Visit raises a storm, but hopes soar for nomads

Samad has been migrating along with his family and a herd of sheep and goats from the upper reaches of Kashmir to  the plains of Jammu for the last several years.  He is now hoping that from next year they can graze cattle near the line of control (LoC).

He is optimistic as former prime minister of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Choudhary Sultan Mehmood, who was recently on a private visit to Kashmir, was provided a helicopter by the state government to the tourist resort of Pahalgam. He hopes that residents in the state may be permitted to graze their cattle in the areas, near LoC. “We have land registered in the name of our tribes in the Keran sector but we are not permitted there for security reasons,” said Samad, who belongs to a Gujjar nomad family.

Before the eruption of militancy in 1990, the Gujjar and Bakerwal nomads had access to pastures of such sensitive areas. But, as militancy peaked , some restrictions were imposed on their movement.  After the Kargil war in 1999, they were altogether banned from areas near the LoC. “We can understand that the nomads do face problems due to the unannounced ban on their entry into very sensitive areas from security point of view.

But that step was taken by the authorities due to a compulsion. Militancy and then Kargil war changed the security scenario completely,” said Abdul Rashid, a state government official.

He added that in view of the ongoing attempts by militants from PoK to infiltrate into Kashmir, the chances of lifting the ban on the entry of nomads into the forward areas of border are slim.

Nomads avoid not only border areas, but also places, where militants or security forces are active. “We face problems particularly at night. Sometimes, we are harassed. When our dogs see any movement at night they bark and are fired upon. We, too, have to do lot of explanations about our presence in the militancy-infested or security areas. So we avoid those places,” said Mohammad Shaban, another nomad.

He added that despite restrictions in some areas, sometimes, they take risks. “Most of us prefer spending winter in the plains of the Jammu region. Before summer, we move towards upper reaches not only in all the districts of Jammu, including Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Doda but also to the Kashmir region,” said Shaban.

To move from the Jammu region to Srinagar, the nomads start on foot from April and reach the higher reaches of Kashmir in about a month. After spending summer, they begin their return journey in either in September or first week of October. They earn their living by dealing in sheep and goats. “Since mutton is consumed on large scale in Kashmir, we do not face much problem in selling our sheep and goats. Sometimes, we face stiff competition from cattle owners from Rajasthan,” he added. But he feared that the situation may not remain the same in future and that the government must ban the import of sheep and goats from outside the state during summer.

Food insecurity and lack of health facilities are some other problems being faced by the nomads in the state. “Most of us are not registered for under BPL and we do not get the ration from government outlets. We do not have doctors or paramedical staff in the far-flung and remote areas,” said Gulzar Khan. Because of problems en route, some nomad families have given up migration. “My friend, Razak, has purchased land in Rajouri and constructed a house there. His son has set up a shop. They are  nomads no more,” said Gulzar. If the state government fails to address to their problem, more will be forced to settle permanently at one place.

 Besides the Srinagar national highway, the nomads choose routes like the Old Moghul Road. “We migrate. Some nomad families after reaching Kashmir also move up to Kargil and Leh,” said Shabir.

His wife, Zarina, takes care of their cattle like the other members of his family do. “Unlike other women, the females in nomad families have to be more active since we are most of the time on the move. Besides the routine work, we have to also take care of our cattle,” said Zarina. But she wishes that like other children, her two sons get educated. “For educating our kids, we need to settle permanently at one place.  But this is not practically possible. Because of illiteracy, we are facing a lot of problems,” she said.

Zarina said a number nomads die during deliveries. “They do not reach hospitals,” she said.