Chamba Gujjars stuck as HP denies entry

Blurb: 150 families camp at border in Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur dists

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, May 12

More than 150 Gujjar families from Chamba are stranded in the plains of three Punjab districts as they have been denied entry into Himachal Pradesh over fears that they have traversed hotspots with livestock.

As such, they have been forced to camp along the Himachal border. The Gujjars, who have grazing rights in Pathankot, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur districts, start their homeward journey in March from the warmer climes of Punjab, where they spend winter as their native villages are snow-bound.

At the onset of summer, they migrate back to their villages in Tissa, Salooni and Bharmour areas of Chamba. However, this year due to Covid-19 pandemic, they have been stranded and their pleas to the authorities for return have been rejected.

Hassan Deen, convener, All-India Gujjar Mahasabha, says the Gujjars generally depend on natural pastures to rear their buffaloes. In winter, they rely on pastures near the banks of the Ravi and Beas in the three Punjab districts, while in summer, there is shortage of fodder there and they head back.

Besides, ‘Gujjori buffalo’, which is a registered breed in Himachal, is not accustomed to high temperatures of the plains. “We have urged the government to let them in,” he says.