Jaat, Rajput, Maratha regiments; Is there really racism in the army? Know why Ahir Regiment cannot be formed

Congress MP from Rohtak, Haryana, Deepender Singh Hooda has raised the demand for formation of Ahir Regiment in Parliament. Through his speech, he put the history of the heroism of the Ahir community in front of the government and said, “Whenever the country was attacked, the Ahir brothers sacrificed their lives with the echo of the slogan Jai Yadav-Jai Madhav. Now the time has come to establish Ahir Regiment in the Indian Army.

Deepender Singh Hooda is not the only person raising this demand, but for a long time there has been a demand to form Ahir Regiment in the Indian Army. In 2018, the United Ahir Regimental Front went on a hunger strike for 9 days on this demand. Now this community says that their demand has not been fulfilled even after 4 years have passed.

In such a situation, today’s Bhaskar knows what a regiment is in depth? When was the caste regiment started in the Indian Army? How are the recruitments done in these regiments? How justified is the demand for Ahir regiment? And what is the whole matter?

What is a regiment?
A regiment is a group in the Indian Army. The Indian Army is made up of groups of several regiments. The regiment was first formed in India during the British rule. The British were confined to the sea areas in their early times. That is why he first formed the Madras Regiment. Then as the British rule expanded, new regiments were formed.

How a regiment was formed in the army in the name of caste?
Most of the systems in the Indian Army have been going on since the time of the British. The army that we have, most of the arrangements in that army are due to the British. The British came to India with a small contingent of their army and officers.

After this he started recruitment in the British Army. When they started expanding from the sea areas, the British first included such castes in the army, who fought bravely in the battlefield.

The Sikh Empire fought three wars against the British, in which the British saw the bravery of the Sikhs with their own eyes. After this the British made the Sikh Regiment in the British Indian Army in 1846. Most of the Sikhs were recruited into the Sikh Regiment.

The first 3 Rajput regiments were formed as 31 Bengal Native Infantry. After this, the Bengal Native came to be called Kilpatrick’s platoon after the second captain of this regiment, Samuel Kilpatrick. This platoon could have included Rajputs, Brahmins and Muslims from UP-Bihar.

Coming from this region, these societies were known for their strong stature, strong personality. By 1825 Rajput Regiments 1, 2, 4 and 5 had also been established.

After independence, caste regiment was not formed because
The question was raised many times that why the caste based regiment of the army was not disbanded after independence? And if the government is not against caste based regiments, then why no other caste regiments were formed after independence?

Actually, India became independent on 15 August 1947, after which India had to fight one big war after another, due to which it was not appropriate to change the army immediately after independence.

After independence, M Cariappa was made the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army. He also worked with the old system to prepare the army for the new India. For this, M Cariappa strengthened the National Cadet Corps, as well as formed the Territorial Army.

However, the biggest reform after independence is considered to be the Brigade of the Guards Mechanized Infantry. In this recruitment is not done on the basis of any religion, caste and community.

After independence, 4 committees were formed in the country to improve the recruitment process in the army, but after independence no government talked about creating or dissolving new caste regiments in the army.

What is the effect of caste regiment on officer rank?
In a caste based regiment, people of one caste along with several castes can serve in a regiment. However, there is no caste or religious criterion for joining the regiment on the rank of officer.

For example, the number of Jat and Rajput community in Rajputana Rifles remains almost equal. Also Rajputs, Gurjars and Muslims can serve in the Rajput Regiment (which is a separate regiment from the Rajputana Rifles).

In the regiment, whether people of one caste or mixed, any person (belonging to religion, caste or creed) can be appointed to the rank of officer. Apart from this, after being appointed, the officer has to follow all the caste or religious traditions of his regiment.

Suppose a Muslim person is the commanding officer of a Jat regiment, then he will also parade with the soldiers in the temple, will also sit in the Yagya and will also get it completed by law.

To what extent is the demand of Ahir regiment justified?

Since February 4, a large number of people have been demanding Ahir Regiment on the Delhi-Gurugram border under the banner of United Ahir Morcha. People supporting the Ahir Regiment argue that since 70 years the Ahir community has made many sacrifices for the country. Especially in the Rezangala war of 1962, 120 jawans from 13 Kumaon belonged to the Ahir community, who bravely faced the enemy and gave martyrdom for the country.

People demanding Ahir Regiment say that the people who sacrificed their lives by forming Ahir Regiment should be given due respect, but Defense Expert PK Sehgal called this demand completely politically motivated. He said that the people of political parties want to divide the country and society in some way or the other. No such demand has ever been made in the army nor will it be, this demand is being made only keeping in mind the vote bank politics.

How is recruitment done in the army?

We spoke to Defense Expert PK Sehgal to understand the recruitment process of Army recruitment. He told that people of any community and caste can apply to be recruited in the infantry. Also, if we talk about the area, then the army can go from anywhere and recruit people in the army.

He said that soldiers are first sent for training. After that, they are given a choice, in which they tell which regiment or battalion they want to join. However, it is not necessary that the soldier should get the regiment of his choice.