Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Feb 18: Scores of people from Kangan belonging to ‘Shina’ community today protested against not being provided with the benefits of being Schedule Tribe (ST) in Kangan Tehsil of Ganderbal.
People who are currently residing in Kangan but are originally from Tulail area said that they are not being provided with the benefits that they should get as they fall in the ST category.
“Our people are residing in many other areas of Kashmir where they are getting the benefits of the reservation, but only in the Kangan tehsil we are being deprived of the benefits,” the residents said.
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They said there are more than 10,000 such people who are residing Kangan and have, so far, failed in getting the due benefits of the reservation.
The residents are saying that there are clear directions of the court in this regard, but the officials in the administration are not budging an inch. “The Tehsildar Kangan is telling us to approach the Central Government, what kind of justice is this,” the residents asked.
They said that if the Government is ready to give citizenship to people coming from neighboring countries, “why is it not taking care of its own people by giving them what is rightfully theirs,” they asked, adding that their family members have to undergo a lot in the absence of the benefits that they should have got.
The residents said that time and again they have been raising the issue with the concerned, but nothing has been done for them so for. “We belong to Shina community and fall in the ST category; I recently met with the LG and he assured that things will be sorted out while terming it as our right,” said Aijaz Raja, BDC Chairperson, who was accompanying the protestors.
The protestors demanded that that their issue must be resolved without any further delay, failing which they will be forced to come on the streets. “If that happens, nobody will stop us from coming on the roads impressing upon the government that we should get what we deserve,” they said.
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