The Jats draw up new power plans

“Hum Ram wale hai. Jai Shri Ram hamara udbodhan nahi hai,” “We are followers of Ram. Jai Shri Ram is not our slogan,” said Yudhveer Singh, general secretary of Akhil Bhartiya Jat Mahasabha, who claimed to be working to make the agricultural Jat community stronger and organised. Singh was addressing a two-day Rashtriya Jat Shatabdi Sammelan (national Jat centenary gathering) themed ‘Emerging Society Shaping the Future’ in Pushkar, Rajasthan, over a month ago.

In his 30-minute speech with strong political undertones, Singh had said that there were no greater Ram devotees than the Jats because most of their names had “Ram” as a prefix or suffix. But the country was no longer in the hands of Ram’s devotees; He claimed that he was captured only by those chanting “Jai Shri Ram” slogans.

“There is love in the word Ram… You say ‘Ram’ and it’s like you poured your heart out to him. You say ‘Jai Shri Ram’, it’s crazy,” Singh said. 20 minutes before his speech, he was told to leave the stage because he had exceeded the time limit. But amid clamor from the audience demanding that he be allowed to finish, organizers were forced to recall him immediately.

The conference marked 100 years of the event held in Pushkar, organized by the then Akhil Bharatiya Jat Mahasabha to discuss farmers’ issues and social and educational reforms. Sir Chhotu Ram, a well-known Indian agrarian reformer and politician, played an important role in organizing it at that time. The event, chaired by the then Maharaja of Bharatpur, Kishan Singh, was aimed at creating awareness among the farming community and strengthening the movement against farmers. jagirdari (host) system in pre-independence India.

Exactly a century later, the conference organized by a handful of government officials and lawyers saw the participation of several thousand members of the Jat community: current and former legislators, government employees, social workers, officials of various social organizations and members of Panchayati Raj institutions. The majority of participants came from northern India (Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh), but a significant number also came from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and the southern states.

In 2025, participants brainstormed ways to promote education and curb social evils such as dowry, mrityu bhog (feast after a person’s death) and drug addiction among youth. The century-old hostels built for the students of the community had become unusable with the increase in the number of public and private schools. It has been suggested that these buildings should be converted into free online coaching centers or skill development centres, and discussions are currently ongoing with the government for this purpose. Community members also decided to encourage industrialists to donate to an education fund that offers interest-free loans to needy students.

political message

However, the declining political influence of the Jat community – despite Jats constituting a significant portion of the total population in northern India, according to the community – became the main theme of the conference, overshadowing discussions on educational and social issues. At the meeting, participants expressed concern that Jats were losing their long-standing political dominance that once allowed them to shape policies and secure representation in the government. Delegates said this led to fewer seats, less say in decision-making and fewer benefits for Jat voters. In response, participants emphasized the need to build a multi-group social coalition that would unite Jats with other communities that share similar interests.

In his speech full of political messages, Singh said, “Akhil Bharatiya Jat Mahasabha was founded in 1907. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was founded in 1925… It is an older organization than RSS, but what is our situation today?”

Raising the issue of Jat reservation, Singh said Jat Mahasabha has long felt that it is important to improve the society financially and has been fighting for this in Rajasthan. “More than 3 million Jat youth have found employment in Rajasthan due to reservation,” Singh said. He added that Union Home Minister Amit Shad had promised reservations to Jats in 2017. Singh encouraged community leaders who support the BJP to tell Shah to fulfill his promise to the Jats.

He also appealed to community leaders to unite, saying Jats got reservation in Rajasthan because of their unity. “When we fought for reservation, there was only one Jat Sabha; today there are 17 Jat Sabha leaders in this programme,” he said.

Prem Singh Sihag, Senior Nursing Officer, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi, one of the organisers, said that for the first time since Independence, not a single Jat leader held Cabinet rank in the Union government; This was in stark contrast to the days of six Cabinet Ministers. “Even in the smallest gatherings of the community, there is always a topic of discussion about how Jats are being sidelined politically,” he said.

Sihag, who organized the event along with seven Central government employees and two Supreme Court lawyers, said they took it upon themselves to organize the conference when no social organization came forward. “There is a feeling of despair and frustration among Jat organizations because they do not have political patronage,” he said.

Jats form alliance

Farmer leader Pushpendra Singh, an outspoken voice for agricultural rights, said Jats are the largest caste group in northern India but have been “systematically suppressed” over the last decade to weaken them financially and politically.

“Politics in Haryana has become a struggle of Jats against non-Jats. There has been an attempt to portray Jats as anti-Scheduled Castes,” says Singh. He added that similar to the decline in political dominance of the Yadavs, Marathas and Patels in other parts of the country, Jat dominance was declining in Haryana, Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh.

“There is an attempt to weaken the Jats, whether it is the denial of the (Agricultural) Minimum Support Price, not giving them reservations, the Agnipath Scheme or the acquisition of their land at throwaway prices in and around Delhi,” says Pushpendra.

Over the past three months, there has been a series of events revolving around Jat-hood. Besides Pushkar Jat Shatabdi, there was a three-day Sarv Jaatiya Sarv Khap Mahapanchayat in mid-November in Jat-dominated Soram of Uttar Pradesh to address social evils and development of society. “Jats cannot remain silent if they want to be relevant. They are looking for direction,” says Pushpendra.

This direction came from the conference where he said that Jats need to create a strong social coalition with like-minded communities. “For this purpose, we have invited prominent leaders of Gurjar and Bishnoi Samaj. Jats, Muslims and Meghwals have remained together in Rajasthan. We are trying to bring Meenas and Gurjars with us. We have no disagreements with them and they are ready to come with us,” says Sihag. These are all peasant communities and they have common interests.

“Jat Muslims and Jat Sikhs from Baghpat and Panipat also came to attend the conference. We are trying to bring together all Jats crossing religious boundaries. If Jats of all religions come together, we can become a great political force,” says Sihag.

Bringing people and agendas together

A Jat-Gurjar Sammelan was organized to celebrate the birth anniversary of Sir Chhotu Ram at New Delhi’s Constitution Club of India on 23 November. The event, jointly organized by Akhil Bharatiya Jat Mahasabha and Akhil Bharatiya Gurjar Sabha, was attended by political and social leaders from both communities, including former Union Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh.

National organizing secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Jat Mahasabha Dharmvir Singh Khokhar said Jats and Gurjars, both farming communities, share the same culture (food habits, social customs) and have remained politically aligned in the past. Both Sir Chhotu Ram and later Charan Singh tried to bring together four farming communities (Ahirs, Jats, Gurjars and Rajputs) in the 1970s to form a formidable social and political coalition popularly known as Ajgar.“During the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in the 1980s, 11 Gurjar MLAs were won from Chaudhary Charan Singh’s party, which underlined the following social coalition: Jats and Gurjars,” he says. Khokhar.

Jat Mahasabha’s Haryana president Rajendra Sura declared that the event was a historic event that will shape the future of the two communities. However, he added that the lack of unity and harmony among societies over the last few years has caused them to fall behind socially, politically and financially. He recalls their joint fight against the three farm laws, how their joint efforts forced the Bharatiya Janata Party to concede defeat. He said this victory was proof of what could be achieved through solidarity and collective action.

Khokhar points out that there have been notable examples of tension and conflict between the two communities, especially during events such as the Kawar Yatra and the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) elections, where candidates from the two communities compete fiercely. These conflicts underlined the urgent need to develop fraternity, mutual understanding and harmonious relations between societies to prevent further divisions and promote peaceful coexistence.

Kurmis adds that Marathas and Yadavs also want to be a part of the Delhi conference. “We held a conference with the Marathas at the Talkatora Stadium two years ago. Jat Mahasabha is also planning to hold another conference with the Gurjas in Uttar Pradesh in January,” says Khokhar.

ashok.kumar@thehindu.co.in

Edited by Sunalini Mathew.