Pahari community

Pahari community

Subject:  Social Issue

Context: Paharis eagerly await Amit Shah’s J&K visit, hope to get his backing on Scheduled Tribe status.

Concept :

• As the BJP’s latest moves aim to earn the goodwill of Gujjars and Paharis in J&K ahead of the Assembly elections, all eyes are on Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s upcoming two-day visit to the Union Territory.
• Gujjars, Bakerwals, and Paharis are non-Kashmiri speaking populations of J&K and there is a long pending demand for inclusion of these communities under the Scheduled Tribes list.

Pahari Community

• The Pahari community, a linguistic group mainly residing in the Pir Panjal valley comprising Rajouri and Poonch districts.
• Paharis are also spread in parts of the Kashmir valley.
• Paharis also comprise both Hindus and Muslims unlike Bakerwals and Gujjars, two prominent nomadic clans.

Gujjars and Bakarwals

• The Gujjars and Bakarwals are the two unique ethnic nomadic groups that rear flocks of sheep and goat between high and low altitudes of Western Himalayas.
• In summer, these groups migrate to upper reaches of the valley and in winter, they take their flocks to the lower areas of the valley to protect themselves from the harsh cold. This is called
• The habitat of these people is in the hilly terrain of the North-Western Himalayas.

Mapping

• The PirPanjal Range is a group of mountains in the Lesser Himalayan region, running from east-southeast (ESE) to west-northwest (WNW) across the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and the Pakistan administered Kashmir.
• The Himalayas show a gradual elevation towards the Dhauladhar and PirPanjal ranges.
• PirPanjal is the largest range of the Lesser Himalayas.
• Near the bank of the Sutlej River, it dissociates itself from the Himalayas and forms a divide between the Beas and Ravi rivers on one side and the Chenab on the other.
• The renowned Galyatmountains are also located in this range.
• The region is connected to the Valley of Kashmir via Mughal Road and used to be the historical connection of Kashmir with India.
• DeoTibba (6,001 m (19,688 ft)) and Indrasan (6,221 m (20,410 ft)) are two important peaks at the eastern end of the mountain range.
• The hill station of Gulmarg in Kashmir lies in this range.
• The PirPanjal Pass (also called Peer Ki Gali) connects the Kashmir valley with Rajouri and Poonch via the Mughal Road. It is the highest point of the Mughal Road at 3,490 m (11,450 ft) and lies to the southwest of the Kashmir Valley.
• The Jawahar Tunnel is a 2.5 km (1.6 mi) long tunnel through PirPanjalmountain under the Banihal pass connects Banihal with Qazigund on the other side of the mountain.