Gujjars hold 'Maha Panchayat' in Jammu

Gujjars in Jammu and Kashmir today held a 'Maha Panchayat' here and pledged to work towards ensuring communal harmony and national integration.
The one-day programme was organised by the Gurjar Desh Charitable Trust, a social organisation of Gujjars and tribals. It was attended by sarpanches, panches, social activists and prominent leaders from the community.
"The Maha Panchayat unanimously expressed concern over the present scenario in the country and in the state, and resolved that the community will continue to strive and contribute in the maintaining communal harmony and national integration," a release issued by the Trust said.
The panchayat was organised in the backdrop of "deteriorating educational, social, developmental and economic" profile of Gurjjars, it said.

The Trust said the government should give priority to the historical legacy and contemporary concerns of tribals and the community in the state.
"The Gujjar community is the third largest ethnic cultural entity in the state, but unfortunately it is facing discrimination in all spheres of life," it said.