Gurugram: Ahead of the next year’s parliamentary polls, the organisation spearheading the demand of an Ahir regiment in the Indian Army has decided to hold a dharna at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on 26 November.
Sanyukt Ahir Regiment Morcha convener Arun Yadav told ThePrint that their demand is old, but “now we plan to fight a decisive battle against the government on this issue”.
“Initially, we started dharna at Kherki Daula in Gurugram in 2018, but it was suspended due to Covid. Now, we have been on dharna since 4 February, 2022. More than 25 MPs and nearly 100 MLAs from across the country have visited the (same) dharna site and extended support to our demand. But still, the government is not taking our demand seriously,” Yadav said Tuesday.
Those who visited the dharna include Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh, former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda, Alwar MP Balak Nath, Rohtak MP Arvind Sharma, Jaunpur MP Shyam Singh Yadav, Bhiwani MP Dharanbir Singh and its former MP Shruti Choudhry, he added.
In fact, Deepender Hooda posted a message Friday on X, formerly Twitter, pledging his support to the call along with pictures of the members of the Sanyukt Ahir Regiment Morcha.
The Ahirs have shed their blood during the 1947-48, 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars, the 1961 Goa liberation, and the 1962 Sino-Indian War, the 1999 Kargil conflict and several military operations, the Morcha convener said.
They have won 1 Paramvir Chakra, 4 Ashok Chakra, 4 Mahavir Chakra, 8 Kirti Chakra, 30 Vir Chakra, 40 Shourya Chakra as well as several Sena Medals, he added.
The Morcha will not end its agitation till the demand is met, Yadav asserted.
Also Read: Why is Indian Army keeping the martial race theory alive? The British left 76 years ago
Support from Hooda
On Friday, Deepender Hooda tweeted supporting the demand for a separate regiment for the community in the Army. “The demand for the Ahir Regiment is completely justified and has my complete support. The government should constitute the Ahir Regiment in the Indian Army by rising above party politics (sic),” he tweeted.
Hooda’s father and former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Hooda is also seen in the pictures.
भारतीय सेना में अहीर रेजिमेंट गठन की मांग को लेकर 4 फ़रवरी, 2022 से खेड़की दौला टोल, गुड़गांव पर धरनारत संयुक्त अहीर रेजिमेंट मोर्चा के एक प्रतिनिधिमंडल ने आज दिल्ली आवास पर मुलाक़ात कर आगामी 26 नवंबर को दिल्ली के रामलीला मैदान में होने वाले धरना प्रदर्शन का न्योता दिया।
अहीर… pic.twitter.com/iol17I9p77
— Deepender S Hooda (@DeependerSHooda) November 10, 2023
In March last year, he reached the Kherki Daula toll to convey solidarity with the members of the community who were on a protest.
Contacted by The Print, Hooda said that every tenth soldier in the Indian army is from Haryana. He added that districts of Rewari, Mahindragarh, and Gurugram that come under the Ahiwal region and some other districts like Rohtak, Jhajjar, Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri have an old tradition of sending their sons to the armed forces.
“Go to any village of Ahirwal belt and one will find statues of martyrs who have sacrificed their lives in wars for the country. We have Sikh, Jat, Rajput, Dogra, Mahar and Gorkha regiments in the Indian Army. The government should not have any problem in accepting the demand of the Ahir community to set up their own regiment,” Hooda said over the phone Tuesday.
The Congress leader further said that he had raised the matter in the Rajya Sabha, but the government’s response was not positive.
In December last year, the Centre responded to Hooda’s query, saying it was a government policy not to raise any new regiment on class, community, religion, region lines after Independence. “A number of representations on raising of Ahir Regiment have been received earlier from time to time, which have been replied on similar lines as mentioned above,” the Ministry of Defence had added.
Hooda, meanwhile, asserted that the Naga Regiment, which “essentially is named after a tribe”, was raised in 1970.
Political analyst Yoginder Gupta said that the demand for the Ahir Regiment is not new, adding that the Yadavs have flagged this matter not only in Haryana alone but also in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
“The government has told more than once in Parliament that there is no plan to set up the Ahir regiment. However, the decision to intensify the agitation on this issue seems to be in view of the impending parliamentary elections because politicians tend to appease various communities ahead of elections,” Gupta said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)