Members of the Ahir community of the Indian state of Haryana have been staging protests in the Kherki Daula toll plaza in Gurugram city since 4 February, demanding a separate regiment (which they would call the Ahir Regiment) for their community in the Indian Army.
The protest is being organised under the banner of Sanyukt Ahir Regiment Morcha (SARM), a group of community leaders from Ahirwal region in South Haryana.
On Wednesday, thousands of people from within the Ahir community converged from across Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh for a march, which was cancelled, however, as the crowd became difficult to control.
The SARM protest garnered support from an array of political leaders, local legislators and bigwigs across party lines, including opposition parties Congress, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and also from ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The SARM is planning to intensify their protests if their demands are not met.
“We have been protesting here since 4 February. We are planning to spread our campaign to other districts of Haryana, as well as other states. This will be done in the next one month. We have formed the teams for that and the proper course of action will be decided in a day or two", founding SARM member Arun Yadav told Sputnik.
“Our committee will also be writing to the Defence Minister. If our demands are not met we will hold the protest nationwide. We have given time till 23 September and decision regarding nationwide agitation will be taken on that day itself,” Yadav said.
Justifying the demand for a separate Ahir community regiment he said: “As there is a regiment for Jat, Sikh, Rajput, Maratha, and others, there should be a separate regiment for Ahir because the most number of soldiers are from Ahir community and we are part of Kumaon Regiment where our representation is quite low.”
He also said that if the government can’t form a separate regiment for the Ahir community then it should remove the names of castes from other regiments too.
The founding member of SARM argued that this will also provide more opportunities for youth in the Ahir community.
Thousands of Members of Ahir Community Protesting at Kherki Daula Toll Plaza in Gurugram Demanding Separate Regiment for Ahir Community
© Sputnik / Rahul Trivedi
Referring to the Battle of Rezang La in 1962, Yadav said that, out of 120 soldiers who died, 114 were from the Ahir community but, since we were part of Kumaon Regiment, "our community never got much recognition".
“Our fight is for the respect, recognition and honor of Ahir community. People from our community have laid their lives for this country. Tomorrow, when our regiment will be formed, we would wear the badge of the Ahir regiment and that would be a moment of pride for us,” he said.
The Charlie Company of the 13th Battalion of the Kumaon Regiment fought a Chinese attack at Rezang La Pass in Ladakh on 18 November 1962.
He further stated that community members have been protesting the last 45 days and will continue to protest until the government agrees to their demand.
Members of the community have long argued that the Ahirs deserve a full-fledged Infantry Regiment, not just two battalions in the Kumaon Regiment and a fixed percentage in other regiments.
The community also sat on a hunger strike for nine days in 2018 but called it off after assurances. However, nothing has been done susequently and they couldn’t continue the protest due to the pandemic.
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