Dr Rehana Bashir who became the first Gujjar woman from Jammu’s Pir Panjal region to make it to the civil service has also symbolized the empowerment of this nomadic community. She is a young medico from Salwah village which is in Jammu and Kashmir’s border Poonch district. Rehana Bashir has passed the civil services 2018 exam with 187th rank. Bashir who passed the 2018 civil services examination, is one of seven youths from Jammu region.
The others are Sunny Gupta from Jammu, Devahuti from Jammu and Gokul Mahajan from Jammu, Abhishek Augustya and Harvinder Singh both from R S Pura, and Babar Ali Chagatta of Gulabgarh in Reasi district’s Mahore tehsil. Rehana Bashir, who initially wanted to be a doctor, cracked the exam in her second attempt. In 2016, she did her MBBS from Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences. She saw many loopholes during her internship in the medical and health department, and so she decided to join the administrative service.
Amir Bashir, who is her younger brother, qualified the civil services exams in 2016 and 2017, was an inspiration for her. Javed Rahi who is the head of the Gujjar Desh Charitable Trust said that her success indicates the empowerment of the Gujjar community. After Kashmiris and Dogras this community forms the third biggest ethnic group in the state.
