Finally London Olympics 2012 came to an end. Actually it came to an end on 13 Aug 2012. I am writing it today partly because of my mood and partly that I did-not have time. This Olympics has been a joy to some and a disappointment to some. The overall achievement by India as a country has been encouraging one. From the last tally of 3 medals (1 Gold, 2 Bronze), this time round we won 6 medals (2 Silver, 4 Bronze). Most were new winners barring Sushil Kumar who won Silver after bronze in 2008 Olympics and created history by becoming the first consecutive Olympics medal winner in an individual event.
The government at centre and at respective states has been showering praise and cash on them.
The Disappointment and the glory:
There were disappointments too in these games, namely boxing. I for one believed that Indian Boxing Team was capable of winning 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 3 Bronze. The bouts however were controversial and so were the points giving system. The worst came when Vikas Krishan’s winning was reversed. It seemed there was something fishy there. The heart break was left for Vijender Singh’ quarter final match. He was one win away from securing a consecutive Olympic medal, a feat completed by Sushil Kumar then in wrestling.
MC Mary Kom, however saved the day for Indian Boxing by winning 1 Bronze (many including herself were hoping for a Gold, but it is a medal none the less no matter which ever color). She is truly a fighter and one hopes she fights in 2014 Olympics too. There she might get the chance of changes the color into Gold.
The role model in the making:
Winning of Bronze medal by Saina Nehwal was just not her win but a win for her father, her coach and more importantly a win for the girl child of Haryana. She has all the qualities and temperament of becoming the role model of girls of Haryana. One doubts that there would be many villages or cities in Haryana, who would NOT have celebrated her feat. She is most likely to become a catalyst for acceptance of girl child as the harbor and manifestor of glory. One is sure that in coming years with more of her success stories, Fathers from the state of Haryana (which gets bad press for gender issues and girl child issues) would want to raise their daughters to be like Saina Nehwal. Much like saina’s own father used to call her Steffi affectionately, hoping that the daughter will live the glory of legendary Steffi Graf. Given her age and her achievements, one only believes that there is going to be long glorious days ahead.
The Underdog of Shooting:
The underdog tag without doubt goes to Vijay Kumar, who no one expected to win as all the expectations in shooting were with the likes of Ranjan Sodhi, Abhinav Bindra and Manvinder Singh Sandhu. His win was without fuss, I watched the final shooting competition which won him silver. He was very calm even after winning it. Though later many said that it was not right for him to ask for promotion, but I ask why NOT ? Wasn’t Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore promoted too ? Then what seems to be the harm here ? The guy is asking what is rightfully his. It is good to see that sports minister Ajay Maken supporting him here. Being a JCO, if he desires to be a commisioned officer in Army after Honouring India at an International event. One believes it will only be fitting to do so and will show case the value Indian Army gives to its soldiers and their efforts. He should be given Captain’s Title in Indian Army (even though it might upset some men in Indian Army who have achived no such feat).
Vijay Kumar has been giving consistent performance in terms of shooting and earning accolades. He has been winning Gold medals in all the commonwealth games since 2006. He won silver in shooting event in 2009 and 2011. It would be nice to see those people who came from villages in India to be honoured and facilitated in both monetary and honorary terms.
Gagan Narang did not disappoint and won a medal for India, though many were hoping that he might win Gold. He again is in contention in getting gold in 2014 Olympics to be held in rio de janeiro.
The Encore:
Sushil Kumar did which many were expecting Vijender Singh to also do, though Vijender should not lose heart as he did reach quarterfinals and that itself is a huge achievement. Additionally age is in his side, so in next Olympics I for one STRONGLY believe that he will win GOLD. We should remember that it took Md Ali just 1 Gold to get recognized rest was his style and attitude (a positive one) which brought him so much acclaim. (Not that Vijender Singh needs recognition in India, but many including me have a desire that he wins Gold in Olympics.
Sushil Kumar on the other hand was likely to win gold given his recent performance but in final his health and fatigue gave away. The feat has been a welcome one. One hopes he is able to fulfill his dreams in future. It may be so that he might go for 2014 Olympics. It was a good win for Yogeshwar Dutt to who won his first Bronze medal. His hardwork finally paid off.
The Awards:
It has been raining awards for the winners of Olympic medals and those who participated. Yogeshwar Dutt and Vijay Kumar have been awarded Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award for 2012. Last year it was Gagan Narang. Haryana Govt has awarded its players 1.5 Crores for silver and 1 Crore for Bronze. Now one has got news that Olympic medalists wrestlers Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt, badminton star Saina Nehwal and shooter Gagan Narang will get audi Q5s for bringing laurels to the country from DLF Limited.
That apart, the company will also hand over Special Editions of Maruti Suzuki – Way of Life‘s mid-sized Suzuki SX4 cars to 15 sportspersons from Haryana who took part in the London 2012 Olympics, but could not win any medal.
This a welcome move from DLF who have been past associated with cricket namely DLF IPL. SAHARA announces medals of pure gold of 5 kg, 3kg and 2kg to every Indian winning gold, silver and bronze medal respectively in the London Olympics 2012. Sahara has been supporting Indian sportsmen for longtime and it is no different here.
All these awards from the corporate sector is a welcome move. One hopes that many other companies would come forward; such awards will encourage youngsters to fight and win more medals for India in future Olympics.
India would be certainly proud of its achievement this time in commonwealth games, beating England and Canada in games is no small feat and coming 2nd certainly isn’t either. The remarkable performance of getting 101 medals was showcased by one state in particular which has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Though their effort in showcasing India’s strength has certainly lead some people to appreciate them.
Leading this pack of gold was a state known only for honour killings or female foeticide, Haryana (there is even a movie coming on the events named Akrosh).Fittingly so when discus thrower Krishna Punia won the gold she said that all the winners were Jats that is Harwant Kaur who won silver and Seema Antil who won bronze.(may be it was an inner desire to tell media that they were painting the whole community with same color) Keeping that aside Haryana as a state truly out performed many of the countries participating in the commonwealth games and with its tally alone and number of golds it stands 5th.
Haryana has certainly made its mark in this commonwealth games with a startling performance from the state. The most medals for it was won in wrestling with the likes of Phogat sisters leading the charge and sonepat for one has become a district of gold creators.
Not far behind are the boxers of bhiwani which got 2 gold and 3 bronze. Vijender Singh’s controversial bout will always remain part of the commonwealth history but so will Manoj Kumar’s and Paramjeet Samota’s gold in final. Last time it was only Akhil kumar who won the boxing gold but this time Haryana got two and India three.
This success has been also attributed to Hooda governments’ efforts to support sportspersons, though on occasion he is seeing quoting “I am sportsman.” His stint as two time chief Minister was taking a beating after the negative publicity his state was taking but certainly he could take a breather with commonwealth success story before media gets going with the usual stuff.
Haryana in past lacked tremendously in context of the infrastructure of sports but that was over come by the sheer zeal to perform by its athletes. The Hooda government now should focus on creating high class stadiums so that ground level support is encouraged, though he might say that he has got stadiums built but there numbers then is few.
The sports which have been dominating and getting it medals namely Boxing and Wrestling need to be supported more. The prize money offered in sporting events also need to increase. Haryana government should also not hide behind the recent success and help create other sports to rise too. The events such as athletics and swimming needs to be supported as these are the events which would be giving us more medals.
The success could also be used in eliminating social evils of female –infanticide as the girls who have won could become the role models of young girls and parents can be encouraged to support their girls. Saina Nehwal success story could be repeated again where a father goes out of his way to make his daughter a world champion and same goes for Krishna Poonia who also hails from Haryana though is married in Rajasthan. Her story is where the brothers and father supported and then her husband who helped get her to this level. Husbands can also take some heed where they can become facilitators in the success of their wives and will also be given due credit and their egos will also be not hurt in the process.
There is a way out for Haryana with the current success stories where they can revive their lost image and get rid of the chauvinistic tag associated with the men of Haryana , now whether they do this is certainly upon them since the rest of the India will be watching.
When this commonwealth was about to start many doubted whether it will even begin or get scrapped. I must confess that I was one of them. Mr kalmadi’s “spectacular” handling of things certainly brought India great many criticism and condemnation of the participating countries.
In the end it was left to none other than our chief minister Mrs Shiela Dikshit to get the job done which even involved getting games village ready. More so she became the target of foreign media especially the notorious Paula Henery ( oh did I spell that right…?).
Now the real weight of expectation was on Indian athletes and oh my, did they comply .India finished second in the over all tally with a staggering 101 medals in which there were 38 gold medals , 27 silver medals and 36 bronze medals.
Wrestling won us many medals 19 of the 21 events that they participated in and here to sushil Kumar dominated getting his gold by knocking out his opponent. Upon wining he went to Rahul Gandhi to get thank him for watching his match. In all domination of wrestling was supreme. The girls also didn’t do anything wrong, the sisters Babita and Geeta Phogat from haryana won silver and gold respectively. Their story was of remarkable success where their father had to fight off the sarcasms of the village when he decided that his daughters will play wrestling.
Then the excepted events of shooting too did not disappoint by performing brilliantly. The shooters especially Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang won us many gold . Gagan Narang in particular won 4 gold medal heights individual tally, it must be rewarding for him to win so many medals in his own nation and hopefully his disappointment of not winning the Rajiv Gandhi khel ratna will be diminished, now as government will certainly honour him for his contribution.
In all shooting did not disappoint and wrestling became the new power house.This performance will certainly improve interest of Individuals in shooting and wrestling. Though wrestling can boast itself to be a cost-effective sport but certainly shooting would require enormous amount of money for ammunition and training.
One just hopes irrespective of the conditions, Indians will find a way and keep this performance alive and see a different side of sports which is nothing similar to cricket.
Identification and Location. Jat live predominantly in large parts of northern and northwestern India and in southern and eastern Pakistan, as sedentary farmers and warriors ( with some are pastorals). Jat is a race much like the Irish, Ossetians, Kurds, Yakuts, Kazakhs and the pashtuns. In India most of these communities are integrated as a caste into the locally prevalent caste system, so that they could be accommodated in Hinduism (as Hinduism is considered a religion by default for all Indians).However, a Jat can be a Sikh, Hindu or a Muslim (Christian and Buddhist too in some case).
Their population is mostly concentrated in the regions of Jammu, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh/ Harit Pradesh, Parts of Madhya Pradesh, kutch in Gujrat and Delhi.In Pakistan, they are in Pakistan Punjab, Baluchistan, Kashmir and sindh region.In the past century increasing population pressure on land has led to large-scale emigration of the peasant Jat, especially from India, to North America, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and more recently the Middle East. Within India many rural Jats had started to look towards Urban settlements in hope for better lifestyle and jobs.
As per some researchers, sedentary farming Jat and the nomadic pastoral Jats (in gujrat as claimed by researchers and documentary makers) are of entirely different origins; few believe that the two groups are of the same stock but that they developed different life-styles over the centuries. Neither the farmers nor the pastoralists are, however, to be confused with other distinct communities of peddlers, artisans, and entertainers designated in Afghanistan by the blanket terms “Jat” or Jaṭ.
The latter terms are considered pejorative, and they are rejected as ethnonyms by these peripatetic communities. In Pakistan also, among the Baluchi- and Pashto-speaking populations, the terms were, and to a certain extent still are, used to indicate contempt and lower social status.
Demography. No reliable figures are available for recent years. In 1931 the population of all sedentary and farming Jat was estimated at 8,377,819; in the early 1960s 8,000,000 was the estimate for Pakistan alone. Today the entire Jat population consists of several million more than that.
Linguistic Affiliation.
Jats speak languages and dialects that are closely connected with local spoken languages of the Indo-Iranian Group. Arabic-derived Urdu is used by Jat Muslims, while Jat Sikhs and Jat Hindus use the Gurmukhi (Punjabi) and the Devanagari (Hindi) scripts, respectively.
History and Cultural Relations
Little is known about the early history of the Jat, although several theories were advanced by various scholars over the last 200 years. Some authors argue that they are descendants of the first Indo-Aryans, others suggest that they are of Indo-Scythian stock and entered India toward the beginning of the Christian era. These authors also point to some cultural similarities between the Jat and certain other major communities of the area, such as the Gurjar, the Ahir, and the Rajput, about whose origins similar theories have been suggested.
In fact, among both Muslims and Sikhs the Jat and the Rajput castes enjoy almost equal status—partly because of the basic egalitarian ideology enjoined by both religions, but mainly because of the similar political and economic power held by both communities. Hindu Jat consider the Gujar and Ahir as allied castes; except for the rule of caste endogamy, there are no caste restrictions between these three communities.
In other scholarly debates about the origins of the Jat, attempts have been made to identify them with the Jarttikā, referred to in the Hindu epic the Mahābhārata. Some still maintain that the people Arab historians referred to as the ZuṠṠ, and who were taken as prisoners in the eighth century from Sindh in present-day southern Pakistan to southern Iraq, were actually buffalo-herding Jat, or were at least known as such in their place of origin.
Another scholarly view point stating that Jat race is a combination of Indo-greek, Scythians and Indo- Aryan stock (namely Mauryans of the Dynasty of Chandragupta Maurya, Grandfather of Great Ashoka). It was after many years of inter marrying that a new name and identity came into being which was collectively called as Jats.
This view point seems to be more scientific and has a good logic unlike a certain community’s belief that they come from some fire etc. and proclaim themselves to be the ‘authentic‘ warriors from the bloodline of a ‘Brahminical god‘ whose name and existence is mythological (a way to subside their inferiority complex ,propagation of superstitious blind faith and to enslave masses).
With the arrival of Islam (both Salafi and Sufi) in 10 to 12 Century AD many Jats converted to Islam and it lead to socioeconomic prosperity for them. For rest of Hindu Jats who were mostly peasants and pastorals (as Sikh religion was not born) the fight for empowerment and against exploitative condition was long and brutal in many ways (mainly by Priestly class which are known as Brahmins, from the hands of Ruling elite who claimed warrior status (but their credentials are doubtful) and finally from Islamist who invaded and ruled India in subsequent centuries too ).
In the seventeenth century a (Hindu) kingdom was established in the area of Bharatpur and Dholpur (Rajasthan) in northern India; it was the outcome of many centuries of rebellion against the Mughal Empire, and it lasted till 1826, when it was defeated by the forces of the British East India Company.
Farther north, in the Punjab, in the early years of the eighteenth century, Jat (mainly Sikh) organized peasant uprisings against the predominantly Muslim landed gentry; subsequently, with the invasion of the area—first by the Persian King Nadir Shah and then by the Afghan Ahmad Shah Abdali—they controlled a major part of the area through close-knit bands of armed marauders operating under the leadership of the landowning chiefs of well-defined territories.
A Sikh Jat became King of Entire Punjab for 40 years who was called Maharaja Ranjit Singh , he employed a policy of secularism where Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs lived in harmony from many years before Britishers annexed it in 1850.
Because of their martial traditions, the Jat, together with certain other communities, were classified by British administrators of imperial India as a “martial race,” and this term had certain long-lasting effects. One was their large-scale recruitment into the British-Indian army, and to this day a very large number of Jat are soldiers in the Indian army.
Many Sikh Jats in the Indian part of Punjab were involved in the movement for the creation of an autonomous Khalistan, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale (14th Chief of the Damdami Taksal ) was a Sikh Jat, it has been said that he was neither for and nor against the creation of Khalistan (though many of his followers were in favour for creation of Khalistan and considered him a spiritual leader for the movement) . Those who were Muslims were closely associated with the movement of Pakistan as the 1st prime-minister of Pakistan was Liaquat Ali Khan who was a Muslim Jat. India’s 5th prime-minister was Chaudhary Charan Singh who was a Hindu Jat.
Settlements
The Jat as a whole are predominantly rural. Over the last 400-500 years there has been increasing sedentarization of Jats; this trend increased rapidly in the last decades of the eighteenth century when many pastoralists settled in the central Punjab under the auspices of Sikh rule there owing to the philosophy of Sikhism (since earlier the Mughal rule did not favor them and their rule were draconian towards non-mu slims . Sikh rule brought about massive land reforms ).
This continued over a very large area with the expansion of irrigation in British imperial times. Before that some Jats were peasants but in few regions only.
Most Jat peasants lived in flat-roofed houses made of baked or unbaked bricks in large compact villages, with few open spaces within the inhabited area; all villages have cattle sheds, village commons, and wells or ponds. Depending on the region and the precise community, Jat peasants used a variety of huts, mostly made of reed mats and wood, that are fairly easy to dismantle. The reed mats are woven by the women.
Kingdoms and Royalty
The royalty among Jat has been in existence for more than 1000 years (records could be found with the respective families) but after 1699 it rose rapidly as more warriors revolted against the Mughals and formed their respective kingdoms. Following is the list of some notable kings and queens among Jats
All Jat are divided into several large, usually dispersed clans. Most clans are de facto maximal lineages, which are further segmented; among Jat peasants this segmentation takes place at four broad levels. The minimal lineage is composed of a group of households, which had formed a single household two or three generations previously; they may still share a common courtyard and have joint rights to a well.
Marriage.
While among Muslim Jat the practice of exchange marriage takes place at various levels of lineage organization, among Hindu and Sikh Jat no such exchange marriages are allowed, and the rule of exogamy is such that a man may not marry a woman who has any of her four grand-parental clans in common with his.
Polygyny was allowed though not common (this was discontinued for Sikh and Hindu Jats, once Hindu Marriage act came into being in 1950s).
For a widow levirate is required or a she is not allowed to remarry outside the maximal lineage, especially when she has children by her late husband.
The practice of female infanticide, also known among the peasants, has dropped sharply. A woman’s relationship with her husband’s kin is organized according to a basic pattern of avoidance with seniors and of joking with those younger than the husband. Brothers share a common duty toward their sisters and their children.
Sikh-Hindu Marriages
Marriages among Sikh Jats and Hindu Jats are encouraged and are considered a sense of deep pride, since such Sikh-Hindu marriages reinstates the concept of brotherhood among the two distinct communities within the ethnic group, which in turn evokes nostalgic times of when they fought together against tyrannical Mughals.
Definition of Jat Status in Jat Blood Law
The status of being a Jat is defined by the Jat blood (DNA) of the Father and mother of the offspring (Children). The Scythians warriors that invaded the Punjab region and India in general were men (males). Each one of them took native women as wives namely Indo- Greek and Indo-Aryan. The children produced from that joining were the first Jats. The Status of being a Jat in Jat Blood Law is decided by the father’s Jat blood (the DNA Y chromosome of the father being from Central Asia).
If a Jat Man marries a Jat Woman in Jat Blood Law the children from that marriage are given Full Jat status (100% Jat) by Jat Blood Laws and Scythian blood. If a Jat Man marries a Non-Jat Woman in Jat Blood Law the children from that marriage are given Half Jat status (50% Jat) by Jat Tribal Blood Laws. If a Jat Woman marries a Non-Jat Man in Jat Blood Law the children from that marriage are given No Jat status (0% Jat) by Jat Blood Laws.
Father
Mother
Child Status (%)
Jat
Jat
Full Jat (100 %)
Jat
Non-Jat
Half Jat (50 %)
Non-Jat
Jat
Non-Jat (0 %)
Non-Jat
Non-Jat
Non-Jat (0 %)
Note: Historically and currently, Pure Jats (Full Jats) are commanded by Jat Law to marry other Pure Jats (Full Jats) to prevent their future offspring (children) losing Full Jat Status and losing (DNA) blood membership of the Jat community i.e. Scythian DNA of their forefathers. Once blood membership of the Jat community is lost by becoming Half Jat (50 % Jat) or Non-Jat (0 % Jat), it is impossible for future descendents (e.g. grandchildren or great grandchildren) to ever become Jat again (100 %). Historically, Half Jats (50 % Jat) have found it very difficult for themselves to be accepted for marriage by Jat families (100 % Jat families). A decision to marry outside of the Jat community is PERMANENT (DNA) blood wise and can NEVER be undone for any potential children of that individual. Therefore, marrying outside of one’s Jat community is almost never done due to the seriousness of the outcome.
Note — (However, from a scholarly viewpoint if they are marrying into other Scythian or Indo- Greek descendants or that matter even Caucasians, then it should NOT be a problem.)
Domestic Unit.
Most Jat peasant households consist of lineal joint families, with the parents and one married son; many units are nuclear and some are collateral-joint, with two married brothers and their offspring living together. Among Jat the nuclear family and the lineal joint family are the most common domestic units.
Inheritance.
Among those with land, all sons inherit equal shares in terms of both quantity and quality. Formerly, a man’s wives shared equally on behalf of their sons, irrespective of the number of sons each had. Although in theory inheritance of land follows a strictly agnatic principle and daughters and sisters do not inherit, daughters’ sons have been observed de facto to be among the inheritors in many cases.
Sociopolitical Organization
Social and Political Organization.
All Jat are divided into patricians; among the sedentary communities, each of these has a hereditary headman. By and large, the villages in which Jat farmers live, together with non-Jat, are under the jurisdiction of a clan council, and this council, of which every clan headman is a member, is the decision-making unit at the community level. Traditionally in these villages Jat farmers were integrated as patrons into the patron-client system prevalent in the area. Their clients were members of various service castes; however, this system has largely broken down today.
Wealthy Jat landowners have entered local, regional, and even national politics since the beginning of this century, and in many areas they are still active as influential representatives of farmers and rural folk in general. Among the pastoral and peasant Jats of the Indus Delta, the clans are organized on the hierarchical principle of age, with the oldest man of the oldest lineage being at the head of the pyramid, followed by the eldest men of the younger lineages.
Conflict. A frequent source of conflict within the minimal lineage is land; such conflicts often take place between agnatic collaterals, since their lands usually border each other. Factional conflict is fairly common at a broader level.
Religion and Expressive Culture
Religious Beliefs and Ceremonies.
A Jat can be Hindu, Muslim, or Sikh, and in 1931 over 50 percent of the entire Sikh population was constituted by Jat. Many ceremonies, especially those accompanying the rites of passage, are common to all Jat, irrespective of religious denomination. Among Hindu Jat there are in addition numerous local or more widely prevalent religious beliefs and observances.
These include knowledge of certain but by no means all major mythological figures (gods and goddesses) of the Sanskritic tradition and the celebration of several festivals, both seasonal and annual, both of the all-Indian Hindu Great Tradition and of the localized Little Tradition.
The Muslim Jat populations have a strong tradition of venerating a large number of local saints (pīr ). Although most are officially Sunni, they have a large number of Shia traditions, and one group of Jat are Ismaelis.
Till recently Sikh Jat, though very conscious of their distinct religious identity, were not very meticulous in their observance of the precepts of Sikhism. Most of them still observe Hindu marriage rites and till recently followed Hindu funeral customs; the majority also employed Brahmans as family priests. In most villages inhabited by Sikh Jat there is the shrine of a Sikh martyr of old that acts as an ancestral focus for the minimal lineage.
Various supernatural beings play a role in Jat life and are common to most Jat irrespective of creed; belief in many of them is widespread in the region as a whole. (This however is not accepted and considered good by many educated Jats )
Bhangra
Bhangra is jat folk dance prominently focused in Punjab and now instilled in the culture of Sikhs, thought this sort of dance is not done by jat of rest of the parts but Pakistan Punjab Jats and Indian punjab Jats practice it more often.
Ghoomar and Gidda
Gidda and ghomer are the regional folk dances performed by the jat women in an festive season. In either of them they narrate a story by dancing on the folk song. Ghoomer is performed more by the Jat women of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Whereas Gidda is more Punjab culture oriented.
Gidda as dance is derived from the ancient ring dance. One of the girls plays on the drum or ‘dholki’ while others form a circle. Some times even the dholki is dispensed with. While moving in a circle, the girls raise their hands to the level of their shoulders and clap their hands in unison. Then they strike their palms against those of their neighbors. Rhythm is generally provided by clapping of hands.
Giddha is a very vigorous folk dance and like other such dances it is very much an affair of the legs. So quick is the movement of the feet in its faster parts that it is difficult for the spectator even to wink till the tempo falls again. The embroidered ‘duppattas’ and heavy jewelry of the participants whose number is unrestricted further exaggerate the movements.
Armed forces
Owing to their martial race tag many Jats (Sikh, Muslim and Hindu) have been part of armed forces of many countries namely India, Pakistan, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and United States of America .
In India, 25th Chief of Army Staff has been a Hindu Jat (Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag) and 24th was a Sikh Jat (Gen Bikram Singh).
In Pakistan Army many Muslim Jats have risen to top ranks and a known face is Maj Gen Asim Bajwa.
16th chief of Army for Pakistan is Qamar Javed Bajwa who is a mulsim jat from Bajwa clan in Pakistan Punjab.
Apart from Indian and Pakistani Army, Jats serve in huge number in United States and United Kingdom Army (mostly of the faith of Hindus and Sikhs, especially whose forefathers had migrated to these countries).
There have been Jats who rose to become Police commissioners of Delhi and Mumbai. The two most important cities in India.
.
Economy
Though traditionally Jat were associated to be farmers and Army men in British Army but over the decades with independence they have started to started to feature in various economic activities such as real estate, hospitality, sports, Doctors , engineers, Teachers, Researchers, Acting etc.Though some population does still practice agriculture as a form of living but generally the pattern is shifting towards urban jobs and they are employed in large no in government jobs at various levels as it is considered safe bet for children from poor or low middle class families.
In the last 2 decades or so many Jats have turned entrepreneur with the thriving Indian economy and are gaining rich dividends, many Indians have also gone to west and made millions there. Gurbaksh Singh Chahal is another self made millionaire of Jat Sikh descent. KP SINGH of DLF is such name in India. Gaurav Dhillon is the Chairman and CEO of SnapLogic which is an enterprise application and data integration software development company that helps organizations connect business applications and Web services.
Arts.
The women of the nomadic Jat were very skilled in needlework and embroider various textiles using threads of many colors in the delta region but mainly black and red in the north; tiny pieces of mirror are also used to decorate these textiles. Though with Modernization they have started gaining entry into respected schools and colleges there by enhancing their skills. Amrita Shergill is a famous female Jat painter who is well respected for her work. Reena Dhaka and Ranna Gill are also an example of female jat fashion designer.
Death and Afterlife. Jat hold conflicting views on life after death. Some believe in the traditional Hindu concept of rebirth, others believe in going to Hell or Heaven, but many believe that there is no existence after death and that there is no form of life besides the present one on Earth.
Recently in news we have seen a lot about honour killings in the parts of haryana and Punjab and a lot has been written against it too. This phenomenon according to media is generally associated with martial races or “martial natured religions” in particular which includes jats, gujjars, rajputs, bhumiars, sikhs, Muslims, Christians, jews etc. Though characterizing it just in certain identifiable regions to religions to communities to countries would be gross understudy. This pattern has been prevalent in human society may it be “progressive” or “regressive” for time immemorial. It needs to be seen more in the lines of sociology and psychology.
Some excerpt from news:
Virtually taking law into its own hands, a Khap mahapanchayat (caste-based council) in Haryana’s Jat heartland “rejected” the Hindu Marriage Act and asked politicians to promise a new law as per its diktat if they wanted votes in the coming parliamentary elections.
The decision to reject the act came following a meeting of 46 khaps at Narwana town of Jind district, 180 km from Chandigarh, attended by 250 representatives of various khaps.
“The Hindu Marriage Act does not address intra-village or intra-gotra (sub-community) marriages. We want the politicians, who seek our Jat votes, to promise that a new law would be passed in Parliament to address our community issues,” Pawanjit Banwala, president of the Akhil Bhartiya Adarsh Jat Mahasabha, said.
“We will not spare anyone who defies our stand. Law is made for society, society is not made for law,” Banwala said.
Though recently it is been focuss on jats, it is has been prevalent in many communities in northern India. Let us understand why the whole community is against “one form of love “. Apparently a female and a male cannot marry into her/his father’s, mother’s and paternal grand mother’s gotra ie Clan.
A clan is something of lineage line that come through father’s side , it is identified by their surnames.
Eg:
Boy: Kabir Grewal (Grewal his clan)
Father: Rajbir Grewal (Grewal his clan)
Mother: Sujata Ahlawat Grewal
(In this case mother’s clan before marriage was Ahlawat and after marriage became Grewal)
Paternal Grandmother: Kalavati Hooda Grewal
(In this case paternal grandmothers` clan was Hooda but once she married to grandfather it became Grewal)
Now the lad cannot marry any girl from Ahlawat clan or from Hooda clan cause it will be termed as Incest since it matches his mother’s clan and that of grandmother’s clan and certainly not into his own Grewal clan, this goes same for the girl too irrespective of the regions and countries. Though it is a complex patrilineal system but has been in existence since Hundreds of years.
In earlier times in jats even maternal grandmother’s gotras ie her surname was also considered for marriage
Eg:
Maternal Grandmother: Satyawati Gehlot Ahlawat
(Then the boy cannot marry any girl from Gehlot clan too)
Those who have married within their gotras it is said that their immune system plays a havoc ie is to say the child born out of such a union will not last long and might not be in good health and this seems to backed by the theory of Indian gotra traditions to which spur across various communities in India.
Then there was another case where villages which are governed by same “khap” consider each other brothers and sisters and are forbidden from marrying each other, This seems to be heated debate topic since those regions which have urbanized no youngster wishes to follow age old traditions and “khap” which was formed to fight of Invasions on northern Indian land now are eroding, but they are trying to keep their authority intact and thereby leading to clash among “modern” and “ancient” or “young” and “old”.
Though the traditions are old and ancient it seems to hold a lot of value still in remotes parts of northern India. In cases of educated or “modern” jats they believe traditions should change with society, that is certain marrying traditions should be let go, one such was leaving maternal grandmothers` gotra or surname which seemed to be a norm about 30 years back and some have even started to leave their paternal grandmother’s gotra or surname since finding suitable matches became a difficulty.
In no way is honour killing justified and is abhorical but those not from community their voicing it and targeting the community will not solve any purpose. The change needs to come from within the community especially those who can make difference since they would be suitable and sensitive to their cause and their community rather than someone who is not from their community because a sense of alienation remains and those from outside are considered “outsiders”.
If those within community don’t take up this cause it would reflect badly on them and notoriety of honour killing will always be associated with the community, but the youth it seems in recent times is more than willing to take up the cause and it is on them now that the onus of the community lies.
One can never understand that all people stereotype jats to be from haryana. If an individual is jat then he is suppose to be from haryana.Jat people are people who habituate all across sub-continent : Pakistan Punjab, Indian Punjab, rajasthan, Uttar pradesh, Delhi and haryana ( in recent times all across the globe)
Though it seems as though people associate jat from haryana only.
jat in haryana : 26% of population.
Anybody who speaks haryanvi isnot jat because74% of the population is non-jat ie not belonging to this community in haryana.
Some individuals in order to show there macho behavior do tend to say that they are jat but they may not be, this gives bad name to community as people think them as goons and ruckus creators.These individuals misguide others for self serving purposes…..
MYTHS and Stereotypes about jats :
Haryanvi speaking (Really, all people who speak Haryanvi are not Jats).
Beats wife on a daily basis
drunkard
cheap and high on sexual energy
goon and has war-mongering nature
Belongs to Haryana
buffoon
Resistant to change
chauvinistic
Uneducated
An army man ( when educated)
corrupt
power wielder
Makes Jat female suffer.
Too strict
Doesn`t understands love.
Bullock cart owner
Farmer
Bus conductor or owner
Wants only a Government job
Politically sound
a JAT (ie has a lot of mental problems)
Not polite
Unworthy of talking to “educated and classy” females.
Will ruin the life of educated Jat girl. (so she should elope with some non-jat guy, especially if she is beautiful and sexy, after all she needs to find “true love“)
Will beat the hell out of you.
Aggressive
Not business oriented
self obsessed
Low worker class
big land-lords
Doesn`t have polished education but only minimal.
Women are like Mallika Sehrawat or idealize her.
Non- Muslims ( HEER – RANJHA ,Muslim jats and Liaquat ali khan, first prime-minister of pakistan)
Smug
Chaudhary surname people
Cattle people
Jats are biased for each other.
Angry people
Not good in mathematics
Unsophisticated cheapster
There are no jat psychologist
Models
Gets offended easily
Authoritarian
Loud
Women are feminist and men are chauvinist
Dumb
smokers and druggist
Not from Royalty ( Maharaja Ranjit Singh, King of Punjab and Maharaja Surajmal, kIng of Bharatpur)
Racist
Dolly Bindra is a JAT (Bindra is akhatri, don’t know why she doesn’t owns it up and is misguiding people. It is another case of brashful people claiming to be jats and giving bad name to community)
and many more, these are the ones which I remember at this point of time………….
Some stereotypes within jats:
Uttar Pradesh jat : Politician
Rajasthan Jat : sufferer n weak
Punjab Jat : Too powerful, rich , ultra-orthodox
Haryana Jat : Buffoon, Ultra orthodox, power seeker
Delhi Jat : Non-existent, landlords, only source of income rents and buses.
INQUISITION 