Hatti protests sent strong message to HP govt, thankful to CM for ST law implementation: leaders

Leaders of the Hatti community on Thursday thanked Himachal Pradesh chief minister for granting Scheduled Tribes (ST) status to their community.

The Hatti leaders said 'Akrosh Maha rallies' organised by the community in Nahan and Shillai on December 5 and 16 to press for their demand sent a strong message, prompting the state government to finally grant them the ST status.

The Himachal Pradesh government had issued a notification in this regard on Monday.

Nearly 3 lakh members of the community, who reside in 154 panchayats of Sirmaur district's Transgiri area, had been demonstrating against the state government over not implementing the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Act, 2023, and notifying the community as ST. Hatti leaders said they were thankful to Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu for implementation of the law, ignoring all the political pressures from the anti-Hatti lobby, after getting a clarification from the Government of India in this regard.

Paonta Hattee unit president O P Chauhan said authorities of Sirmaur district revenue department have started issuing tribal status certificates to the Hattis.

BJP leader and former MLA from Shillai assembly seat Baldev Singh Tomar said Congress deliberately delayed the implementation of the law by sitting on it and seeking meaningless clarification from the Centre and issued the notification only after pressure from the Hatti community.

Ami Chand Kamal, president of Kendriya Hattee Samiti, said the Hatti agitation started in 1968 after the Central government had declared had declared Jaunsar-Babur as a Scheduled Tribe area but left out the Trans-Giri area which was its part.

The issue came into limelight after it was raised in the Parliament and started figuring in state election manifestos from 2009 to 2019. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also assured the Hatti delegation in 2015 to fulfill their demand, Kamal said.

He added that Modi fulfilled his promise when the Hatti community was given the tribal status by the Parliament after amending the constitution. The President of India issued a gazette notification in this regard on August 4, 2023.

However, despite several requests and written submissions, the state government was not allowing implementation of the law and this situation forced the Hattis to come on roads against the state government, said Kundan Singh Shastri, general secretary, Kendriya Hattee Samiti.

After a Cabinet meeting on Monday, Sukhu told a press conference that the state government had sought a clarification from the Centre regarding scheduled castes status among the Hatti community in September last year after the law department raised some objections. ''I had promised that a notification would be issued in this regard within 24 hours after the clarification is received and the promise stands fulfilled in 10 hours,'' Sukhu had said.

Meanwhile, the Hattis are in a jubilant mood. Reports reaching the Nahan district headquarter from different parts of the Trans-Giri area said people were celebrating the implementation of the law by singing and dancing.