J-K delegation meets Amit Shah over ST status for Pahari community, says response positive

An all-party delegation from Jammu and Kashmir, which met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday over their demand for Schedule Tribe-status for Pahari community, said they were hopeful as the response was positive.

The delegation also met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

Former MLC and a senior leader of the Pahari community Murtaza Khan said a delegation of 11 members representing the Pahari community met Shah with their demands.

He said the delegation had members from different political parties including PDP, National Conference, and Congress.

"We met Home minister and briefed him about our problem, particularly our long-pending issue that Pahari community should get schedule tribe status," he said.

Khan said Jammu and Kashmir has several ethnic communities like Kashmiris, Dogras, Paharis and Gujjars.

"Pahari community is 10 percent (of the population). They mostly reside near the border and are facing problems. Our grievance can be redressed by giving Schedule Tribe status which has been our demand for 35-40 years. Now we have reached a point where we can expect that our demands will be addressed," he said.

Arun Kumar Sharma, President, Panchayat Conference Jammu and Kashmir, said they had received a positive response from the Home Minister.

"We have never seen such a good response before from any other government such as those led by Congress," he said.

He said they got "best positive response" from Shah and "it looks we will get a positive result.