Terrace Chowki, Dehri (Himachal Pradesh): A policeman from Himachal Pradesh, holding an entry register, shook his head with a sarcastic smile as he refused Sadeeq entry into the state.
Sadeeq has been crossing the Sansarpur Terrace police chowki, a Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border check post, for over a decade to sell his milk. On April 14 though, during the COVID-19 lockdown, the Himachal Pradesh policemen didn’t like a straight query posed by The Wire: “Why are you not allowing these Gujjar Muslims in, while non-Muslims are crossing over to sell milk and vegetables?”
“You better talk to the chowki in-charge, I will give you his number. And don’t click pictures here, we are on duty,” one of them said, annoyed.
After duly entering details of the car and crossing the check post, we met the ‘chowki in-charge’, assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Sanjeev Kumar, a kilometre ahead. The conversation ran smoothly, until the same query was posed again.
“There is lot of tension in the area,” the ASI said.
What kind of tension?
“No, I can’t tell you anything (more).”
The ASI put the onus on the tehsildar (revenue officer) of Dehra, saying that “all the milkmen needed written permission” from this officer.
Dehra tehsildar Amit Rana, when contacted, said he was only issuing passes to local milk vendors from Himachal. “You ask the police, we are not stopping anyone,” he said.
The tehsildar ruled out the police’s version that the Punjab milkmen needed his permission to move into Himachali territory. “We give permission to only our (Himachal’s) milkmen, you better asked the police why they are stopping the Punjab vendors,” he said.
Also read: Jammu: Gujjar Milkmen Facing Boycott Supply Free Milk to Quarantine Centres
When this correspondent stopped midway talk to a man who was waiting for his Gujjar milkman to cross over from Punjab, the ASI and three of his colleagues came following on motorcycles. They asked The Wire‘s correspondent, and another local journalist accompanying him, to leave.
“Don’t start a conference here,” he shouted.
The brush with the police was not over just yet. The two journalists were held at the chowki again, and the ASI threatened to charge them “for stopping the police doing its duty”.
The situation was defused after the Kangra inspector general of police (IG), Santosh Patial was contacted, and he intervened. The IG, when told about Muslim Gujjars being stopped from reaching their customers in Himachal Pradesh, said he would look into the matter.
“I will just inquire and make sure that no such discrimination happens,” Patial told The Wire.
Five days on, however, the situation remains the same. Muslim Gujjars are being denied entry into the state by Himachal Pradesh cops despite holding a valid “curfew pass” issued by the Hoshiarpur district administration in Punjab.
On Sunday, Farmaan Ali, based in Hajipur of Hoshiarpur district, told The Wire that all his efforts to reach his customers in Himachal Pradesh had been in vain. He was still not allowed to move through the Terrace Chowki, despite having a valid “curfew pass” issued by the Hoshiarpur district administration.
Milkmen Saadiq, Farmaan and and Yaqub Ali had approached The Wire last week after reading two other news reports about Muslim Gujjars: ‘Punjab: Muslims Families Hide in Riverbed After Being Driven From Hoshiarpur Villages‘ and ‘Punjab: Muslim Gujjar Families ‘Beaten and Boycotted’ in Hoshiarpur Villages‘.
“We plead with them every day but the policemen posted there tell us that we do not have permission to move,” Saadiq told The Wire.
He further stated that non-Muslim milkmen (both Sikhs and Hindus) are moving freely to supply their milk in Himachal Pradesh, too.
Himachal dairy owner awaits 100 litres of Farmaan’s milk
Jagdish Kumar, a dairy and sweet shop owner in Himachal’s Daulatur town, had handed over a signed letter certifying that Farmaan has been supplying him with milk for six years now. But this letter held no value for Farmaan. When The Wire contacted him, Kumar said, “I purchase one quintal (100 litres) of milk from Farmaan, and this milk is supplied to 20 houses, but Farmaan is not being allowed to cross over.”
“Those who purchase the milk from me know that it comes from the Gujjars, and they are still awaiting,” he said.
“Can you please ask them (the police) to allow Farmaan cross over? It is a matter of just half an hour here for him,” Kumar asked The Wire.
Farmaan said that two days ago, he drove 20 km extra and managed to cross Himachal’s Maewhari Chowki to deliver the milk. But on his way back, the police told him to “run away immediately” if he wants to avoid arrest.
“They (the policemen at Marwhari) told me that I should never be in front of them again,” Farmaan said.
The letter Jagdish Kumar wrote for Farmaan was of no use.
Saadiq, who is a panchayat member of Patti Ram Nagar village near Hajipur in Punjab, is running pillar to post for his “curfew pass” in order to sell milk. “I will now make the pass from Punjab, as the Himachal tehsildar wants it,” Saadiq told The Wire.
Saadiq’s regular customer on the Himachali side of the Sansarpur Terrace chowki, Tony, now walks down into the Swan riverbed to pick up five litres of milk from him. “I now walk down into the khud (riverbed) where Saadiq comes. All arguments with the ASI [chowki in-charge Sanjiv Kumar] to allow Saadiq in were of no use,” Tony said.
“The [Hoshiarpur] administration is asking us to apply online [for passes], but most Gujjars are illiterate and do not have smartphones,” Saadiq said.
He said there was an announcement in Khunda village near Hajipur “a few days back after the Tablighi Jamaat incident of Delhi” and the Gujjar Muslims were defamed.
The Himachal Pradesh policemen’s behaviour, preventing this correspondent and another local journalist from talking to people around at the Sansarpur Terrace check post, is contrary to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s advisory to all states and union territories dated March 23, 2020 that the media comes under essential services.
