THE DISPOSSESSED
For centuries, the nomadic tribes have grazed their livestock on the lush pastures of Jammu and Kashmir. Now their religion and way of life are under attack,
Mohammad Yousuf Khattana – a septuagenarian from Lidroo village in south Kashmir ’s picturesque tourist-spot of Pahalgam – gazes over his demolished huts from a tent.
Khattana belongs to Jammu and Kashmir’s tribal community of Gujjar and Bakarwal. In November 2020, a calamity hit this
community after the state administration transferred 30,000 acres of land to the Industries and Commerce department for investment. An anti-encroachment drive led by the state’s Forest Department demolished the area’s makeshift huts, made of mud and wooden logs. These huts, belonging to Khattana and several others, were used to brave the winter’s sub-zero temperatures.
Recalling the painful events, Khattana says: “They were around 100 to 150 men, mainly from Pahalgam Development Authority and Wildlife Department, accompanied by police and other officials from the Revenue Department. Without any prior notice, we were told to vacate the huts, which were then razed to the ground.
“These huts housed my family of six and also the livestock. Now we have been forced to live in a tent made of ragged tarpaulin, which is barely effective against the cold, and our livestock is completely shelterless.”
These tribal families have been living in this village for six or seven generations and such an attack is completely unprecedented.
The constitution of Jammu and Kashmir identified 12 tribal communities as the “scheduled tribes” (STs). All 12 were enumerated officially for the first time during the 2001 census: the Gujjars and Bakarwals had a population of 763,806 and 60,724 respectively. Together they constitute third largest ethnic group in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Gujjars and Bakarwals are the nomadic pastoralists of Jammu and Kashmir, who have been travelling for centuries between summer pastures in Kashmir and winter grazing grounds in the lowland plains of Jammu and the adjacent areas, herding their livestock.
In the past decade, however, things have been changing fast because of social, economic, communal and political pressures that appear to be concerted attacks on the community.
A large number of traditional migratory routes have fallen foul of road-widening schemes: the caravans have to share the route with trucks and other vehicles, which has not only endangered their lives but also that of their livestock.
As a result they have been forced to look for alternative routes, which are no less risky owing to the difficult terrain through which they have to pass.
The city administrations of several regions of Jammu and Kashmir are also closing in on their traditional pastures on the pretext of “encroachment of state land”, and have started fencing off the areas, cutting the access of Gujjars and Bakarwals to their former grazing lands and routes.