Gujjars and GDCT
Sir,
Tracing out their
original journey in the ancient period from
Georgia and Central Asia, to Jammu and Kashmir
and other parts of northern India, Gujjars, a
well known tribe of the State of Jammu and
Kashmir and India have attained much towards a
settled life now. The history of Gujjars has
witnessed a number of personalities with a great
vision and foresightedness who have contributed a
lot in the development of the political history
of the contemporary India at regional and
national levels.
However, during
its journey, over the passage of time, the tribe
has suffered a lot on the socio-economic fronts
because of the political mis-adventures and many
other reasons of the contemporary times. This led
the community somewhere in past to add an
ingredient of nomadic character in their
composite culture. This over the period of time
evolved into a well established part of the
diverse culture of Gujjars.
Because of an
almost total nomadic life and a political lacuna
in their representation the Gujjars further
drifted away from the mainstream on the
educational and economic front. However, after
independence, visionaries like late
Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah have
taken few landmarks steps in the upliftment of
the tribe on fronts, although the political
commanders from withinthe community have kept
themselves engaged much in the consolidation of
their own polito- economic base than the general
welfare of the community.
In the last five
decade history of Gujjars, the recent
establishment of Gurjar Desh Charitable Trust
(GDCT) by a group of social activists (in 1992)
is one of the greatest milestones towards the
transformation of the community from an
educationally and resource wise poor lot of to an
educated, civilised and culturally advance
segment of the mainstream society. The trust is
having a latest and modern state-of-the art
infrastructure for research in the field of
culture and heritage, beside the basic education
facilities. The main objective of this
multi-disciplinary charitable institute is to
inculcate educational awareness among Gujjars and
to research, identify and preserve the age-old,
rich cultural heritage of this tribe.
Although in the
politics of the State of J&K, Gujjars have
had a nominal representation since long time, but
the political stalwarts of this community from
different parts of the State have miserably
failed to infuse an educational innovation in the
community and due to this kind of silence on
political front the community is yet to come out
of the malaise of mass illiteracy.
During my recent
visit to the GDCT (Sunjwan Gujjar colony) Jammu,
I realized the establishment as something first
and unique in the history of Gujjars. The
objectives, management and the achievements of
the trust in such a brief period of time are
really mind-boggling.
The unmatchable
endeavors of the trust management in the areas of
educational, cultural and otherwise overall
awareness are hoped to fill the age-old lacunae
in the progress and prosperity of the most
neglected and ill-treated Gujjars tribe in
consequence of a long political slumber.
Yours etc......
Abrar Naseem Chowdhary
RRL Jammu.
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