Hoshiarpur, Punjab (December 26, 2013): Vehemently opposing the reservation on caste system, the Dal Khalsa has appealed to Jathedar of the Akal Takht to seek explanation from SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal for perpetuating the caste system by seeking reservation for Jat Sikhs in the OBC category.
Reasserting that Sikh society is casteless, the organization strongly advocated that the reservation should be based upon economic criteria rather than the caste.
Party head H S Dhami in a statement said the competitive politics being resorted to by the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and the opposition Congress in Punjab on the issue of inclusion of Jat Sikhs in the OBC category would prove to be another step in vitiating the fragile social fabric of Punjab.
He said that Punjab perhaps has been the only state in the country where the grip of casteism has never been that strong. This precisely has been due to spread of Sikhism whose doctrine is based upon casteless and classless society. Institution of langar is personification of this very doctrine, he added.
However, he admitted that over the years the manuvadi caste system has taken deep roots in Sikh society also for which, the SAD must share the main blame as this party was created to articulate religio-political concerns of the community.
It may be recalled that few days back, followed by Congress leader Captain Amrinder Singh’s statement favouring Jat Sikhs to be included in OBC category, the core committee of the SAD too demanded the same.
He said it was Hindu society that faced the problem of casteism but not the Sikhs or Muslim society. He recalled that when the reservation for scheduled caste amongst the Hindus was introduced, the dormant section of the Akalis at that time thought in case no such reservation was made for the downtrodden Sikhs, they might shift towards the Congress. “It was this vested political interests’ which dictated the decision makers in the Akali Dal to reverse the Sikh doctrine and re-introduced the caste system in this otherwise casteless society.
He said history was again repeating itself in Punjab with the Congress and the SAD targeting a particular vote-bank, this time of the Jat Sikhs, who otherwise perceived themselves to be at the top of the social ladder. “It is inconceivable as to how this section (read Jat Sikhs) would reconcile so-called downgrading of its social status”.
Taking a jibe at the Brahamnical hold over the Hindu society, he asked why not fix 10 percent reservation for the Brahamins rather than exploiting and dividing the entire society on reservation issue.