Former minister Syed Mushtaq Ahmed Bukhari resigned from the National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir's Pir Panjal area, which includes Poonch and Rajouri, on Tuesday, claiming he was told to stop fighting for Scheduled Tribe recognition for Pahari-speaking people in the twin border districts.
Bukhari's resignation came two days after he shared the dais with BJP J&K president Ravinder Raina at a Pahari leaders' convention in Rajouri and Poonch on Sunday, where the demand for ST status was voiced.
Paharis have been seeking ST status for 30 years, since Gujjars and Bakarwals in J&K were granted it in 1991, resulting in job and educational institution reservations for them. Pahari leaders have banded together to make a new push for political reserve after the Delimitation Commission recently recommended it for them as well.
Raina stated the BJP was committed to awarding Paharis ST status during the convention on Sunday, according to sources. And that Bukhari declared from the dais that if this was done, he would leave the NC after nearly three decades and join the BJP.
In a brief resignation letter to NC president Farooq Abdullah, Bukhari described himself as an NC supporter who had remained by the party through thick and thin, saying: "Your continual insistence on me abandoning the Pahari cause has made this connection intolerable for me."
Bukhari, the primary NC face in the Surankote area of Poonch district, has twice been elected as an MLA and served as a minister and vice-chairman of the Pahari Board. He was regarded as a close confidant of the Abdullahs.
Non-Gujjars in Rajouri and Poonch have been pursuing ST classification, claiming that they experience the same challenges as Gujjars and Bakarwals in the hilly areas. The latter, on the other hand, are opposed to this because it would imply sharing the benefits of the reservation.
Gujjar and Bakarwal population in Poonch district is 43 percent, while Rajouri is 41 percent, according to the 2011 Census. Paharis refer to the remaining population in both areas, which includes Hindus and Muslims.
Bukhari told sou that he had met Farooq Abdullah numerous times in the last few days, and that he had been warned by the NC that sharing a platform with the BJP was a bad idea. He then alleged on Tuesday that Abdullah had accused him of joining the BJP.
NC Jammu province president Rattan Lal Gupta refuted Bukhari's accusations, stating the party had yet to receive a letter of resignation from him and that the party has always supported Paharis receiving ST status. Abdullah wrote a letter to the Central government about the problem when he was Chief Minister, according to Gupta, and the Legislative Assembly passed a resolution urging the Centre to grant Paharis ST designation.
Gupta claimed that the NC has met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in the recent past to advocate for the same.
Since then-Jammu president Devender Singh Rana and Surjit Singh Slathia joined the BJP in October, Bukhari has become the fourth significant NC leader in the Jammu state to resign. Prem Sagar Aziz, another former minister, also left the NC.
Sunil Sethi, the BJP's chief spokesperson, said Bukhari's resignation stemmed from the Pahari community's rising dissatisfaction with the NC, PDP, and Congress. "The Pahari community sees a political opportunity and the possibility of representation even in the Lok Sabha with the reconfiguration of the Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency and the Assembly seats in Poonch and Rajouri districts (as proposed by the Delimitation Commission)," he added.
According to Sethi, more Pahari politicians may leave the NC, as well as the Congress and the PDP, in the coming days to form their own political front. "It's beneficial to democracy."
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