Bakarwal nomads face hostility and challenges in modern India скачать в хорошем качестве

Bakarwal nomads face hostility and challenges in modern India

(18 May 2018) After centuries of traversing the Himalayas, life is changing for Indian-administered Kashmir's Bakarwal nomads. They have seen cities close in on their grazing lands, hostility from locals if they build permanent homes and, this year, the horrific gang-rape and murder of a child, Asifa Bano, a crime committed to drive them away. For generations, the Muslim Bakarwals have travelled between summer pastures in the Himalayas and winter grazing grounds in the lowland plains, herding their goats, sheep and horses. But their changing lives, and the January rape and murder of that 8-year-old girl, has made the nomads wonder what sort of place they have in today's India. To an outsider, they look like refugees but they are not. South of Srinagar, in a Bakarwal camp, Nasreen Bano was caring for her baby, born last week during a forest stopover. Two days following the birth, she began the trek to join her husband, who was already in the highlands. "We have no permanent place to stay and we keep on moving from one place to another," Bano said. But those areas are decreasing as cities close in on their grazing lands and traditional paths. When they try to build permanent homes, as attempted by some of the 200-thousand or so Bakarwal, they have faced hostility from others living there, many of them Hindu. The January gang-rape and murder of Bano has made some nomads wonder what sort of place they have in today's India. "We cannot camp everywhere…we only camp at places where we don't feel scared," said Sher Muhammad, a Bakarwal nomad . "We are afraid for our daughters after the incident involving a minor girl (Bano) in Kathua. Times have changed," Muhammad said. Another Bakarwal Dawood Khatana however said he felt no fear during his seasonal stay in the camp.   "Here our time is spent well. There is no danger here," he said. Like many of India's religious minorities, particularly its Muslims, the Bakarwals have felt increasingly isolated as attacks by Hindu extremist groups have risen after the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, was swept into power in India in 2014. The religious divide widened even further in Jammu-Kashmir state when the BJP formed a coalition government with a regional party. For the Bakarwal and other Muslim nomads, the trouble has often been about land. Much of that trouble has occurred around Jammu, the majority-Hindu city where the Bakarwals have their winter pastures. Hindu nationalists accuse the nomads of encroaching on their land when they build permanent homes, and say nomad leaders want to make the region majority-Muslim. The Himalayan region of Kashmir is claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan, but divided between them. =========================================================== Clients are reminded: (i) to check the terms of their licence agreements for use of content outside news programming and that further advice and assistance can be obtained from the AP Archive on: Tel +44 (0) 20 7482 7482 Email: [email protected] (ii) they should check with the applicable collecting society in their Territory regarding the clearance of any sound recording or performance included within the AP Television News service (iii) they have editorial responsibility for the use of all and any content included within the AP Television News service and for libel, privacy, compliance and third party rights applicable to their Territory. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...