Up to 6 husbands, superstitions: For ST status, Gurjjars list their primitive traits

Did you know that Gurjjars get their children’s nappies engaged or that they sometimes marry children in the womb?

Did you know that Gurjjars get their children’s nappies engaged or that they sometimes marry children in the womb? Or that they worship the neem tree, don’t sell milk on special days dedicated to their deity Devnarayan and live up to the phrase “Dantli main myan nahin, gurjjar main gyan nahin” (A sickle has no cover and a Gurjjar has no knowledge).

These quaint rituals and common phrases have become part of crucial documentation by the community to prove their tribal status.

The otherwise reticent Gurjjar is now talking endlessly. Across Rajasthan, they are discussing their degree of backwardness, chiding each other for “behaving like a Gurjjar” and telling the world about their “absurd” habits.

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For the last three months, Gurjjars have presented affidavits and made representation to the three-member committee headed by retired Justice Jasraj Chopra. In all of them, they have explained at length how backward they are.

The committee was set up after the May-June violence in the state. The state government has asked the committee to examine the norms laid down for Gujjars in their current status in the OBC category and consider their representation for inclusion in the ST list.

“Earlier the craze was to move forward,” says Justice Chopra. “Now it is the opposite. Everybody wants to become backward and prove that they are primitive.”

Affidavits filed before the committee have sections dedicated to social backwardness in which local phrases are highlighted to prove they are traditionally dullards. The community is underlining polyandry, illogical belief in superstition and the custom of child marriage.

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Women representatives have told the committee that their future is controlled by the Panchayat and that they have half-a-dozen husbands. “We have no choice. To get what we want we have to highlight the negative aspects of our community,” says Ram Swaroop, a school teacher in Sikar.

In one representation, a Gurjjar told the committee how 30 years ago his ancestor jumped into a well when a tehsildar came to ask him for some documents. “It shows how scared and isolated we are from the rest of the world,” argues Swaroop.

So far, 14,000 representations and 32,000 affidavits have been filed before the committee. Justice Chopra, sociologist Yogesh Atal (a member) and special secretary T Srinivasan have between them surveyed 107 villages so far, mainly in Alwar and Ajmer. Their target is 300 villages across the state.

While the Gurjjars have given researched articles and documented writings to prove their tribal origins, the Meenas have vociferously argued against the Gurjjars.

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The committee, which was to finish its work in three months, has now been given an extension. “We are simultaneously taking the assistance of experts to analyse the documents we are being given. Also, all data is being computerised and we should be able to wind up by December 15,” says Chopra.

But the Gurjjars are not willing to wait. On October 2, they have called for a jail bharo andolan, which will sees leaders cutting across party lines leading the community in courting arrest. “We have decided to court arrest in five places across the state,” says Dr Roop Singh, who is member of the Gurjjar core committee. On its part, the state government has allotted school buildings and other government premises to house the Gurjjars. They have also brought out advertisements in local dailies giving details of what courting arrest means. To dissuade people from going ahead with their plans, the government has clearly advertised that the Gurjjars will have to provide bail before they are let out and that this stint in prison will be part of their record.