Rudrath Avinashi

Sarbajaya Bhattacharya

Editor

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Gujjar
pastoralist Abdul Rashid Sheikh has been filing RTI (Right to Information)
petitions on issues ranging from the distribution of ration to lack of transparency on how state funds are used. The 50-year-old pastoralist, who moves
annually with his herd of over 50 sheep and around 20 goats across the
Himalayas in Kashmir, has filed over two dozen RTIs in the last decade.

“Earlier,
[official] people were unaware of the schemes that were introduced, and we were
unaware of our rights,” points out Abdul, standing outside his kotha (traditional house made with mud,
stone and wood) in Doodhpathri where he and his family migrate every summer.
They come up from their village Mujpathri in the Khansahib block of Badgam
district.

“Filing
RTIs had a big role in making people aware about the laws and our rights; we
also learnt how to deal with officials,” Abdul adds. Initially officials
themselves were not aware of the <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/the-right-to-information-act-2005/">RTI Act</a> and, “would often be astonished
when they were asked to provide information about relevant schemes and fund
distribution.” 

Challenging
the process led to harassment of the people in the village – false FIRs (First
Information Reports) were filed by the police in collusion with block
officials. Informed citizens like Abdul, who play an important role in the RTI
movement here, were targeted. 

“It was the officials who were corrupt. Look at
their properties now,” he says to enforce his point. In addition to filing
RTIs, Abdul also raised the demand for issuing ration cards for around 50
people in Mujpathri from the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer
Affairs (Department of FCSCA).

A
pastoralist who relies on accessibility to common grazing grounds, Abdul is
especially focussed on the <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/the-scheduled-tribes-and-other-traditional-forest-dwellers-recognition-of-forest-rights-act-2006/">The Scheduled Tribes
and other </a><a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/the-scheduled-tribes-and-other-traditional-forest-dwellers-recognition-of-forest-rights-act-2006/">Forest Dwellers
(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act</a><a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/the-scheduled-tribes-and-other-traditional-forest-dwellers-recognition-of-forest-rights-act-2006/">, 2006</a>. “If we leave the forests to the
forest department, then there will be no forests left to save,” he says. Abdul
has filed RTIs on the rights of Gujjar and Bakarwal pastoralist communities
over forest land with the support of the Jammu and Kashmir Forest Rights
Coalition, a local group working on securing community forest rights under FRA.

The
gram sabha of Mujpathri formed a
Forest Protection Committee (FRC) in 2022 and maintains a system of rules and
regulations such as identifying patches of grazing and demarcating individual
lands which can be reviewed every year. On April 28, 2023, it passed a
resolution declaring 1,000 square kilometres of their forest as Community
Forest Resource (CFR) under the Forest Rights Act (2006). 

“The
forest is for everyone. Me, my children and you. If we combine livelihoods with conservation,
then the new generation will benefit. And if we deforest, then what are we
leaving behind!” Abdul says, unhappy with the slow progress of Mujpathri’s CFR
title.

The
FRA, 2006 was extended to Jammu and Kashmir by the Union government in 2020.

“Nobody knew about FRA until then,” Abdul says.
When access to the internet increased, awareness about various schemes and laws
also grew among the people in the valley. Abdul explains, “the internet has
also played a crucial role in making us aware about the various schemes and
policies that are launched in Delhi. Earlier, we didn’t get to know anything.”

In
2006, Abdul and some of the other residents of Mujpathri, including the current
sarpanch Nazir Ahmed Dinda, met Dr.
Shaikh Ghulam Rasool, Chairperson
of J&amp;K Forest Rights Coalition and the Area Medical Officer of
Badgam at the time. He would often visit the village for work and played a
crucial role in initiating the RTI movement in this area. “Dr. Shaikh discussed
the laws and policies and the need for us to know more [about them],” says
Abdul.

This
led to more enquiries by the villagers into other schemes and, “Gradually we
became aware of the RTI Act and the process of filing it. Many people in our
village started filing RTIs and it became a movement,” explains Abdul. 

In
a conversation with him in Mujpathri, Dr. Shaikh recalls the initial days of
holding meetings with the villagers and planning future steps. “The MLA in
power was corrupt and the schemes did not reach the people,” he says.  “Often the villagers would be harrassed by
the police and there was no awareness about their rights.” 

The first RTI was filed in 2006 by Peer G. H.
Mohidin, a resident of Mujpathri, to learn about the Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY)
scheme for public housing for the historically marginalised by giving a lump
sum financial assistance. Sarpanch Nazir followed up with another RTI in 2013
seeking information about the beneficiaries of Indira Awas Yojana (IAY).

After
the dialogues and discussions in the village, Nazir realised the need to
conserve forests and seek transparency, leading to the filing of RTIs. “We
needed to know the government policies for us and how we can access them,” he
says. “Till 2006, we used to steal wood and non-timber forest products (NTFPs)
like guchhies and dhoop along with herbs, roots and tubers
from the forests because there were no other livelihood options,” says the
45-year-old Gujjar. “Around 2009, I set up a shop in Doodhpathri and started
selling tea and kulchas in order to
reduce the dependency on forests,” he continues. As we trek towards higher
pastures along the Shaliganga river with him, he lists out the different RTIs
he had filed over the years.  

In
2013, Nazir filed an RTI asking the Department of FCSCA about the differential
allocation of rice under the Public Distribution System (PDS). Additionally, he
has also filed RTIs to learn about the students who have received scholarships
under the <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://samagra.education.gov.in/docs/samagra_shiksha.pdf&amp;sa=D&amp;source=docs&amp;ust=1699591412036804&amp;usg=AOvVaw1GnZSYiM5YdvihL9pwFosD">Samagra Shiksha</a> scheme launched by the Union
government in 2018.

As
we trek with Nazir along the Shaliganga river, we spot some tents in the
distance and are invited for a cup of noon
chai. Here, we meet Mohammed Younus, a Bakarwal herder who came up to
Doodhpatri in April from Rajouri district in Jammu division and will stay here
until October so that his livestock, that includes over 40 sheep and around 30
goats, can graze.

“Today, we are here,” he says, “But after 10
days, we will have to move upwards where there will be fresh pastures.” The
50-year-old belongs to the Bakarwal community and has been migrating regularly
to Kashmir since he was a child.

“On
an average, selling a goat or sheep will fetch us 8,000 to 10,000 [rupees]. How
can we survive the month with this much?” Younus asks, referring to the price
of tea and oil here in J&amp;K which is around Rs. 600–700 per kilo and Rs. 125
per litre respectively. 

Poor
implementation of the PDS has resulted in Younus and other members of his
community not receiving parts of the ration. “Government is supposed to give us
rice, wheat and sugar under the PDS, but we don’t get anything,” Younus
says.  

“For
the first time, we received a taxi service this year that dropped us off at
Yusmarg and our children came with the livestock,” says Younus. The scheme, he
says, has been in effect since 2019, but it has taken four years to reach the
Bakarwals from Rajouri. There is also a provision for mobile schools but they
are barely functional. “They give us mobile schools, but there need to be at
least 10-15 chulhas [households] and
only then will there be a [school] master,” Younus says. 

“There
is every scheme on paper, but nothing reaches us,” he exclaims in
disappointment.

Rights on paper, struggles on ground

కాగితాలపై హక్కులు, భూమిపై పోరాటాలు

காகித உரிமைகளும் கள யதார்த்தங்களும்

ਕਾਗ਼ਜ਼ਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਚੀਕਣ ਸਕੀਮਾਂ, ਉਲਟ ਨੇ ਜ਼ਮੀਨੀ ਹਕੀਕਤਾਂ

କାଗଜପତ୍ରରେ ଅଧିକାର, ବାସ୍ତବ କ୍ଷେତ୍ରରେ ସଂଘର୍ଷ

അവകാശങ്ങൾ കടലാസ്സിൽമാത്രം, ചെയ്യുന്നത് പോരാട്ടം

ಹೋರಾಟದ ಬದುಕಿನ ನಡುವೆ ಕಾಗದದಲ್ಲೇ ಉಳಿದುಹೋದ ಹಕ್ಕುಗಳು

काग़ज़ पर विकास का झूठ, ज़मीन पर हक़ की लूट

કાગળ વગરનો નાથિયો, કાગળ પર નાથાલાલ

‘कागज मं जम्मो हक, फेर हमन तक नई हबरे’

सरकारी कागज पर मालामाल, असल में कंगाल

কাগুজে অধিকার, মাটিতে সংগ্রাম

কাগজে-পত্ৰই আঁচনি, সত্য কেৱল সংগ্ৰাম

کاغذ پر ترقی کا جھوٹ، زمین پر حق کی لوٹ

Doodhpathri

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Rights on paper, struggles on ground

Himalayan pastoralists find they cannot access state welfare schemes, forest rights and even ration cards that they are entitled to. Some like Abdul Rashid Sheikh and Nazir Ahmed Dinda have become RTI activists in an attempt to seek accountability from the state

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