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The Gujjar Front has asked AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi not to attend a conference to be organised by the Pahari Forum on May 17.The conference for Pahari speaking people from Rajouri and Poonch is to seek scheduled tribe status for the community.Ravinder Sharma, MLC and spokesman of the J& K unit of the Congress, confirmed that the Forum has invited Rahul Gandhi to the conference.The conference will also be attended by chief minister Omar Abdullah and J&K Congress chief Saifuddin Soz.Gujjars are opposed to reservation for Paharis as they believe it will affect the quota for them. Rahul Gandhi must stay away from such ethnic issues, they said.While Gujjars are nomads, Paharis are not and their dialects are different.The Pahari dialect is generally a combination of Dogri and Punjabi whereas Gojri is spoken by Gujjars of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan and is considered to be dialect of Rajasthani.The Gujjar Front also faxed a complaint to Congress president Sonia Gandhi against Congress leaders ''encouraging'' the Pahari Forum.''This would have serious implications and the nomadic Gujjars will oppose any such move with full force,'' Front leader Javed Rahi said.He added that being an affluent class, the Paharis did not suffer any social stigma.''Paharis are neither tribal nor nomadic and are not socially, economically and educationally backward,'' he said.He pointed out that the minister for tribal affairs in the NDA government had rejected the Pahari demand for a quota in 2002.The minister had said such a proposal was not under consideration of the government of India as the Pahari-speaking people were not an identified group eligible for inclusion in the scheduled tribes category.Paharis have maintained that they are entitled to 'scheduled tribe' status and reservation as they live in the same geographical conditions as members of the Gujjar community.Reproduced From Mail Today. Copyright 2010. MTNPL. All rights reserved.
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