Kids Corner

Daily Fix

Congratulations!
Jats Are Now, Officially, a Backward Class

T. SHER SINGH

 

 

 



No one looks more foolish than one trying to pass himself off as someone he clearly isn’t.

That was what 81-year old Kim Novak found out when she appeared on the Oscar stage last week sporting a 21-year old’s face. She is, you may remember, the Hollywood bombshell who co-starred with James Stewart in Alfred Hichcock’s 1958 psychological thriller, Vertigo.

There’s nothing wrong with plastic surgery … as long as it is proportionate and stays in touch with reality. Surely some Academy aficionado was having a big laugh at her expense while engineering it so that she would be one of the presenters of the award to a film befittingly titled “Frozen”!

It’s no different, no less ridiculous, when the silly people who govern Punjab today declared the foolish Sikhs who refer to themselves as “jats”, as a backward class within the asinine caste system, the STD -- sexually transmitted disease -- gifted by Hindutva to the world.

The influence comes by dint of sheer numbers, not ideologically, because the medieval desis constitute about 80% of the country, the Sikhs but 2%. Democracy doesn’t work too well when the overwhelming majority consists of lemmings who are easily led hither and thither by superstition, greed and self-interests. 

Dumb and dumber. They have learnt to fib like the worst around them.

For years, 'jats' have been fooling themselves with the lie that they are of a 'high' caste. Now, in pursuit of a handful of (mostly non-existent) jobs and benefits, they're claiming that they are a 'low' caste.      

Here’s what a recent news-item which has deftly slipped under the radar of the Indian media, reported:

The Punjab Cabinet approved the Backward Class (BC) status for the Jat Sikhs of the State on 5 March 2014. With this, Jat Sikhs will be the 70th community to be included in the category.

The grant of Backward Class status to the Jat Sikhs will enable them to get reservation in government jobs. Jat Sikhs of Punjab had been left out of the Indian Cabinet’s decision because the Punjab government had failed to bring the community in the State Backwards Class list.

A few days earlier, the Indian Cabinet decided to include the Jat community in the central list of Other Backward Classes in nine States: Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan.

The latest move by the Punjab Cabinet will now facilitate a proclamation by the Government of India that Jat Siks are now, nationally, a Backward Class.


Hm-mm-mm! Nothing is a surprise any more in India.

Only disappointments.

The Jats are now 'BC' -- appropriately linked with the pre-historic period of human development. Now, they can proudly claim that they are in the same basket as the rudely categorized Scheduled Castes of India! 

It doesn’t bother me that all Jats, not just the stupid Sikhs who demean themselves by labelling themselves as Jats, have been confirmed to be, within  the Hindu firmament, ’backward’.

But Sikhs?

Here’s the unkindest cut of all. These idiots -- the so-called ‘Jat’ Sikhs -- actually lobbied to have themselves declared ’backward’. Legally and officially. Now, they wear the self-sought insult as a victory.

Why, you ask?   

So that they will have a shot at the government jobs, positions, grants and subsidies which are reserved by law for the Hindu ‘scheduled castes’ as an attempt to rectify the historical imbalance created by thousands of years of oppression of the so-called ‘low castes’ by the so-called ‘high-castes.

A noble cause, no doubt, but only if it is indeed used to help the down-trodden.

But in India, everything good and noble is corrupted within the blink of the eye by the privileged few so that the benefits can be usurped and misappropriated -- within the rubric and protection of the law, of course. 

First of all, if they are Sikhs, how can they be Jats?

If they call themselves Jats, they can’t possibly pass themselves as Sikhs. A mere turban and beard and kirpan, or a dupatta and salwar and kameez, do not a Sikh make. There is more to being a Sikh.

And a Sikh is more than all the castes of India rolled into one.

He treats all others as equals, and accepts no demeaning inequality for himself. Period.

This fundamental principle is the mainstay of Sikhi.

The Gurus elevated all castes -- including the Jats -- so that they could leave behind the mythology of the brahmin, the kshatriya, the vaishya, the shudra, all of them, in the dust. In Sikhi, if you hide behind the skirt of a caste, A-N-Y caste, then only are you despicable, then only are you less and lowly.

That is, you demean yourself if you either look down on others, or you allow others to look down on you.   

It is simply not acceptable in Sikhi. If you’re a Sikh, you are neither lower nor higher than any other human being. No ifs and buts.

But the Jats in Punjab who walk around in the garb of Sikhs?

They may or may not be the most intelligent or sophisticated or bright in the land, but they are certainly the richest and the most powerful … and, if anything, over-privileged. More often than not, they are the oppressors, never the victims.

So, now they qualify as a ’backward class’ so that they can also jostle their way in and pry the measly jobs out of the fingers of the real poor and downtrodden?

It’s like a beggar slapping his own face, my father would’ve said if he was around to see this shameful day, so that he can entertain the passers-by and thus win some alms thrown his way.

I have watched this recent phenomenon -- something that surfaced only in the last 30 years or so -- when some morons amongst us started identifying themselves openly as Jats [or Khatris, Bedis, Sodhis, Bhallas, Ramgharias, etc., etc., all of them   -- they’re all ‘moorakh‘ (stupid), to use the Guru’s own terminology! GGS:1127.19].

It is not a coincidence that the trend began post-1984, when there has been a heightened flurry of activity in planting seeds of division within our community by our obvious detractors. The brainless amongst us have fallen for the bait, hook, line and sinker.

It was hilarious to watch them through the years, cooking up stories of how they were a ‘high’ caste. We watched from the sidelines as they first demoted themselves 10 steps from being Sikh to being Jat, and then desperately trying to pull themselves up a rung or two by clinging to the fiction of being a ‘high’ caste.

Today, for a fistful of dollars, they have embraced the honorific of “Backward Class’.

Wow!

Matt maari hai, innah di!” my grandmother would’ve exclaimed. “Their brains are dead!”

It just shows what clinging to caste appendages does to you … to your intellect, your mind, your self-esteem, your self-confidence, your very soul.

Right on cue, as if, two days after the Punjab Government’s pronouncement, the newspaper so ironically called “The Hindu” reported the following story (March 7, 2014). It’s not directly connected to the self-afflicted wounds of the so-called Jats of Punjab, but it highlights how the ‘backward classes’ are but pawns in the rat-race called Hindustan.

The candidacy of Navneet Kaur Rana of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Amravati, Maharashtra, has been challenged on the basis of the caste certificate issued to her.

The petition has sought to prevent her from using her caste certificate to gain any benefits of reservation, including for the upcoming parliamentary elections.


The writ petition has been filed by Raju Mankar who alleges that his statutory right has been jeopardised as he intends to contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Amravati seat which has been reserved for Scheduled Caste.

The petitioners have alleged that Ms Navneet procured a caste certificate on the basis of fake documents. Furthermore, they argue her caste is not recognised as Scheduled Caste in the State of Maharashtra.

And, here’s the clincher:

The Bombay High Court is slated to hear the matter on March 10, 2014 to decide if the certificate of Scheduled Caste procured by Ms Navneet Kaur was indeed as per law.

So much for India’s claims that the Constitution of India has outlawed ‘caste’ and that the government is making progress in eradicating the blight.

This is but the tip of the iceberg. Caste is the lubricant which fuels every vote cast (no pun intended!) in India; of every evil that permeates its society; of every type of crime that plagues the country.

But it’s a Hindu curse, for the Hindus, of the Hindus, by the Hindus.
 
What are Sikhs doing, miring themselves in that filth?

There’s nothing, N-O-T-H-I-N-G, that captures the degradation of India today more accurately and depressingly than this single cynical move by the various governments of India ... aided by the collective self-slapping of the greedy and the corrupt.

It so breaks my heart.

 

March 10, 2014

Conversation about this article

1: Harnek Kaur (New Delhi, India), March 10, 2014, 12:16 PM.

So sad to see how those who have such low self-esteem amongst us, go to such lengths to demean themselves.

2: Harmeet Singh (Chandigarh, Punjab), March 10, 2014, 12:24 PM.

We had been warned in 1947: going with Muslim Pakistan was like choosing Cancer, going with Hindu India like opting for Tuberculosis. We chose TB ... instead of taking a third, honourable and healthy route. Now, it'll require another round of gargantuan sacrifices to rid ourselves of this lot of occupiers of our Home.

3: Karam Singh (San Jose, California, USA), March 10, 2014, 12:45 PM.

I just spent an hour with a friend over a cup of chai: we're both seniors and get together every morning to shoot the breeze. I must also confess that I'm known amongst my buddies as a 'Dhillon' ... but I use the name no more. Through personal choice, and belated courage. My friend uses the surname 'Gill'. We had the most bizarre of conversations. He had brought along his iPad and insisted I read this piece by T. Sher Singh ji there and then. A discussion ensued, ending with no agreement or resolution. I suggested that we bring this story to the fore by directing the attention of our children and grandchildren to it, so that they learn from it. My friend strongly disagreed with me. It'll hurt them deeply, he said; what's the point of raising the issue now, when it is too late. Keep a lid on it, he suggested. But they'll know anyway, I said ... everyone reads sikhchic.com; what'll you do if your grandchildren come to you and ask you about it? He went quiet. Shrugged his shoulders. And then walked off in a huff, without saying a word.

4: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), March 10, 2014, 12:53 PM.

The key to this article is 'superstition'. The remedy: education. We as Sikhs and the Khalsa can't have a 'caste'. Except 'maanas ki jaat ..." -- The Human Caste.

5: Jessie (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), March 10, 2014, 12:57 PM.

This is nothing short of an earthquake of a magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter scale. But, have you noticed the deafening silence? Not a word from across the diaspora, or even Punjab or India. Not a squeak. I think your grandmother would have been right: innah di matt maari hai! [By the way, I should add: my parents claim to be Jats! I'm not.]

6: Talwinder Singh (USA), March 10, 2014, 1:12 PM.

"It just shows what clinging to caste appendages does to you -- to your intellect, your mind, your self-esteem, your self-confidence, your very soul..." - Right on. At some point we could have argued that the whole of India's judicial system is a joke by itself, so it does not matter. But casteism is a society filth that Sikhs do not want to be associated with in any way.

7: Sunny Grewal (Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada), March 10, 2014, 1:21 PM.

I think while they are at it they may as well declare every caste in India as being backwards. That way, everyone has the same shot at the same jobs!

8: Kulwant Singh (U.S.A.), March 10, 2014, 1:24 PM.

We have carried this cancer over to the New World. Left and right, I see gurdwaras divided by caste. Nobody cares about helping the down-trodden. Everyone is looking out for themselves only.

9: Nahar Singh Aujla (California, USA), March 10, 2014, 1:41 PM.

A brilliant move. Now, all we jats need to do is upgrade (downgrade?) ourselves, so that we are declared to be Scheduled Castes. That way, those poor buggers won't be left with anything ... we'll be able to take it all!

10: Baljeet Kaur (Amritsar. Punjab), March 10, 2014, 1:43 PM.

So, we're now the 70th community to hold the honour of being backward! Great. So, Punjab has two communities now: Sikhs and the big slob blob called Backward People. At least we now know where everyone stands.

11: Simrat (Liverpool, United Kingdom), March 10, 2014, 2:08 PM.

Here's a new matrimonial ad template for you: "WANTED: a young man (or woman) for a 22-year-old woman (or man). Must be Jat or comparable Backward or Scheduled Caste ..."

12: Jinda (Chandigarh, Punjab), March 10, 2014, 2:37 PM.

Here's a new ice-breaker for you. Instead of "Which village do you come from?" or "What's your caste?" or "What does your father do?" we should now ask: "Are you Sikh or are you Backward Class?"

13: Bikramjit Singh (London, United Kingdom), March 10, 2014, 2:44 PM.

The writer of this article does not understand the dynamics of reservation in India. In Punjab the girls and boys of the jat community do not have a chance of getting any govt jobs because these are given to lower castes even though the jat students may have better grades. Have you wondered at why the education system in Punjab is in such a mess? It is because lower castes are guaranteed jobs as teachers even though they have lower grades. Why study hard to become a teacher when because of your caste you can get a teaching job with lower grades than those of jats. Reservation system does not look at the income or means, a lower caste person whose father may be a high officer in the govt of good means will still get a chance to go for a reserved job. Until everyone is declared some sort of OBC/SC, there will be no fairness in the system.

14: Labh Singh Dhillon (Jullundur, Punjab), March 10, 2014, 2:47 PM.

@#9 - S. Nahar Singh ji: I think Backward Class is lower than Scheduled Caste. @#11 - Simrat ji: This makes life easier for us now. We no longer have to advertize for Jats or any specific caste for our children. Because anybody and everybody will be an improvement for us now.

15: Harinder Pal Singh (Punjab), March 10, 2014, 2:47 PM.

Tactically, a good move ... for our ignorant and incompetent segments. But strategically a poor move ... for all.

16: Neelu Kaur (Los Angeles, California, USA), March 10, 2014, 2:57 PM.

Thank you, Bikramjit ji (#13). You have indeed provided us with the rationale and pattern of thinking that is the curse of the ignorant classes of Punjab today. Reading your comment, I can now understand the thought processes -- if one can call them that -- that led to this supreme silliness.

17: Jitender Lal Sharma (Kanpur, India ), March 10, 2014, 3:06 PM.

This is but the natural next-step after the Hindutva goondas started claiming that the Brahmins were being discriminated against and required safeguards and protections. That's exactly what's on the BJP/RSS agenda. Narendra Modi is going to be the saviour of the 'upper' classes. In addition to all that will go wrong if and when they come to power, the 'lower' classes and the poor will suffer the most. I don't see how the jats will benefit from these latest short-sighted moves, other than within the narrow enclaves they control personally.

18: Dinesh (Bangalore, India), March 10, 2014, 3:09 PM.

Here's a solution: the Indian Constitution should be amended so that it recognizes all Indian citizens to be Backward. It'll be truthful and it'll be fair.

19: Kiran (New Jersey, USA), March 10, 2014, 3:14 PM.

This is funny! Here we go again. No, Dinesh ji: I think Sikhs once again insist that we are different and should be left out of this new grouping too. Hum Hindu naheen hai(n). Hum backward bhi naheen hai(n)!

20: Manpreet Singh (Canton, Ohio, USA), March 10, 2014, 3:31 PM.

I am happy my father forced me to put only 'Singh' after my first name. I am pretty sure all my friends whom I used to address with Gill, Sher-Gill, Sandhu, Cheema, Sidhu, Brar, Aujla, Virk, etc. will feel immense pain after knowing that they are now 'BC'. I hope this is the advent of a situation wherein we Sikhs start dropping the surnames from our names.

21: Harman Singh (California, USA), March 10, 2014, 3:38 PM.

The phrase "jat Sikh" is nothing short of an oxymoron. You can be a Jat or a Sikh, but never both. Now we know where the backward class "jats" stand. Hilarious.

22: M K S (New York City, USA), March 10, 2014, 3:54 PM.

@#5 Jessie ji - "My parents claim to be Jats! I'm not." Well done. I commend your action. I did the same, some years ago. My wife, kids and I removed the clan appendages to our names and became just 'Singh' & 'Kaur'. Just to briefly state my story: While in college, I had become convinced that you could not be a hyphenated Sikh, i.e., jat-Sikh, ramgarhia-Sikh, gora-Sikh, kala-Sikh, so mentally I was outside of the castes. However, my last name was a constant reminder of who I no longer was, but changing my last name seemed too daunting a task with so much needing to change. I kept ignoring this for years until I could no longer take it. I went to the county clerk's office and got a name change form. I did not know at the time that the forms are designed to change individual's name or, at the most, a couple's but not for a family. The spaces provided were inadequate to list both the current name and proposed name and since both my wife and I were born in India, it added another set of similarly inadequate forms. Getting help from the good people at the law library at the county court house, I filed the paper work only to have it rejected by the judge 4 months later over a technicality. I refiled the paper work, got a response from the courts 6 months later that I can now go to the next step which is to publish the proposed name in the local newspaper for a month and provide the proof. By now I was on auto pilot, i.e., the system could throw at me any number of road blocks but I was going to get this done, nothing bothered me. The extra trips to the court house, my car being ticketed for parking, dealing with over-worked county employees, were just a minor price for something this important to me. Finally, about a year and a half from the day I started, I got mail that our new names had been accepted and we could come and collect our 'Name Change Court Order'. I went to the court house the very next day and as I signed and dated the final paper work, I realized that it was April 13, Vasakhi when we had become Singhs and Kaurs.

23: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), March 10, 2014, 4:49 PM.

Commentator #5 Jessie ji and commentator #22 MKS ji: You are what Sikhi is about.

24: Gary Singh  (Chicago, Illinois, USA), March 10, 2014, 6:24 PM.

This article has inspired me to drop my surname as well. Thank you, T. Sher Singh ji! This was long overdue. I agree that caste is a plague on Sikhism. I will no longer be going to my caste affiliated gurdwara. If I am not part of the solution, then I am part of the problem!

25: Pinky (Punjab), March 10, 2014, 7:30 PM.

If my child cannot get admission to a college because he is not of a 'low caste', even though his marks are good, then that is a shame. Perhaps things are different in other parts of the world, but in India it is already difficult for graduates to find work. If the Backward label means my children will have a brighter future, then so be it. Blame the system, don't blame the people stuck in the system.

26: Sangat Singh  (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), March 10, 2014, 7:36 PM.

Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia had been officially registered in 1964. Our first most eminent historian was Prof. Dr Ganda Singh who enthralled everyone with his talks all over Malaysia. It was time for him to return to India and there was a big crowd to see him off at the Subang Airport, Kuala Lumpur. We had positioned ourselves at the visitors's gallery to wave our good-byes. In the crowd was Giani Isher Singh who was then the head granthi of Sermban Gurdwara. Boeing 707 in the mid 60's was then the main attraction. S. Surjit Singh Bassian, then a committee member, was trying to educate Giani Isher Singh by pointing towards the Boeing 707 parked on the tarmac and next to it was probably a smaller DC 8 propeller aircraft. "Giani ji, oh wada jajaz Jat (jet) hai." Giani ji had a great sense of humour. He said: "Pher jayrrah kol khalota ai, oh khatri hoyega!" - 'Then the plane parked next to the Jet must be Khatri."

27: Japji Kaur (Chandigarh, Punjab), March 10, 2014, 7:49 PM.

Dear Pinky ji (#25), I have two things to say to you in response. First, it is obvious that your child's marks were not good enough when mere 'good' would not suffice. You must've known that the competition would be severe. Secondly, now that your child couldn't qualify on merit, you want to gripe about other children who have been deprived all their lives by people such as you, and now are being given a slight break in order to level the playing field. I'm sorry to say that you clearly represent the problem, and not the solution. It is time for you and those like you to wake up and smell the coffee. The answer to your challenges is not to lower yourself and grovel at the level of the majority riff-raff in this country, but start behaving like a Sikh by working harder and getting your children to learn how to excel, instead of stealing crumbs from those who have less than you.

28: Jodh Singh Dhindsa (Ludhiana, Punjab), March 10, 2014, 8:01 PM.

#25 - Reading the comment by Pinky, I can see why she and her ilk are in a rush to be labelled 'backward'. It is obvious that they ARE backward. Good, let them get in line, and take a number (which, I understand, is #70)! Pity, because if she was a Sikh, she would simply try to excel and thereby she and her child could by-pass the line by carving a path of their own.

29: Pinky (Punjab), March 10, 2014, 8:47 PM.

Nobody is stealing crumbs. Please understand the difference between caste and class. A low caste person may come from a rich family, while a Brahmin may come from a poor family. The low caste person will still get admission over the Brahmin. Even if the Brahmin is more qualified.

30: Hardev Singh (Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada), March 10, 2014, 9:23 PM.

T. Sher Singh ji, you nailed it. Right on! Thrown some much needed light on the dark and dismal recesses of the mind of those out of touch with the noble Guru-given identity. The reservation system is wrong-headed. What is required is equal opportunity to education. For low income families, grants and subsidies, etc., can be considered. Employment needs to be on merit only.

31: Dr Birinder Singh Ahluwalia (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), March 10, 2014, 9:57 PM.

To further bring levity to this amusing situation, I am wondering who or which community is toiling hard round the clock to claim the coveted #71 spot in this charade? I must put this on record that I have utmost respect for all Sikhs, no matter how they pigeon-hole themselves. And, one more question: with the #70 spot gone, are there any communities left?

32: Hardarshan Singh Valia (Highland, California, USA), March 10, 2014, 10:56 PM.

The question that needs to be asked is why some of these fellows initiated a demand for recognition as a backward class?

33: Fateh Singh Sidhu (Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada), March 10, 2014, 11:04 PM.

I'm a little puzzled: do we now refer to ourselves now as Harijans or Dalits or both? All of this is new for me. And, dare I say, so embarrassing.

34: M K S (New York City, USA), March 10, 2014, 11:25 PM.

@ #32 -- Brother, there is nothing to be puzzled over. It's simple: only you can define who you are. If you're Fateh Singh you are the son of Dashmesh pita, Guru Gobind Singh. If you're Sidhu, you are ...

35: Kanwarjeet Singh (USA), March 11, 2014, 1:04 AM.

Do not just blame the jats. Alas, this disease is spreading fast in all ranks of our community.

36: H. Kaur (Canada), March 11, 2014, 2:06 AM.

I understand there are 6 thousand official castes in India. That is mind boggling on its own. Can you imagine them all getting ranked by number? Can you imagine anyone even sitting, memorizing the names and jobs of all 6 000? Well, I guess it is easy: 1, 1 ...; 2, 2,..., and then right down to 6 000, 6 000, 6 000. Really though, of course, the so-called low castes who buy into it will fight amongst themselves over the relative hierarchies.

37: Bikramjit Singh (London, United Kingdom), March 11, 2014, 2:32 AM.

Japji Kaur #27. How is allowing someone with low grades admission into a college or giving them a job because of their background, leveling the field? Are you not playing with the future of the nation's children by giving jobs such as those of teachers to those who cannot achieve good grades? Have a thought for those outside the reservation scam, whose children will get excellent grades but will still be denied jobs which will go to those who loafed around in college and because of their background are guaranteed jobs. Reservation should be based on means and not on background. Some jats may be poorer than the so-called lower castes. Either that or it should be abolished altogether.

38: Parmjit Singh (Canada), March 11, 2014, 4:34 AM.

Pinky ji (#25): you say perhaps things are different in other parts of the world. You are right: things are different. I know numerous stories of Sikhs who came to North America and despite excellent education and attitudes, faced massive employment challenges. This includes my own father. They were told to cut their hair, trim their beard. My mother was told to get rid of her karra by her employer. My parents and countless relatives and friends of theirs did not flinch when they were an extreme minority. They had come to new lands including small towns, with little resources. There is simply no comparison to most of today's immigration. Their stories of challenge, smiles, and perseverance would bring tears to your eyes. T. Sher Singh's own stories here relay some of this beauty during those times. They did not change themselves, they did not blame the system, they quietly changed the system. They lived as Sikhs.

39: Preet Kaur  (Ludhiana, Punjab), March 11, 2014, 4:40 AM.

What I see happening around me is what they call the "wages of sin". I hear you who rant and rave over the benefits being accorded to those who have been historically oppressed, and see that you're still drunk with power and blinded by your self-interests. Pray, how does demeaning yourself by declaring yourself 'backward' address the 'problems' you cite ad nauseum? When our country is ridden through and through with poverty and a feeble attempt is being made to correct age-old wrongs, the way to counter the new wrongs YOU now perceive is certainly NOT to label yourselves 'poor' and then fraudulently become the usurpers of the corrective measures and benefits. Listening to you whine tells me that you have become so used to the skewed benefits you have long given to yourselves (at the expense of the oppressed classes) that you are now in agony when corrections are being made (or attempted). No matter what, this cynical move to declare yourselves backward shows how truly backward you are. Period. Good for you that you have finally looked yourselves in the mirror and discovered what you really are!

40: Parmjit Singh (Canada), March 11, 2014, 4:47 AM.

Many amazing 'jat' Sikhs refuse to identify themselves as having an iota of this new, false, 'modern' Punjabi jat pride. They refuse because they recognize that bigoted garish pride is another desi caste and anti-Sikhi. I've always thought of those who claim both Sikhi and jat superiority, and there is no shortage, as backward in their thinking. And now this ... how ironic, and how sad for all Sikhdom.

41: Jaimal Singh Gill (Taran Taran, Punjab), March 11, 2014, 4:52 AM.

Not interested in your convoluted rationales. All I needed to know -- and you have told us all in unequivocal terms -- is that you are backward. Like the pigs you have become, I trust you're now going to wallow in your backwardness!

42: Tina (Birmingham, United Kingdom), March 11, 2014, 5:03 AM.

Yeah, right! By proclaiming to the world that your jat children are 'backward', you have secured a bright future for them! Way to go, Pinky ...

43: Aryeh Leib (Israel), March 11, 2014, 5:34 AM.

To observe in retrospect a similar idea in another context - how did the Affirmative Action program work out in the USA? I remember when the New York City University (CUNY) changed from a merit-based educational system to one of open admissions. This meant that all you had to do to qualify for admission was to graduate from a New York City high school; the quality of the education you had received in high school was irrelevant. Overnight, a first-class university sprouted remedial English and math classes for those who just the previous year would N-E-V-E-R have been considered university material. Do you think those students felt themselves to be empowered by the fact that they were getting a high school equivalency education in the context of a university? There's the story of the nouveau riche man who brings his old mother aboard his new yacht. As he stands there in his ridiculous-looking yachting costume, he asks, "So, Mom, what do you think of your son, the captain?" The old woman replies, "Son, by you - you're a captain. By me - you're a captain. But tell me, by CAPTAINS are you a captain?"

44: Ajay Singh (Rockville, Maryland, USA), March 11, 2014, 8:04 AM.

I think this is a sort of Martin Niemoller moment, except this will play out over maybe a 100 years instead of a couple of years. I think this analogy fits very well for India and/or a very small subset of that country, e.g., Sikhs. The ultimate goal is Hinduization. Sikhs voiced their disgust when for the first time a 'caste' status was granted to Sikh communities or groups in the 60's, but for most part we shut up. There were and are separate gurdwaras in villages, even cremation grounds. I thought that was shocking. I think the article and comments are a little on the arrogant side, it creates infighting and divisions. To not agree or understand the Pinkys and their "ilk" will only define these divisions. It is an immensely sad and tragic development, no doubt about that, but so is rampant alcoholism, drug use, unemployment, hopelessness and all these afflictions are an anathema to Sikhi, there are a lot of questions we can ask but standing on the side lines and throwing stones is perhaps the worst way to start any dialogue. So, the Hindus came and got the jats but I am not worried or I am better because I am a Sikh. How many of us have lived in India and been in their shoes? This is a political classification, vote bank, let us try to reverse it, maybe contain it and not make it a religious one ...

45: Dr Birinder Singh Ahluwalia (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), March 11, 2014, 8:37 AM.

Affirmative Action Program (AFP) as devised and implemented in USA was and is an excellent program, and has achieved some success in leveling the playing field, given the history of that great nation. The program has benefited many without diluting the quality of education imparted by scholars or imbibed by deserving students. It is completely wrong and misplaced to draw parallels between the jats who have vied to be designated a backward class, and the Affirmative Action Program in USA. Of the whole slew of differences between the two scenarios, here's the most significant one: the jats in Punjab hold the reins of power and are the decision-makers, not the victims. That was not the case with the blacks and other minorities the US program was designed to help. The jat scheme is a mischievous one, designed to subvert progress. On the other hand, the US scheme was a sincere and committed one, and it worked. The proof is in the fact that the US is a different place altogether today, compared to what it was vis-a-vis blacks and hispanics two or three decades ago. If I remember correctly, wasn't Justice Sotomayor of the US Supreme Court once the beneficiary of an affirmative action program? That's but one example. There are thousands of other success stories. The only griping we heard in the US, as you do anywhere else with the same issues, was from former privileged groups who had historically hogged on society's bounty and were now resentful of the special measures being used to create a new system based on real merit.

46: R Singh (Canada), March 11, 2014, 9:25 AM.

There is a huge confusion regarding the entire issue. First of all the term 'jat' may be a caste within the Hindu charts. The fact is this is an ethnic group, not 'caste'. Secondly, because of shrinking land holdings, and advent of the free market, the overwhelmingly rural sections of jats are not any better than others who lag behind. Those of us jats who are not from there are just miffed because we think our 'status' is taking a beating, therefore we wail and scream without a thought for the ground reality. There are areas in Punjab where men cannot afford to get married and raise a family. We need a reality check, not all sections of any community can be even, no matter how much wealth they may have collectively. Pride aside, the stats of farmer suicides tells a tale on its own. You need not deny your history and distinct culture, even if you are foremost a Sikh. T Sher Singh ji, you are mistaken. Jat identity predates the history of modern Punjab. If you look at the literature, songs and culture, these rural agrarian groups identified themselves according to ethnicity and tribe. This is not a post 84 phenomena. Unless we put our money where are mouths are, and our gurdwara goluks are used towards this purpose, we need this wake up call. There is a dire need to recognize facts rather than fantasise that everything is hunky dory in the old country. If any doubts, try visiting the hospitals and those getting cancer treatments on your landholdings, especially when you've had a bad crop.

47: Harkiran Kaur (Mohali, Punjab), March 11, 2014, 9:50 AM.

R. Singh ji: Your facts are right, but they have no connection with the conclusions you draw from them. The Sikhs of Punjab have long neglected their affairs, for one reason or the other. The result is a whole slew of catastrophic problems. T. Sher Singh ji's article says: behaving like Hindus by labeling yourself a Backward Class is not the solution. This won't sort out your drug problems or the water issues or the Hindutva badmashi. The people of Punjab have to stop behaving backwardly, not claim backwardness as the remedy! I live here where the rubber hits the road, and I must tell you, we are paying for decades of stupidity. Compounding it with more will not help. The time is long past for excuses from apologists. Our land has been hijacked by backward people! They are backward in their attitudes, not in their economic status. Therein lies the real problem.

48: EDITOR, sikhchic.com (Mount Forest, Ontario, Canada), March 11, 2014, 11:08 AM.

This discussion is now closed. No further comments will be posted.

49: Rajdeep Singh Grewal (New Delhi, India), February 28, 2015, 6:01 AM.

This decision would effect in both positive and negative ways to the jats (peasants) in question. Firstly, the positive effect would be that now the jat will now have access to the reservations in the government jobs which had been originally alotted as a special mesure to improve the lot of the real 'backward classes.' But the other negative part is that jats had always claimed to be of a higher status than the level they had been designated historically in the Hindu caste heirarchy, but after this decision, as they are self-declared as a backward class, now they can be truthful to themselves and the world.

50: Deven (United States), March 24, 2015, 11:23 AM.

Thank you for a great article, and also a great gurbani reference. I really hope that the principles of Sikhi overcome the caste labels.

51: Vijay Singh  (Delhi, India), May 15, 2015, 10:34 PM.

Ref comment above-I have watched this recent phenomenon -- something that surfaced only in the last 30 years or so -- when some morons amongst us started identifying themselves openly as jutts [or khatris, bedis, sodhis, bhallas, ramgharias, etc., all of them -- they're all moorakh (stupid), to use the Guru's own terminology! [GGS:1127.19].

52: Som Savi (USA), August 01, 2015, 11:42 AM.

If one is Sikh, for him caste is nonsense and if jutt or 'jutt sikh', he's certainly BACKWARD, being not real Sikh of The Guru.

Comment on "Congratulations!
Jats Are Now, Officially, a Backward Class"









To help us distinguish between comments submitted by individuals and those automatically entered by software robots, please complete the following.

Please note: your email address will not be shown on the site, this is for contact and follow-up purposes only. All information will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Sikhchic reserves the right to edit or remove content at any time.