New Delhi January 2

Gujjar, the centuries-old tribal community in Jammu and Kashmir, must be provided with required reservation and other benefits proportionate to their populations in the territory. And the state government should take a call of their primary needs and requirements.

The BJP tribal leader in J&K, Eshfaq-ur Rehman Poswal, who had also contested assembly elections from the BJP ticket in 2014 assembly polls, was talking to the media in New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon.

“Defying the constitutional norms, the tribal communities in J&K have always been ignored and kept aloof from the basic benefits. As such, this time we want the state government to include their basic requirements in the ongoing budget session and provide them reservations with equal proportionate to their populations across the territory”, Poswal said adding that he had also convened a meeting with the incumbent J&K Governor, NN Vohra.

The ongoing budget session will end in the state assembly of J&K on January 11.

This apart, we also want the state government to think over the reservation criteria for the tribal communities ahead of the upcoming panchayat polls in J&K.

Criticizing the state government for ignoring the tribal issues, Poswal said that he also wanted to draw the attention of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, towards these issues so the deprived sections of the tribal communities could get justice.

Reiterating the burning impact of the ignorance to tribal communities in J&K, Posswal said, “Deprived from the primary benefits, the disgruntled lots of the tribal community across the territories are being lured and de-motivated by the Pakistan’s ISI. As a consequence, sections of them have either joined the hands of ultras or standing in support of the ill-wills of the terrorists groups”.

He further claimed that he had also talked to the army chief Lt General Bipin Rawat a couple of month ago and discussed these issues.