Taking full advantage of the lockdown in the country and the rest of the world, with protests and condemnations limited to online media, the government of India through its administration in Kashmir is working overtime to follow up on its agenda of assimilation of Kashmir through executive fiats and new legislations. The recent order of reservation of job quotas for Pahari Speaking Peoples not including Sikhs and others has Sikh Kashmiris up-in-arms.

STREAM-ROLLING ITS ANTI-KASHMIRI STANCE AND ATTITUDE in a concerted manner, the Kashmir administration yesterday issued a circular for reservations for Pahari-speaking people in the state to the detriment of many other life and death issues confronting the state. Setting in discrimination, which has angered Sikh Kashmiris, the notification leaves many questions open.

Making an amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Rules, a notification has been issued by the Social Welfare department which grants 4 per cent reservation to Pahari-speaking people. It is significant to note that the circular has added to Rule 21 subsection (ix) clause (a) and (b) which read,

(a)        “A person claiming the benefit under the Pahari Speaking People Category must be a member of the Pahari Clan, Community or Tribe having Distinct Cultural, Ethnic and Linguistic identity.

(b)        He/She must be speaking Pahari language and his/her mother tongue must be Pahari.

The 20 April 2020 notification provides 4 per cent jobs for the Pahari Speaking people in the Union Territory job quota, in the quotas for economically weaker sections, ex-servicemen and Physically challenged persons, reservations in Professional institutions and reservations in post-graduate courses.

Kulbir Singh Badal -a young Kashmiri activist, speaking to the World Sikh News  said, “I have written to the Principal Secretary, Social Welfare (Jammu and Kashmir) seeking clarification in the matter as the circular is not clear.” On being asked as what needed clarification, Kulbir Singh Badal narrated the problem in detail, “Sikhs of Jammu and Kashmir are part and parcel of the Pahari community and Pahari is their mother tongue and they use Gurmukhi Script for its writing. And as per linguistics, Pahari is not an independent language but a sub-dialect of Punjabi.”

He further added that in 2010 a circular was issued by State Advisory Board for Development of Pahari Speaking People Jammu and Kashmir in which it was clearly mentioned that Sikhs of Kashmir and Sikhs living in Rajouri and Poonch belong to Pahari Speaking Community of the Jammu and Kashmir State.”

Striking a strident note, Kulbir Singh said that if the discrimination continues against Kashmiri Sikhs, they would fight a legal and the battle for our legitimate rights.

During the decennial census, languages like Punjabi and others are returned by the population and not the dialects like Majhi, Malwai or Pahari. For census purposes, mother tongue is always mentioned as Punjabi.

“Sikhs, as usual, may effectively be on the losing side as they do not matter politically,” said a Kashmiri observer.

Young activist Geet Kaur from North Kashmir told WSN, “Sikhs are a micro-minority and we want to ease our lives like everyone else. All governments in the past have either ignored us or discriminated against us. We are Pahari speaking peoples and we should be included in this new notification. We want justice.”

Devender Singh, general secretary of Gurmat Taksal from Srinagar said, “We are thoroughly disappointed. Business is in the doldrums due to lockdowns, strikes and conflicts. Last year we were disappointed with the SRO 425, now the new 4 per cent quota does not include the Sikhs. We feel sad, but it seems that the government wants us to leave Kashmir and go out in search of our livelihood.”

“The J & K government of the Union Territory of Kashmir must constitute a committee to look into the whole range of issues relating to the Pahari language and the people who adhere to it. Pahari is spoken by Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and Christians living in Jammu and Kashmir and it is grossly unfair to leave out any section.”

Social Worker Sukhbir Singh Khalsa

Sikh Kashmiri teacher and social worker Sukhbir Singh Khalsa in his sharp reaction to the reservation for Pahari Speaking Peoples has said, “the government of the Union Territory of Kashmir must constitute a committee to look into the whole range of issues relating to the Pahari language and the people who adhere to it. Pahari is spoken by Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and Christians living in Jammu and Kashmir and it is grossly unfair to leave out any section.”

Cinematography student and political activist Angad Singh, in the forefront of the human rights and political rights movement in Kashmir, in his forthright reaction, said, “we are fighting SRO 425 in the Supreme Court and we will contest this discrimination also. Let the lockdown end and we will be on the streets.”

Last year Kashmiri Sikhs protested the SRO-425 favouring Kashmiri Pandits.  The All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC) chairman Jagmohan Singh Raina had termed the order as a ‘conspiracy’ to divide minorities in Kashmir, saying the order must be revoked at the earliest so that Sikh minority community must also reap the job benefits announced by the Indian government.

“If the discrimination continues against Kashmiri Sikhs, they would fight a legal and the battle for our legitimate rights.

Activist Kulbir Singh Badal

By keeping the notification vague, is this not a move to make inroads into the Punjabi-speaking Pahari Muslim belt of Rajouri-Poonch in Jammu to Uri, Kupwara, Karnal right up to Kangan in the upper Sindh valley?

“Interestingly the Jammu and Kashmir reservation rules in favour of Pahari speaking Muslims already stands amended vide notification in January 2020. I am still not clear why a department has to notify it unless they plan any amendments.”  “Sikhs, as usual, may effectively be on the losing side as they do not matter politically,” said a Kashmiri observer.

Sikh Kashmiris love their home and hearth. They love the Kashmir valley, its peoples, its flora and fauna, the scenic beauty of the heaven on earth and their bonding with everything Kashmiri -people, food, clothing, traditions and customs, struggles and conflicts. Will the government of India continue its campaign to destroy this age-old relationship?