In an order issued by the Forest Department on Saturday, 12 Gujjar families from Shivalik ranges in Saharanpur were allowed to proceed towards the grasslands of Uttarkashi. The group, along with their herds, had been detained near the Yamuna bridge in Vikasnagar for the past one month.

Interestingly, despite the promulgation of the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, the state had refused to allow Van Gujjars to enter their traditional grasslands for the third consecutive year.

Officials argued that these families were not from Uttarakhand and were coming from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. However, like previous years, this time also public pressure has forced the state Government to allow the Gujjars to proceed to the grasslands.

On Saturday, Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Harish Rawat staged a sit-in against the denial of traditional rights to the Gujjars and other forest-dwellers. “We want that the rights of these nomads and other forest-dwellers to be recognised,” said Parveen Kaushal, who heads SOPHIA, a voluntary group fighting for the rights of these tribals.

Traditionally, as summer sets in the Van Gujjars migrate from the Shivalik forests to the areas of the proposed Govind Pashu Vihar National Park situated in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand.

“We are nomads who have been moving this route for centuries. But we are being harassed ever since Uttarakhand was created,” said Shafi, a Van Gujjar.