Govt urged to protect rights of Gujjar community

TAKHTBHAI: The leaders of Gujjar National Rights Movement Pakistan on Tuesday urged the government to formulate policies for the protection of their rights and recognise the Gujari language as a mother tongue in the national education curriculum.

The demands came at a ceremony held in connection with the Pakistan Declaration Day organised under the auspices of the Gujjar National Rights Movement Pakistan at the Takhtbhai Press Club.

The event was attended by the leaders of Gujjar tribe, including Malik Painda Khan Khatankhel, the central chairman of Gujjar National Rights Pakistan, Maulana Muhammad Ishaq Seemab, Farmers’ Rights leader Muhammad Zubair, Chairman of Mardan District Gujjar National Union, Shabbir Ahmad Khatana, Khiyal Badshah, Takhtbhai tehsil chairman Manzoor Ahmad Khatana, Vice Chairman Usman Paswa and others.

Founding member of Gujjar National Rights Movement Pakistan Jamshed Khatana was the guest of honour.Speaking on the occasion, Jamshed Khatana shed light on the pivotal role of Chaudhry Rahmat Ali, known as the “Architect of Pakistan”.

He said that Chaudhry Rahmat Ali presented the idea of Pakistan for the first time in his famous article ‘Now or Never’ during the Round Table Conference in London in 1933.This proposal, he said, became the cornerstone for the dream of an independent state for Muslims and served as a guiding principle for the Pakistan Movement.

The speakers asked the government to recognise Chaudhry Rahmat Ali’s political and social contribution and bring his remains to Pakistan from London, bury them and construct a mausoleum in Islamabad.

They also demanded to declare national holidays on his birth and death anniversaries and recognise the Gujari language as a mother tongue and implement the resolution approved during the Awami National Party’s tenure.

The leaders said to establish libraries for the promotion of the Gujari language in every city and form a Gujjar Literary Board as directed by the Peshawar High Court.The sought a halt to the unjust displacement of Gujjar communities under the Land Settlement Survey and Pakistan Forest Demarcation Act, which, they claimed, had affected areas such as Shangla, Buner, Swat, Dir, Malakand and Mardan.