The demand for reservation by Gujars is much more than simply a demand for creating more job opportunities. As a pastoral community, the Gujar population has been subjected to a long period of subordination by an insensitive policy orientation. The very process of mainstream development has succeeded in depriving the Gujars of resources and institutions that were fundamental to their survival. The issue of reservation cannot be examined meaningfully without taking into account the larger ecological dislocation that the Gujars have been subjected to.
