Javaid Rahi interview: Bakarwal intellectual on Kathua rape case, Kashmiri Muslims and community's cultural heritage

Jammu: In the aftermath of the Kathua rape and murder case, many organisations have visited Jammu. The latest was a five-member fact finding team which included advocate Monika Arora. The team, which is examining the circumstances of the murder of the minor from the Bakarwal community, interviewed multiple persons, including  Dr Javaid Rahi, a leading Bakarwal intellectual who heads the Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation in Jammu.

In an interview with Firstpost, Rahi discussed the Kathua rape case, Kashmiri Muslims and the cultural heritage of the Bakarwal community.

What were some of the questions Arora asked you during your meeting?

Rahi: She asked if the Kathua case should go to the Central Bureau of Investigation. I said there was no need for that. But her video made no mention of my comments. I must point out that following the incident, a number of groups have visited Kashmir. On 7 May, a human rights commission is visiting Jammu, and another group will soon follow.

One of the allegations being levied against the Crime Branch is that two of the five members of the team investigating the Kathua rape case are tainted and that one of them spent time in jail…

Rahi: I cannot comment on the veracity of these claims or on the credentials of the police officers. All I have read in the newspapers is that the Crime Branch was led by DSP Shwetambri Sharma. I am a member of the Bakarwal-Gujjar community and a tribal. An FIR has been lodged. I have complete faith in the Indian judiciary. I am certain that justice will be done.

The root cause of the incident seems to be a land dispute. Some right-wing groups don’t want the Forest Rights Act 2006 to be implemented in the state…

Rahi: Precisely. What is basically an issue of livelihood has metamorphosed into an issue of demographics. The Bakarwals are a tribal community. Ethnically, they are Gujjars. The Bakarwal-Gujjar community is recognised under the Scheduled Tribe category in the states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Their counterparts in Himachal Pradesh are entitled to forest land under the Forest Rights Act 2006.

This has been a long pending demand of the Jammu and Kashmir’s Bakarwal community and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti promised to enact this law. The Gujjar community enjoys an Other Backward Class status in ten states including Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra.

Right-wing elements have been warning of a demographic invasion…

Rahi: We are less than ten percent of Jammu and Kashmir’s population. How can we change the demography? According to the census, Hindus comprise 90 percent of state’s population.

What about the presence of the Rohingya?

Rahi: They came here seven to eight years ago. We’ve often said they should be allowed to cross over to Pakistan. The borders should be opened up for a short time to facilitate this crossover. I have no idea how they came to Jammu and Kashmir.

What’s the situation the Bakarwal community is facing?

Rahi: We are treated as tribals. In Jammu, we are seen as Muslim. Since we live on the border, Pakistanis see us as Hindu agents. Kashmiri Muslims are powerful. Hindus are powerful. We do not want to be a B team because we have our own unique identity. During the 30 years of militancy, you will find that not even one member of our community took up arms. And yet right-wing elements want 250 families living in Vijaypur to be evicted so that an AIIMS can be constructed. The entire Samba district is lying vacant, yet that’s the place they want to target.

Our narrative is different from the Dogras or the Kashmiris. Our language is Gojri and this has been placed in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution though we have a long standing demand that it be placed in the Eight Schedule. We do not marry into the Kashmiri Muslim population and as much gap exists for us culturally with Hindu population as Kashmiri Muslims.

The Bakarwal community is known to have close contact with Indian Army…

Rahi: Since the Bakarwal community moves to the upper reaches of the Himalayas during the summer months, we are like the eyes and ears of the Indian Army. We provided the Indian Army with information about invaders prior to the Kargil war. There is no Indian Army in the upper reaches where the Bakarwals are with their animals.

During Amarnath Yatra, it the Barkerwal-Gujjar community which provides people with 90 percent of support. Again, it is our people who provide 70 percent of the support to pilgrims going up to Mata Vaishnu Devi temple. No Gujjar has supported Syed Ali Shah Geelani or the Hurriyat in the 30 years of militancy. Nor are we given to agitate like the Gujjar community in Rajasthan. We led one delegation following the Kathua rape because we want matters to be settled amicably. The problem is that in the past few years, when the Bakarwals come down from the higher mountains, the people do not want them to live in the forests around Jammu. That is why we are unhappy at the reaction of Jammu’s Dogra community to the Kathua incident.

What is Mehbooba Mufti’s stand over the implementation of the rights act?

Rahi: The chief minister ordered that no member of our community be displaced till the State puts a tribal policy in place. That has not been liked by some people, especially when the order further states that if eviction is absolutely necessary, it should be done after consulting the state’s tribal affairs department.

You’ve done a lot of work on the Bakarwal-Gujjar community’s cultural heritage…

Rahi: I compiled the first-ever Gojri dictionary, which contains 70,000 words spoken by members of our community. We are working on our fourth dictionary project under my supervision. I am a historian and writer in Gojri and Urdu and head the Gojri wing of the State Academy of Art, Culture and Languages.