Javed Rana alleges daily harassment of minorities, seeks justice for slain Gujjar youth

Jammu, Jul 26: Minister for Forest, Ecology and Environment, Jal Shakti (PHE) and Tribal Affairs departments, Javed Rana Saturday alleged that minorities, particularly the members of tribal Gujjar community, were being harassed almost on daily basis under a “well-planned conspiracy to defame them.”

Rana stated he had brought this issue to the notice of the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha also that few “people in the system were taking advantage of the dual control system to harass minorities, particularly Gujjar community.”

He was responding to media queries here after meeting the family of slain Gujjar youth in Phallain Mandal area of Nikki Tawi in Satwari-Jammu to share his condolences. Rana, himself a prominent Gujjar leader, assured full support of the government to the family of the youth, allegedly killed in Police firing on July 24, 2025.

“This (Gujjar) community is being defamed under a well-hatched conspiracy. Selective killings are taking place, Minorities in Jammu, Samba, Kathua and Udhampur are a harassed lot. I’ve also told LG Sahib also that some people are sitting in the system and they are exploiting this dual power control system to serve their interests. They are killing innocent people to hide their weaknesses,” Rana said.

He demanded that the central government should immediately restore statehood to end this exploitative system.

Rana said that an innocent youth was killed. “Judicial probe should be ordered to provide justice to the family. The people responsible for this broad daylight murder should be held accountable and FIR should be registered under Section 302 (murder case). These incidents are happening because there is no balance in the system and law and order machinery, which is not under the elected government, turns a blind eye to such atrocious crimes,” he said.

Rana said that the Lieutenant Government should take immediate measures to restore that balance in the administration and bureaucracy, handling law and order, to check recurrence of such incidents.