Pahari people (Kashmir)
Pahari soldiers of the Azad Kashmir Regular Force | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Languages | |
| Pahari-Pothwari | |
| Religion | |
| |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Kashmiris • Gujjars |
The Pahari people of Kashmir or Pahari-speaking people of Kashmir is a cover term for a number of heterogeneous communities inhabiting Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir who speak various distinct dialects and languages termed as Pahari.
In October 2022, the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir government amended its Reservation Rules, officially replacing "Pahari-speaking" people with "Pahari Ethnic Group". This was done after campaigning by local Pahari-speaking people, who sought recognition in the Reservation Rules based on ethnicity and not language due to their socioeconomic conditions. Past governments had rejected claims to classify a unified Pahari ethnicity on the grounds that the group was too diverse to classify as a singular ethnicity. This change legalized and formalized a Pahari ethnic group in Indian-administered J&K to be eligible for affirmative action.