Prem Chand Aggarwal resignation reopened ‘Pahari’-‘Non-Pahari’ faultlines in Uttarakhand
Prem Chand Aggarwal resignation reopened ‘Pahari’-‘Non-Pahari’ faultlines in Uttarakhand
S.M.A.KAZMI
Dehradun, March 17
The resignation of Uttarakhand Finance Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal on his alleged use of word ‘Pahari’ (native of hills) in an aggressive manner during a debate with opposition members on the floor of the House during budget session of the assembly last month and leading to uproar of protests against him throughout the hills, forcing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to make him quit, has again reopened the old fault lines of ‘Pahari’ versus ‘non-Pahari’ in Uttarakhand.
Although, most of the political class particularly the two main political parties namely BJP and Congress would deny it publicly and try to brush it under the carpet but the stark ground reality remains that the Prem Chand Aggarwal episode has reignited the issue. Apart from the past brash and boorish behaviour of Prem Chand Aggarwal for which he apologised in and outside the House, there was a wave of anger and resentment amongst the hill people. None was interested in knowing what were his exact words and in what context he was talking but the use of word ‘Pahari’ was enough for the backlash which even forced the BJP high command to show him the door.
Prem Chand Aggarwal went down crying and kicking, reminding the people of the state about his contribution during statehood agitation but nobody amongst the hill people including from his own ‘Sangh Parivar’ lent him a shoulder to cry. There were reports of celebrations, dance and fireworks at several places including Rishikesh from where he is a BJP legislator. Only the shopkeepers of Doiwala town downed their shutters in protest against his ouster from the ministry. His loud protestations and presenting his credential as a native of the state who fought for a separate hill state did not cut much ice.
His ouster reminded the people of the exit of another BJP stalwart and first Chief Minister of Uttaranchal state Nityanand Swami after being branded as a ‘non-Pahari’. Despite a native of Dehradun who studied, toiled and died, here, he was ‘penalised’ for not being a ‘Pahari’, removed from his job and died a disappointed man.
As separate state of Uttaranchal came into being on the night of November 9, 2000 and Nityanad Swami was sworn in as it’s first Chief Minister at a ceremony at parade ground by state Governor S.S. Barnala, two senior BJP leaders namely Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank refused to take oath as ministers, protesting against the choice of Chief Minister. After admonition from party high command they did join Nityanand Swami ministry but there was a sinister campaign in the media dubbing Swami as a ‘Haryanvi Brahmin’ who has been imposed on the aspirations of the hill people. Interestingly, the family of Swami had been living in Dehradun from past one century. But the persistent campaign against him being an outsider cost him his job and later he also lost the first ever state assembly election held in 2002. The whole campaign put the BJP in bad light which also lost the 2002 state assembly polls despite the fact that the party created the state.
The statehood agitation which was sparked by an anti-reservation agitation in the ninties and the debate on the boundaries of the separate hill state in 2000 also ignited such passions. There were agitations and demands particularly in Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar having mix population of Muslims, Sikhs, Dalits, Jats and other communities to keep out of the hill state. The big Sikh and Punjabi landlords feared that their big land holdings would be affected in the small hill state. The Central government led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had to constitute a committee of Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal and George Fernandes to assuage the Sikh farmers of terai region of Kumoan. Similarly, the demand for the ouster of Haridwar district from Uttarakhand kept surfacing till 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Interestingly, Samajwadi Party which is considered as a villain in Uttarakhand hills due to its; role in suppressing the statehood agitation, police firing leading to deaths at several places, on the poll plank of taking out Haridwar from Uttarakhand and rejoining Uttar Pradesh won the 2004 Lok Sabha polls from Haridwar parliamentary seat. Rajinder Kumar Badi of Samajwadi Party won the Haridwar seat defeating BJP and Congress candidate. Nothing happened on his poll promise as people of Haridwar realised the benefits of being part of a smaller state. However, the hill-plain divide has become a reality since people living in the hills perceive that it was their struggle against injustice and marginalisation which ultimately led to the creation of the state. But the inclusion of plain district of Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar district make it a mixed population state.
Meanwhile, Insaniyal Manch has strongly condemned the efforts to divide the society in the ‘Pahari’ versus ‘Non-Pahari; and termed it as a dangerous trend. At an emergency meeting of the Manch attended by Kamla Pant, Nirmala Bisht, Trilochan Bhatt, Hariom palli, Nand Nandan Pandey, Tushar Rawat, Padma Gupta and Vijay Naithani, strongly condemned the divisive attempts whether it was Pahari-NonPaharai or anti Muslim rhetoric in Uttarakhand and called for even handed implementation of ‘Rule of Law’ irrespective of any discrimination.
In a statement Uttarakhand Congress senior vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana also allaagged that the ruling BJP has ben trying to divide the society in the names of religion, caste and region for their ulterior political motives.
