heritage such that people would come to see it.
Thanks to Almighty Allah, my dream came true.”
Inside her home, shelves display traditional jewelry, tools, and utensils that were once commonplace in Gujjar life. These include the ghati and madani used to grind lassi, the kanj stone grinder, and men’s clothing like the vaskat and gulbandh. These objects, which once served as identity markers, are now hardly ever seen.
Khanam, who graduated from Women’s College in Srinagar, chose not to seek employment. “Finding a job is not impossible,” she said. “But I believed that preserving my culture was more significant and unique.”
Her efforts were not always valued. “People outside made fun of me.” They questioned, “What is she gaining from this?” Khanam recalled. But life also offers bravery in the face of adversity. “If I took one step, my family would follow me ten steps later,” she said.
Recognition followed. In 2022, she received her first Back to Village award. Last week, she was once again honored under the Forest Rights Act by Maharashtra delegations and local forest officials. She said, “It was really unique because I was the only one who received that honor.”
The Gujjar community, which is spread across Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir, accounts for 11.9% of the Scheduled Tribes population in J&K, according to the 2011 Census. Originally nomadic, many Gujjars have now turned to farming and cattle rearing, though some still take their animals to mountain pastures during the summer.
The group has unique pastoral customs, cuisine, and clothing styles. However, as younger generations embrace contemporary fashion and lifestyles, Gujjar culture, particularly its vibrant hand-embroidered clothing, has been eroding in recent decades. Gujjars continue to struggle politically and socially for recognition despite their sizable population.
In light of this, Khanam’s initiative is particularly noteworthy.
Khanam officially opened the Kashmir Tribal Art Society Museum Noor Centre in her ancestral home in December 2022. The center maintains techniques that were once essential to the Gujjar way of life, such as knitting, stitching, embroidery, and design. It has also developed into a center for village women to acquire new skills. “I started out
with fifty girls in my batch,” Khanam remarked. “Many girls are now learning, even outside of my village. Thank God, I am now an inspiration.”
The Noor Center empowers young women with pride and independence by fusing livelihood training with heritage preservation. It has given the community’s daughters new opportunities in a society where patriarchal structures still rule.
Khanam aspires to spread this culture outside of Kashmir. “I want our traditions to be recognized on a national and worldwide scale,” she stated. “The world ought to be aware of the Gujjar people’s way of life in Kashmir.”
For the time being, her small Noor Centre serves as a museum and a movement, a unique example of tenacity, individuality, and a woman’s will to preserve her people’s history.
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