THE PRESIDENT’S BODYGUARD—a unit of the Indian Army—is considered one of the most prestigious postings within the armed forces. In 2018, one Gaurav Yadav from Haryana’s Revari district filed a public-interest litigation in the Delhi High Court, alleging that the recruitment policy of the President’s Bodyguard discriminated by caste. The unit, as Yadav correctly pointed out, only recruits from three castes—Rajputs, Hindu Jats and Sikh Jats. According to Yadav, these three castes are being given “preferential treatment” to the detriment of other citizens of the country. A bench of the Delhi High Court, hearing the petition, asked the defence ministry and several senior army officials to file their counter affidavits on the issue by 9 May 2019.
Both the army and the government have exceeded the deadline, and are yet to file their responses.
This is not the first time the army’s recruitment policy has been challenged in court. In 2012, IS Yadav, an Uttar Pradesh-based doctor, filed a petition in the Supreme Court, seeking an end to recruitment in the army on the basis of caste, region and religion.
“In the army alone there are caste, religion and region-based regiments such as the Jat Regiment, Sikh Regiment, Mahar Regiment, Gorkha Rifles, Garhwal Regiment, Dogra Regiment, etc,” Yadav’s petition said, “and hence recruitment to these regiments is primarily based on caste, region and religion.”
The petition also questioned the existence of two separate regiments for Sikhs—one for Jat Sikhs, and a different one for Mazhabi and Ramdasia Sikhs, who were formerly considered untouchables. The petitioner urged the court to end discrimination in recruitment to the army and to frame a new hiring policy for the force.
Denne historien er fra March 2020-utgaven av The Caravan.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra March 2020-utgaven av The Caravan.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Mob Mentality
How the Modi government fuels a dangerous vigilantism
RIP TIDES
Shahidul Alam’s exploration of Bangladeshi photography and activism
Trickle-down Effect
Nepal–India tensions have advanced from the diplomatic level to the public sphere
Editor's Pick
ON 23 SEPTEMBER 1950, the diplomat Ralph Bunche, seen here addressing the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The first black Nobel laureate, Bunche was awarded the prize for his efforts in ending the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
Shades of The Grey
A Pune bakery rejects the rigid binaries of everyday life / Gender
Scorched Hearths
A photographer-nurse recalls the Delhi violence
Licence to Kill
A photojournalist’s account of documenting the Delhi violence
CRIME AND PREJUDICE
The BJP and Delhi Police’s hand in the Delhi violence
Bled Dry
How India exploits health workers
The Bookshelf: The Man Who Learnt To Fly But Could Not Land
This 2013 novel, newly translated, follows the trajectory of its protagonist, KTN Kottoor.