DOCSLIB.ORG

Any Person May Make a Complaint About The

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Any Person May Make a Complaint About The HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WRIT PETITION (C) No. 4944 of 2009 PETITIONER : Rajendra Singh (Arora). V E R S U S RESPONDENTS : State of Chhattisgarh & Others. PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 226/227 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA SB: Hon’ble Shri Satish K. Agnihotri, J. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Present: Shri Kishore Shrivastava, Senior Advocate with Shri Sanjay Tamrakar, Shri Ashish Shirvastava and Shri Anshuman Shrivastava, Advocates for the petitioner. Shri V.V.S.Moorthy, Deputy Advocate General for the State/ respondent No. 1, 2, 4 and 5. Dr. N.K.Shukla, Senior Advocate with Shri Aditya Khare, Advocates for the respondent No. 7 and 8. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- O R D E R (Delivered on 10th day of July, 2013) 1. The petitioner mainly challenges the order dated 23.07.2007 (Annexure P/14) passed by the High Power State Level Caste Scrutiny Committee i.e. respondent No. 3 (for short ‘the Committee’) wherein the petitioner has been found that he does not belong to “Lohar” i.e. Other Backward Class category, and also the subsequent order dated 28.08.2009 (Annexure P/2) wherein on the basis of the order dated 22.09.2008 (Annexure P/1) the petitioner was disqualified for a further period of five years in view of the provisions of section 19(2) of the Chhattisgarh Municipal Corporation Act, 1956 (for short 'the Act, 1956'). 2. The facts, in brief, are that the petitioner, in the year 2000, contested the election as Councillor from Ward No. 22, Municipal 2 Corporation, Bhilai, declaring himself as a member of “Lohar” community that comes within OBC category on the basis of social status certificate dated 10.04.2000 (Annexure P/3). A complaint was made by the respondent No. 7 in respect of the caste of the petitioner. The said complaint was forwarded to the Committee. The Senior Superintendent of Police, Durg, on 07.05.2013 (Annexure P/7) submitted a report to the Committee holding that no conclusion can be arrived at on the basis of the documents. Thereafter, a show cause notice was issued to the petitioner on 27.10.2004 (Annexure P/8). The petitioner submitted his detailed reply (Annexure P/9). On the preliminary objection raised by the petitioner, the order dated 24.01.2005 (Annexure P/10) was passed by the Committee and the Committee declined to entertain the preliminary objection raised by the petitioner in view of the fact that the case in respect of the caste of the petitioner was pending consideration before the Committee. It appears that thereagainst, the petitioner preferred a petition before this Court, being W.P. No. 924/2005 questioning the non-observance of the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in Ku. Madhuri Patil & another v. Addl. Commissioner, Tribal Development & Others1 which was disposed of by this Court on 04.01.2007 (Annexure P/11) on the ground that the objection may be raised before the Committee. Thereafter, a representation was made to the Committee by the petitioner on 28.05.2007 (Annexure P/12). The Committee, on receipt of the representation, issued a notice to the petitioner, 1 (1994) 6 SCC 241 3 which was duly replied by the petitioner. The Committee, by order dated 23.07.2007 (Annexure P/14), held that the petitioner failed to establish his case by giving sufficient and cogent reasons as well as the documents that he belongs to “Lohar” community. The Committee further directed the Collector, Durg to initiate proper proceedings, in accordance with law, against the petitioner for filing false caste certificate to contest the election for the post of Councillor, reserved for the OBC. Being aggrieved, the petitioner approached this Court by filing a petition being W.P.(C) No. 5248/2007. This Court, by order dated 22.07.2008 (Annexure P/15), on the request of the Committee, disposed of the matter to provide fresh opportunity of hearing to the petitioner. Thereafter, the impugned order was passed on 22.09.2008 (Annexure P/1). 3. The instant writ petition was disposed of by order dated 28.07.2010 holding that since the period of six months on the basis of provisional caste certificate has come to an end, the matter became infructuous. Against the said order, the respondent No. 7 herein, preferred a Civil Appeal No. 9891-9892 of 2011 (Samay Lal Sahu & Another v. Rajendra Singh Arora & Others) before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, by order dated 17.11.2011, allowed the appeal in part and restored the writ petition for hearing on merits. 4. Shri Shrivastava, learned senior counsel appearing Shri Sanjay Tamrakar, Shri Ashish Shirvastava and Shri Anshuman Shrivastava, Advocates for the petitioner would submit that even after repeated observations made by this Court in the earlier two 4 writ petitions, the dictum laid down by the Supreme Court has not been followed by the respondent authorities in its letter and spirit. Affording opportunity to the petitioner to adduce his evidence was a mere formality as the respondent authorities were pre-determined to pass an order against the petitioner. The depositions of the witnesses adduced by the petitioner were never taken into consideration by the respondent authorities. Even the respondent authorities did not care to consider the preliminary objection raised by the petitioner with regard to maintainability of complaint. 5. The respondent No. 2 ought to have issued notice before passing the impugned order dated 26/28.08.2009 (Annexure P/2) as contemplated under section 19(1) of the Act, 1956. 6. Shri V.V.S.Moorthy, Deputy Advocate General for the State/respondent No. 1, 2, 4 & 5 would submit that the petitioner has admitted that in the school register, his caste has been mentioned as “Sikh” not “Lohar”. In some of the documents, it has been mentioned as “Hindu (Sikh)”. It is the burden of the petitioner to prove his case. A complaint was made by the Bhilai Vishwakarma (Jharia Lohar) samaj. The petitioner completely failed to produce any document to establish his case as “Lohar”. Even the witnesses adduced by the petitioner were the interested witnesses and relatives of the petitioner. Thus, their statements could not be relied upon. Shri Moorthy would further submit that the memo dated 01.08.1996, issued by the then State of Madhya Pradesh, which was subsequently adapted by the State of 5 Chhattisgarh, powers of the Committee has been provided and under the said directives, the Committee is competent to entertain a complaint by any person on the allegation of production of forged or false caste certificate. 7. Dr. N.K.Shukla, Senior Advocate with Shri Aditya Khare, Advocates for the respondent No. 7 and 8, in addition to the above, would submit that the Committee, after appreciating the evidences, documents, produced by the respondent authorities as well as the petitioner, has come to a right conclusion that the petitioner has failed to establish his caste as “Lohar”. The Committee, after appreciating the evidences, has given the finding that the Provisional Caste Certificate was not proper. The petitioner has also not submitted any document to establish that he belongs to Lohar community and even the notification issued by the Government of India in this regard also establishes that “Arora” does not come within the Lohar community and it is not a backward class. The Committee has come to a specific finding that the Lohana/Arora caste does not fall within the OBC category. The petitioner was provided ample opportunity to prove his case, but has miserably failed in doing so. In Tribal Welfare, Government of Andhra Pradesh v. Laveti Giri2, the Supreme Court has held that the burden of proof is upon the person claiming the benefit of a caste, which has not been done in this case. Thus, the orders sought to be impugned herein, may not be interfered with. 2 AIR 1995 SC 1506 6 8. It is further submitted that there is no caste system in Sikh religion as observed in Indra Sawhney v. Union of India3. Dr. Shukla also relies on the observations of the Supreme Court in Ku. Madhuri Patil (supra), to the extent that the admission wrongly gained or appointment wrongly obtained on the basis of false social status necessarily have the effect of depriving the genuine Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribes or OBC candidates as enjoined in the Constitution of the benefits conferred on them by the Constitution. 9. Dr. Shukla would also submit that the non-Hindu religions like Islam, Christianity and Sikh do not recognize caste and as such, though, as pointed out hereinabove, castes did exist even among these religions to a varying degree. He would lastly contend that the order passed by the Committee is final and conclusive. 10. Heard learned counsel appearing for the parties, perused the pleadings and documents appended thereto. 11. It is an admitted position that in the Census of India 1931 J.H.Hutton, Vol. 2 of Undivided India, at page No. 174, “Lohana Arora” is shown. Lohana, Arora caste is a caste shown to be engaged in business belonging to general catregory. Aroras caste mainly belong to North West region of Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir. 12. It is evident that the petitioner contested the election of Ward Councillor from Ward No. 22, Municipal Corporation, Bhilai, as OBC candidate on the basis of certificate and documents produced before the authorities. The petitioner was duly elected. According 3 AIR 1993 SC 477 7 to the petitioner, the period of said election came to an end in the year 2004. Thereafter, in the year 2010, the petitioner contested the election for the same post as general candidate and was duly elected as Ward Councillor.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • List of OBC Approved by SC/ST/OBC Welfare Department in Delhi
    List of OBC approved by SC/ST/OBC welfare department in Delhi 1. Abbasi, Bhishti, Sakka 2. Agri, Kharwal, Kharol, Khariwal 3. Ahir, Yadav, Gwala 4. Arain, Rayee, Kunjra 5. Badhai, Barhai, Khati, Tarkhan, Jangra-BrahminVishwakarma, Panchal, Mathul-Brahmin, Dheeman, Ramgarhia-Sikh 6. Badi 7. Bairagi,Vaishnav Swami ***** 8. Bairwa, Borwa 9. Barai, Bari, Tamboli 10. Bauria/Bawria(excluding those in SCs) 11. Bazigar, Nat Kalandar(excluding those in SCs) 12. Bharbhooja, Kanu 13. Bhat, Bhatra, Darpi, Ramiya 14. Bhatiara 15. Chak 16. Chippi, Tonk, Darzi, Idrishi(Momin), Chimba 17. Dakaut, Prado 18. Dhinwar, Jhinwar, Nishad, Kewat/Mallah(excluding those in SCs) Kashyap(non-Brahmin), Kahar. 19. Dhobi(excluding those in SCs) 20. Dhunia, pinjara, Kandora-Karan, Dhunnewala, Naddaf,Mansoori 21. Fakir,Alvi *** 22. Gadaria, Pal, Baghel, Dhangar, Nikhar, Kurba, Gadheri, Gaddi, Garri 23. Ghasiara, Ghosi 24. Gujar, Gurjar 25. Jogi, Goswami, Nath, Yogi, Jugi, Gosain 26. Julaha, Ansari, (excluding those in SCs) 27. Kachhi, Koeri, Murai, Murao, Maurya, Kushwaha, Shakya, Mahato 28. Kasai, Qussab, Quraishi 29. Kasera, Tamera, Thathiar 30. Khatguno 31. Khatik(excluding those in SCs) 32. Kumhar, Prajapati 33. Kurmi 34. Lakhera, Manihar 35. Lodhi, Lodha, Lodh, Maha-Lodh 36. Luhar, Saifi, Bhubhalia 37. Machi, Machhera 38. Mali, Saini, Southia, Sagarwanshi-Mali, Nayak 39. Memar, Raj 40. Mina/Meena 41. Merasi, Mirasi 42. Mochi(excluding those in SCs) 43. Nai, Hajjam, Nai(Sabita)Sain,Salmani 44. Nalband 45. Naqqal 46. Pakhiwara 47. Patwa 48. Pathar Chera, Sangtarash 49. Rangrez 50. Raya-Tanwar 51. Sunar 52. Teli 53. Rai Sikh 54 Jat *** 55 Od *** 56 Charan Gadavi **** 57 Bhar/Rajbhar **** 58 Jaiswal/Jayaswal **** 59 Kosta/Kostee **** 60 Meo **** 61 Ghrit,Bahti, Chahng **** 62 Ezhava & Thiyya **** 63 Rawat/ Rajput Rawat **** 64 Raikwar/Rayakwar **** 65 Rauniyar ***** *** vide Notification F8(11)/99-2000/DSCST/SCP/OBC/2855 dated 31-05-2000 **** vide Notification F8(6)/2000-2001/DSCST/SCP/OBC/11677 dated 05-02-2004 ***** vide Notification F8(6)/2000-2001/DSCST/SCP/OBC/11823 dated 14-11-2005 .
    [Show full text]
  • Population Genetics for Autosomal STR Loci in Sikh Population Of
    tics: Cu ne rr e en G t y R r e a t s i e d a e r r c e h Dogra, et al., Hereditary Genet 2015, 4:1 H Hereditary Genetics ISSN: 2161-1041 DOI: 10.4172/2161-1041.1000142 Research Article Open Access Population Genetics for Autosomal STR Loci in Sikh Population of Central India Dogra D1, Shrivastava P2*, Chaudhary R3, Gupta U2 and Jain T2 1Department of Biotechnology, Barkatullah University, Bhopal 462023, Madhya Pradesh, India 2DNA Fingerprinting Unit, State Forensic Science Laboratory, Sagar 470001, Madhya Pradesh, India 3Biotechnology Division, Department of Zoology, Government Motilal Vigyan Mahavidyalaya, Bhopal 462023, Madhya Pradesh, India *Corresponding author: Pankaj Shrivastava, DNA Fingerprinting Unit, State Forensic Science Laboratory, Sagar-470001, Madhya Pradesh, India, Tel: 94243 71946, E- mail: [email protected] Rec date: February 4, 2015, Acc date: February 23, 2015, Pub date: February 26, 2015 Copyright: © 2015 Dogra D, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract This study is an attempt to generate genetic database for three endogamous populations of Sikh population (Arora, Jat and Ramgariha) of Central India. The analysis of eight autosomal STR loci (D16S539, D7S820, D13S317, FGA, CSF1PO, D21S11, D18S51, and D2S1338) was done in 140 unrelated Sikh individuals. In all the three studied populations, all loci were in Hardy -Weinberg equilibrium except at locus FGA in Ramgariha Sikh and locus D16S539 in Arora Sikh.
    [Show full text]
  • ORDER Since a Corona Positive Case Has Been Reported from VRDL
    ORDER Since a Corona positive case has been reported from VRDL, Department of Microbiology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Science, Rohtak in Bazigar Mohalla Tohana, Tehsil Tohana District Fatehabad, therefore, the geographical area falling under Bazigar Mohalla from the house of Sh. Baba Ram S/o Sh. Jamal Ram near Jaimal Dairy Bazigar Mohalla to Sh. Vijay S/o Sh. Ramparsad Killa Mohalla Tohana and Bazigar Mohalla from H/o Darbara Saini Halwai and Sultan Bazigar Sant Baba Jandapuri Mandir to H/o Sh. Mahender Singh S/o Sh. Gurmel Singh and H/o Sh. Prithvi S/o Sh. Narata Killa Mohalla Tohana of Tehsil Tohana District Fateahbad is declared as Containment Zone and rest of the area of Bazigar Mohalla, Balmiki Mohalla, Killa Mohalla, Harpal Chowk and Naya Bazar are delclared as Buffer Zone for all the purposes and objective as prescribed in the protocol of nCOVID-19 District Containment Plan (Health Department) to prevent its spread in the adjoining areas. For combating the situation at hand, the following action plan is prescribed to carry out screening of the suspects, testing of all suspected cases, quarantine, isolation, social distancing and other public health measures in the Containment Zone as well as Buffer Zone effectively: 1. 10 Teams comprising of Anganwadi Workers, Asha Workers, MPHW (Male) and ANMs for conducting door to door screening/thermal scanning of each and every person of the entire households falling in the Containment Zone shall be deployed by the Civil Surgeon, Fatehabad and each team would be allocated 25 households. Two Anganwari Supervisors and one WCDPO would be deployed to supervise the work to be carried out by the Asha Workers, Anganwadi workers, MPHW (Male) and ANMs.
    [Show full text]
  • Heritage Walk Booklet
    Vasadhee Saghan Apaar Anoop Raamadhaas Pur || (Ramdaspur is prosperous and thickly populated, and incomparably beautiful.) A quotation from the 5th Guru, Sri Guru Arjan Dev, describing the city of Ramdaspur (Amritsar) in Guru Granth Sahib, on Page No. 1362. It is engraved on north façade of the Town hall, the starting point of Heritage Walk. • Heritage Walk starts from Town Hall at 8:00 a.m. and ends at Entrance to - The Golden Temple 10:00 a.m. everyday • Summer Timing (March to November) - 0800hrs • Winter Timing (December to February) - 0900hrs Evening: 1800 hrs to 2000 hrs (Summer) 1600 hrs to 1800 hrs (Winter) • Heritage Walk contribution: Rs. 25/- for Indian Rs. 75/- for Foreigner • For further information: Tourist Information Centre, Exit Gate of The Amritsar Railway Station, Tel: 0183-402452 M.R.P. Rs. 50/- Published by: Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board Archives Bhawan, Plot 3, Sector 38-A, Chandigarh 160036 Tel.: 0172-2625950 Fax: 0172-2625953 Email: [email protected] www.punjabtourism.gov.in Ddithae Sabhae Thhaav Nehee Thudhh Jaehiaa || I have seen all places, but none can compare to You. Badhhohu Purakh Bidhhaathai Thaan Thoo Sohiaa || The Primal Lord, the Architect of Destiny, has established You; thus You are adorned and embellished. Vasadhee Saghan Apaar Anoop Raamadhaas Pur || (Ramdaspur is prosperous and thickly populated, and incomparably beautiful.) It is engraved on north façade of the Town hall, the starting point of the Heritage Walk. Vasadhee Saghan Apaar Anoop Raamadhaas Pur || Ramdaspur is prosperous and thickly populated, and incomparably beautiful. Harihaan Naanak Kasamal Jaahi Naaeiai Raamadhaas Sar ||10|| O Lord! Bathing in the Sacred Pool of Ramdas, the sins are washed away, O Nanak.
    [Show full text]
  • Evolution and Critique of Buffer Stocking Policy of India
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Saini, Shweta; Kozicka, Marta Working Paper Evolution and critique of buffer stocking policy of India Working Paper, No. 283 Provided in Cooperation with: Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) Suggested Citation: Saini, Shweta; Kozicka, Marta (2014) : Evolution and critique of buffer stocking policy of India, Working Paper, No. 283, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/176301 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. www.econstor.eu Working Paper 283 Evolution and Critique of Buffer Stocking Policy of India Shweta Saini Marta Kozicka September 2014 INDIAN COUNCIL FOR RESEARCH ON INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS Table of Contents Abbreviations ..............................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Castes and Subcastes List in Haryana
    Castes and Subcastes List in Haryana: State Id State Name Castecode Caste Subcaste 7 HARYANA 7001 ACHARYA PRAJAPATI 7 HARYANA 7002 AHIR YADAV 7 HARYANA 7003 ARORA CHHABRA 7 HARYANA 7004 ARORA CHOPRA 7 HARYANA 7005 ARORA CHUGH 7 HARYANA 7006 ARORA GULATI 7 HARYANA 7007 ARORA KAPOOR 7 HARYANA 7008 ARORA KATHURIYA 7 HARYANA 7009 ARORA KHATRI 7 HARYANA 7010 ARORA MINOCHA 7 HARYANA 7011 ARORA NAGPAL 7 HARYANA 7012 ARORA PANGHA L 7 HARYANA 7013 ARORA RAI 7 HARYANA 7014 ARORA THAKRAL 7 HARYANA 7015 BADAI HARIJAN 7 HARYANA 7016 BADAI JANGADA 7 HARYANA 7017 BADAI 7 HARYANA 7018 BAIRAGI GILL 7 HARYANA 7019 BAIRAGI POWAR 7 HARYANA 7020 BAIRAGI SWAMI 7 HARYANA 7021 BAIRAGI 7 HARYANA 7022 BALMIKI BHANGI 7 HARYANA 7023 BALMIKI 7 HARYANA 7024 BANIYA AGARWAL 7 HARYANA 7025 BANIYA ARORA 7 HARYANA 7026 BANIYA BANSAL 7 HARYANA 7027 BANIYA GARG 7 HARYANA 7028 BANIYA GOYAL 7 HARYANA 7029 BANIYA GUPTA https://www.matchfinder.in/matrimonial/haryana-matrimony This list is provided for free by the courtesy of Matchfinder Matrimony 7 HARYANA 7030 BANIYA JAIN 7 HARYANA 7031 BANIYA JINDAL 7 HARYANA 7032 BANIYA KANSAL 7 HARYANA 7033 BANIYA MAHAJAN 7 HARYANA 7034 BANIYA RANA 7 HARYANA 7035 BANIYA SHAHU 7 HARYANA 7036 BANIYA SINGLA 7 HARYANA 7037 BANIYA 7 HARYANA 7038 BANNSA GARG 7 HARYANA 7039 BAORI 7 HARYANA 7040 BARHAI DHIMAN 7 HARYANA 7041 BARHAI GARG 7 HARYANA 7042 BARHAI KHATI 7 HARYANA 7043 BARHAI SHARMA 7 HARYANA 7044 BARHAI VISHWAKARMA 7 HARYANA 7045 BAWARIA DABLA 7 HARYANA 7046 BAZIGAR BADHAI 7 HARYANA 7047 BHAT ACHARYA 7 HARYANA 7048 BHAT SHARMA 7 HARYANA
    [Show full text]
  • Punjab Public Works Department (B&R)
    Punjab Public Works Department (B&R) Establishment Chart ( Dated : 17.09.2021 ) Chief Engineer (Civil) S. Name of Officer/ Email Qualification Present Place of Posting Date of Home Date of No address/ Mobile No. Posting District Birth 1. Er. Arun Kumar M.E. Chief Engineer (North) 12.11.2018 Ludhiana 28.11.1964 [email protected] Incharge of:- [email protected] Construction Circle, Amritsar 9872253744 and Hoshiarpur from 08.03.2019 And Additional Charge Chief Engineer (Headquarter-1), and Chief Engineer (Headquarter-2) and Nodal Officer (Punjab Vidhan Sabha Matters)(Plan Roads) 2. Er. Amardeep Singh Brar, B.E.(Civil) Chief Engineer (West) 03.11.2020 Faridkot 25.03.1965 Chief Engineer, Incharge of: [email protected] Construction Circle Bathinda, and 9915400934 Ferozepur 3. Er.N.R.Goyal, Chief Engineer (South) 03.11.2020 Fazilka 15.05.1964 Chief Engineer Incharge of: [email protected] Construction Circle Patiala - 1 and [email protected] Sangrur, Nodal Officer –Link [email protected] Roads,PMGSY & NABARD 9356717117 Additional Charge Chief Engineer (Quality Assurance) from 19.04.2021 & Chief Vigilance Officer of PWD (B&R) Chief Engineer (NH) from 20.08.2021 Incharge of: National Highway Circle Amritsar, 4. Er.B.S.Tuli, M.E.(Irrigation) ChiefChandigarh, Engineer Fe (Centrozepurral) and Ludhiana 03.11.2020 Ludhiana 15.09.1964 Chief Engineer and Hydraulic Incha rge of: [email protected] Structure) Construction Circle No. 1 & 2 Jalandhar., 9814183304 Construction Circle Pathankot. Nodal Officer (Railways) from 03.11.2020 , Jang-e-Azadi Memorial, Kartarpur and Works under 3054 & 5054 Head 5.
    [Show full text]
  • 'In Our Whole Society, There Is No Equality': Sikh Householding And
    religions Article ‘In Our Whole Society, There Is No Equality’: Sikh Householding and the Intersection of Gender and Caste Nicola Mooney Department of Social, Cultural and Media Studies & South Asian Studies Institute, University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8, Canada; [email protected] Received: 24 December 2019; Accepted: 7 February 2020; Published: 19 February 2020 Abstract: Sikhism is widely understood and celebrated as san egalitarian religion. This follows from its interpretation as a challenge to the caste schema of Hinduism as well as readings which suggest its gender equality. This paper explores the intersection of caste and gender in Sikh society in relation to Guru Nanak’s tenet that Sikhs be householders. Nanak’s view that householding is the basis of religious life and spiritual liberation—as opposed to the caste Hindu framework in which householding relates only to the specific stage of life in which one is married and concerned with domestic affairs—was one of the most important social and ritual reforms he introduced. By eliminating the need for an asceticism supported by householders, or in other words the binary framework of lay and renunciant persons, Nanak envisioned the possibility that the rewards of ascetism could accrue to householders. For Sikhs living at Kartarpur, the first intentional Sikh community, established by Guru Nanak as a place of gathering and meditation, Nanak’s egalitarian ideals were practiced so that women and members of all castes were equal participants. Guru Nanak’s model for social and ritual life presents a radical challenge to the hierarchies and exclusions of Hinduism, and yet, contains within it the basis for ongoing caste and gender disparity for Sikhs, since most Sikhs continue to arrange their householding around caste endogamous marriages and social and domestic arrangements which privilege men.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sikh Dilemma: the Partition of Punjab 1947
    The Sikh Dilemma: The Partition of Punjab 1947 Busharat Elahi Jamil Abstract The Partition of India 1947 resulted in the Partition of the Punjab into two, East and West. The 3rd June Plan gave a sense of uneasiness and generated the division of dilemma among the large communities of the British Punjab like Muslims, Hindus and Sikh besetting a holocaust. This situation was beneficial for the British and the Congress. The Sikh community with the support of Congress wanted the proportion of the Punjab according to their own violation by using different modules of deeds. On the other hand, for Muslims the largest populous group of the Punjab, by using the platform of Muslim League showed the resentment because they wanted the decision on the Punjab according to their requirements. Consequently the conflict caused the world’s bloodiest partition and the largest migration of the history. Introduction The Sikhs were the third largest community of the United Punjab before India’s partition. The Sikhs had the historic religious, economic and socio-political roots in the Punjab. Since the annexation of the Punjab, they were faithful with the British rulers and had an influence in the Punjabi society, even enjoying various privileges. But in the 20th century, the Muslims 90 Pakistan Vision Vol. 17 No. 1 Independence Movement in India was not only going to divide the Punjab but also causing the division of the Sikh community between East and West Punjab, which confused the Sikh leadership. So according to the political scenarios in different timings, Sikh leadership changed their demands and started to present different solutions of the Sikh enigma for the geographical transformation of the province.
    [Show full text]
  • Caste, Kinship and Sex Ratios in India
    NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES CASTE, KINSHIP AND SEX RATIOS IN INDIA Tanika Chakraborty Sukkoo Kim Working Paper 13828 http://www.nber.org/papers/w13828 NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 March 2008 We thank Bob Pollak, Karen Norberg, David Rudner and seminar participants at the Work, Family and Public Policy workshop at Washington University for helpful comments and discussions. We also thank Lauren Matsunaga and Michael Scarpati for research assistance and Cassie Adcock and the staff of the South Asia Library at the University of Chicago for their generous assistance in data collection. We are also grateful to the Weidenbaum Center and Washington University (Faculty Research Grant) for research support. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer- reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications. © 2008 by Tanika Chakraborty and Sukkoo Kim. All rights reserved. Short sections of text, not to exceed two paragraphs, may be quoted without explicit permission provided that full credit, including © notice, is given to the source. Caste, Kinship and Sex Ratios in India Tanika Chakraborty and Sukkoo Kim NBER Working Paper No. 13828 March 2008 JEL No. J12,N35,O17 ABSTRACT This paper explores the relationship between kinship institutions and sex ratios in India at the turn of the twentieth century. Since kinship rules varied by caste, language, religion and region, we construct sex-ratios by these categories at the district-level using data from the 1901 Census of India for Punjab (North), Bengal (East) and Madras (South).
    [Show full text]
  • Changing Caste Relations and Emerging Contestations in Punjab
    CHANGING CASTE RELATIONS AND EMERGING CONTESTATIONS IN PUNJAB PARAMJIT S. JUDGE When scholars and political leaders characterised Indian society as unity in diversity, there were simultaneous efforts in imagining India as a civilisational unity also. The consequences of this ‘imagination’ are before us in the form of the emergence of religious nationalism that ultimately culminated into the partition of the country. Why have I started my discussion with the issue of religious nationalism and partition? The reason is simple. Once we assume that a society like India could be characterised in terms of one caste hierarchical system, we are essentially constructing the discourse of dominant Hindu civilisational unity. Unlike class and gender hierarchies which are exist on economic and sexual bases respectively, all castes cannot be aggregated and arranged in hierarchy along one axis. Any attempt at doing so would amount to the construction of India as essentially the Hindu India. Added to this issue is the second dimension of hierarchy, which could be seen by separating Varna from caste. Srinivas (1977) points out that Varna is fixed, whereas caste is dynamic. Numerous castes comprise each Varna, the exception to which is the Brahmin caste whose caste differences remain within the caste and are unknown to others. We hardly know how to distinguish among different castes of Brahmins, because there is complete absence of knowledge about various castes among them. On the other hand, there is detailed information available about all the scheduled castes and backward classes. In other words, knowledge about castes and their place in the stratification system is pre- determined by the enumerating agency.
    [Show full text]
  • Fnukad 13-10-2019 Dks Izkr% 08%30 Cts Miflfkr Gksus Okys Vh;Ffkz;Ksa Dh Lwph
    10/2/2019 To Print Web Page.htm fnukad 13-10-2019 dks izkr% 08%30 cts mifLFkr gksus okys vH;fFkZ;ksa dh lwph Token Applicatoin No. Name Father's Name No. 6783 RPC-19100031 SHAHJAD KHAN BABUDDEEN 6426 RPC-19100061 rustam khan jafar khan 7072 RPC-19100084 PARIKSHIT BENIWAL RAMSWAROOP BENIWAL 6873 RPC-19100097 PAWAN KUMAR HANUMAN PRASAD 6652 RPC-19100121 RUPA RAM BHANWARA RAM 6803 RPC-19100123 KARTIK SEN MANMOHAN SEN 7354 RPC-19100143 MOH. AJARAN KHAN MOH. ATIK 7588 RPC-19100160 HARISH JANAGAL BHAGARAM 7286 RPC-19100176 DINESH KUMAR NAGA RAM CHANDRA NAGA 6448 RPC-19100201 MAMTA SIYOTA RAJESH SIYOTA 7214 RPC-19100204 SHRI KANT BAINDARA SURESH CHAND BAINDARA 7169 RPC-19100206 KUSHAL BHADRU MOTILAL BHADRU 6791 RPC-19100280 SOHIL KHAN AALAMGEER KHAN 6954 RPC-19100343 Narayan Lal Badariya Babu Lal Regar 7209 RPC-19100381 UJJAVAL PATIDAR DINESH PATIDAR 6863 RPC-19100397 AMAN SAINI SURESH SAINI 7065 RPC-19100401 MANISH KUMAR MUKESH 7505 RPC-19100402 VANSHIKA VAISHNAV BALVEER PRASAD SHARMA 6644 RPC-19100429 DHARMENDRA SAINI JAIRAM SAINI 7570 RPC-19100448 PURSHOTTAM NAGAR OM PRAKASH NAGAR 6495 RPC-19100461 ABHISHEK PESHWA NAND KISHOR 7599 RPC-19100482 PRADEEP KUMAR BHAVAR SINGH 6467 RPC-19100483 SHAHARUKH KHAN JAKIR KHAN 6622 RPC-19100501 SUNIL KUMAR SHARMA MAHESH KUMAR SHARMA 7292 RPC-19100528 HITENDER SINGH BARWA HEM SINGH BARWA 6692 RPC-19100545 SONU SAINI VIJAY RAM SAINI 7468 RPC-19100558 SANWLIYA GURJAR HARI SINGH GURJAR 7490 RPC-19100562 KAMLESH YADAV SATYANARAYAN YADAV 6756 RPC-19100598 SUMAN PATIDAR SANDEEP KUMAR PATIDAR 7129 RPC-19100685
    [Show full text]