In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, the Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation, an organisation working for the tribal and nomadic communities of India, has sought amendments in the Sachar Committee report. The foundation, in its letter, has stated that the problems faced by the nomadic tribes be included in the report. “The Committee, constituted by the Prime Minister to assess the social, educational and economical status of Muslims in India, has not addressed the concerns of nomadic Muslim tribes,” spokesman of the foundation said. “The report mainly focuses on the issues of settled Muslims and ignores the Muslim nomadic tribes, the Gurjjars of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, who fall under Scheduled Tribes,” the letter states. National Secretary of the foundation Javaid Rahi said it is surprising that the 404-page report does not incorporate even the word “nomadic Muslims” or “Muslim tribes” in it. “The report has not addressed the concerns of tribal community. Issues like right to vote, recognition of traditional judiciary system popular among Muslim tribes, political empowerment of Muslim STs, safeguarding their socio-economic rights and issue related to their ethnic, cultural and lingual identity have not been addressed,” Rahi said.
