Gurjars in Rajasthan and adjoining states may have resorted to large-scale violence seeking ST status.
   In sharp contrast, Van Gurjars, a nomadic Muslim tribe, living in the jungles of Uttarakhand and Western Uttar Pradesh have remained peaceful despite remaining marginalized for centuries together.
   For several decades now, Van Gurjars too are seeking ST status for themselves. Despite umpteen assurances in this regard, the government has remained indifferent towards the demand. The Uttar Pradesh Government in 1994 recommended to the Centre that Van Gurjars be given ST status.
   B C Chandola, the then Special Secretary in Uttar Pradesh in a letter dated April 11, 1994 accepted the plea for according ST status to Van Gurjars saying the state government has referred and recommended to the Centre that they be included in the ST list, said Avdhash Kaushal, chairperson of Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), the Dehra Dun-based NGO which works for the welfare of Van Gurjars in Uttarakhand and Western Uttar Pradesh, said in a statement.
   The letter was in response to a plea of RLEK that Gurjars, who live in the jungles of Uttar Pradesh, be given ST status as the community had been accorded such status in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
   Besides the elusive ST status, Van Gurjars are now locked in an intense battle for survival in Uttarakhand with the state government deciding to remove them from the protected areas where they had been living for centuries together.
   Justifying the demand for ST status for Gurjars, Kaushal said these tribes 5 have been deprived of all developmental programmes with the government forcing them to give up their nomadic lifestyle.  
   “This community possesses all the essential attributes of ST like primitive traits, distinct cultural identity, geographical isolation, social backwardness and nomadic lifestyle,” he pointed out.