Camping 40 kilometres away from Rasana village, the Bakarwal family along with 200 sheep and goats, along with 15 horses, are putting up at neighbouring Samba district.
Life has come full circle for the family of the eight-year-old Kathua rape and murder victim as people are reluctant to rent them land for rearing their cattle after their bi-annual migration.
Camping 40 kilometres away from Rasana village, the Bakarwal family along with 200 sheep and goats, along with 15 horses, are putting up at neighbouring Samba district. They are now exploring alternatives for raring their cattle.
Bakarwals are animal rearing nomadic community of the state who are solely dependent on the grazing lands to mend their herd. Bakerwals need a large swath of land and pastures to rare their livestock. Therefore they embark on a long migration from one region to another every year.
"Every year we buy patti (allowing land for cattle rearing on a fixed rent) from the locals where we herd our cattle for few months. This time around the people are not ready to give us patti. We have 200 sheep and goat which needs mending. Where will we go with our herds?" asked the foster father of the eight-year-old rape and murder victim.
"There is a psychological pressure. I have spoken to the family and they said they may not return to Rasana and stay put at Samba this year", said Dr Javiad Rahi, Secretary Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation, an apex organization working for the tribal and nomads, For the Bakerwal family, winning patti is a matter of life and death because without the land their herds will perish.
BACKGROUND
The body of eight-year-old tribal nomad Bakarwal girl was found in a village of the Kathua district on January 17, a week after she went missing near her home
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 "Kathua rape protest")
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