Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 4: Expressing deep grief and shock over the loss of life and property of common masses in recent firing on Indo-Pak border – the Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation today made an appeal to local administration to shift the nomadic Gujjars along with their livestock to safer areas temporarily.
“We-the Gujjars and Bakkerwals are the main sufferer of border firing,” said Dr Javaid Rahi, Secretary, Tribal Foundation while speaking in a meeting of TRCF on border firing. Every year dozens of Gujjars get killed on border, hundreds injured and thousands of people migrate every year to safer places during the firing, he added.
The Gujjars and Bakkerwals are the main tribal group of Jammu Kashmir and constitute 20 percent of total J&K population who occupy frontier areas on Indo-Pak Border in J&K. Government of India granted them Schedule Tribe status in 1991.
The Gujjar community through TRCF made an appeal to State Governor N N Vohra for a directive to local authorities to provide shelter and food to tribal Gujjars and arrange fodder for their livestock. Speakers asked members of the community to approach local administration for help.
During last one year, around 6 persons of the Tribal Gujjars community had been killed and hundreds others injured in the shelling and firing along the LoC and international border in Jammu and Poonch districts this month, triggering migration of about 16000 people from their border hamlets.
It was decided in the meeting that a team of TRCF will visit the area where firing incidents occurred to assess the situation on the ground.
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