ST recognition set to give Paharis a fillip
THE National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) recently cleared the way for the inclusion of the Pahari ethnic group in the Scheduled Tribes list of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The Pahari language, as it is recognised today, was construed to be one of the dialects of Punjabi. It got separate recognition in the 1911 Census.
Pahari is the language spoken by people along the areas near the Line of Control (LoC) in both Kashmir and Jammu. Hindu and Sikh 1947 migrants from across the LoC, many of whom have now died, speak this language. At a practical level, in all socio-economic classes, there was and still exists a fluidity and cross-fertilisation among Dogri, Pahari and Punjabi speakers due to familial ties and vast similarities in the three languages. For instance, a person can speak all three languages with ease as it is common that he or she has immediate family members from all three groups.
Pahari speakers were the third in terms of population after Kashmiri-speaking people and Dogri speakers in undivided J&K. In fact, the three akin-language speakers comprised 12 lakh in population as compared to 11 lakh Kashmiri-speaking population in undivided J&K, as per the 1911 Census.
Without going into the merit and demerits of the ST recognition, the ramifications of the decision need to be assessed. The bulk of the Pahari speakers live across the LoC and in the UK. The territory of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), with 10 districts, as per the 2017 census, has an estimated population of 44.5 lakh. Since the linguistic data is unavailable, it is hard to find the exact number or proportion of Pahari speakers across the LoC. Though the political dynamics in the region are centred on caste equations, the two predominant languages spoken in that region are Pahari and Gojri. Given the reported number of non-Gujjar and Gujjar legislators in the previous Assembly, one can conclude that at least 70 per cent of the population is Pahari-speaking. The Gujjar population is at ease with the Pahari language, but vice-versa is not true.
The present LoC forms a natural ethnic and linguistic divide between the Kashmir valley and PoK. On the Indian side, there are pockets of Pahari-speaking communities in areas along the LoC i.e. the Rajouri-Poonch belt of Jammu and Karnah and Uri areas on the periphery of the Valley. In this context, it is important to understand some of the other historical realities that continue to shape the present subcontinental politics. In the last quarter of 1947 and the first quarter of 1948, the Indian Army’s quick and popular success in the Kashmir valley after the accession against the invaders, mostly of the Pashtun ethnicity, was enabled by the ground support of Sheikh Abdullah and his National Conference cadre, who had unquestioned popular support in the Kashmir valley by all independent accounts. Pinpoint information about the presence of raiders was provided by his cadre to the Indian Army. Many have pointed out that this gave accession a moral basis, and not just a legal one. In his book The Limits of Influence: America’s Role in Kashmir, released in 2009, former American diplomat to the region Howard B Schaffer mentions, “India completely controlled the Kashmir valley, both militarily and, through Sheikh Abdullah, politically.”
At the same time, Sheikh Abdullah’s political influence across the LoC was marginal. However, at least diplomatically and legally, India never gave up the claim over the area across the LoC. In a letter to Josef Korbel, the Chair of the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan, on August 20, 1948, India wrote that once Pakistani troops and irregulars have withdrawn from the territory, which was one of the preconditions for a UN-mandated plebiscite, “the responsibility for the administration of the evacuated areas should revert to the Government of Jammu and Kashmir and that for defence to us… (The only exception that we should be prepared to accept would be Gilgit.) We must be free to maintain garrisons at selected points in this area for the dual purpose of preventing the incursion of tribesmen, who obey no authority, and to guard the main trade routes from the state into Central Asia.”
Unlike the Kashmiri language, which is spoken entirely on the Indian side of J&K, particularly the Kashmir valley, the bulk of the Pahari-speaking area is across the LoC.
Ironically, much of the work on the Pahari language has taken place in the UK, a place where sizeable diaspora with direct links to PoK resides. Apart from diaspora with origins from Gujarat and Punjab, one of the largest South-Asian communities in the UK is the Pahari-speaking population and their descendants. The migration to the UK, particularly in the cities of Birmingham, Luton, Leicester and Bradford, has continued for over a century in different phases. The migration took place significantly from Mirpur, which was followed by Kotli and even some areas of Rawalakot in PoK.
According to the estimates provided to this author by community leaders from the diaspora, at least 80 per cent of those who are considered Pakistani-origin British citizens are actually Pahari speakers or have Pahari origins. They are represented in all walks of British society today, including the British Parliament and even the England cricket team. The recent T20 World Cup winner, England, has two team members (Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid) with a direct connection to Mirpur. A vast chunk of the diaspora has tried to carve out an identity on the basis of Pahari, a language spoken in the region, in sharp contrast to Pakistani Punjabi.
Chitka, a Pahari literary magazine started by the diaspora, was a manifestation of those efforts (Chitka means morning sunshine in Pahari). For nearly two decades, creative members of the community are employing new media to promote awareness of the Pahari culture and also inculcate a feeling of cultural pride among immigrant families.
The granting of the ST status to a linguistic identity is a unique and distinct exercise as ST recognition has never been accorded to a linguistic group. What gives the decision greater significance is the unique strategic subcontinental and transcontinental significance of Pahari speakers that requires close attention.
