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| No cause for brave Dogras to feel disheartened | | Dogra Certificate | | MINCING NO WORDS
NEHA
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Apr 29: Kashmiri separatists and anti-Dogra forces in the Valley are feeling jubilant. The reason: The NC-Congress coalition government has revoked the March 25 order that had entitled the Dogras, along with the people of Kashmir and Leh, to relaxations in terms of height and chest expansion – relaxations meant for those desirous of joining the central paramilitary forces, including the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The over-enthusiastic state’s Revenue Department, headed by Congress leader Raman Bhalla, had issued the said order taking into consideration the January 11, 2011 order issued in this regard by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
It was the Revenue Department that created the whole controversy over a non-issue, as also created problem for the state government in Kashmir, for reasons best known to it. There was no reason for the Revenue Department to issue any such order. It was an ill-conceived decision. Perhaps, the one who headed this department wanted to take some credit. That the state government has accepted the April 28 directive issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs and revoked its March 25 order should not be a cause for the anti-Dogra elements in Kashmir to rejoice or celebrate or construe as their victory over the Dogras of Jammu province. For, the new order doesn’t mean anything adverse for the Dogras. They, like all others in the state, including Kashmir and Ladakh, would be entitled to enjoy the two relaxations and there is nothing bad in it.
And, if at all it is a setback it is a setback for the Revenue Minister. He suffered in the process. He generated an ill-informed debate by issuing an ill-conceived order and it is he who had to issue another order declaring the previous orders null and void, thus cutting a sorry figure. Not only this, the NC-led government, too, has lost its face and created an impression across the country that it is just incompetent to hold its ground and that it is simply dancing to the tune of Geelani and similar other negative elements in the Valley. In other words, it is for the Revenue Minister and others in the government, including the Chief Minister, to sit down and retrospect to find where they went wrong and what was its result.
It needs to underlined that Dogras of Jammu province, including Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and others who are state subjects and who inhabit any town and village located in the Jammu province would continue to get relaxations in terms of height and chest expansion as far as the rules governing recruitment to the Indian Army is concerned. The Home Ministry’s order has nothing to do with the rules governing recruitment to the Indian Army. The Indian Army is a different organization and it relaxed certain rules for the Dogras of Jammu province decades ago, as it had done so in the case of certain other ethnic groups like Gurkhas, Marathas and others. As far as Jammu province is concerned, the Dogras of this region started availing themselves of these relaxations during the time of Maharaja Pratap Singh. The Dogras inhabiting parts of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, too, were entitled to enjoy these relaxations. One of the agencies that was responsible for giving a few relaxations to the Dogras and other ethnic groups in the country was, of course, the British and the Britons had done so recognizing their martial spirit and military skills.
It is also important to note that say Ram Lal, for example, like Liaquat Ali of Rajouri or Poonch or Doda or Mahore or Bhadrwah and Sardar Beant Singh of Gadigarh or Poonch or Nanak Nagar, used to enjoy these relaxations even before March 25 and they shall continue to enjoy the same in the future as well, as the new order has nothing to do with rules regulating recruitment to the Indian Army. Anwar Choudhary of Rajouri, Uttam Singh of Jammu city and Sardar Joginder Singh of Beli Charana and all others inhabiting any village, any town and any city would be required to produce certificate to the effect that they belong to Jammu province if they wish to join the Army and no one can deny them the certificate to that effect. To deny them the said certificate would automatically mean an abrupt end of the nearly 125-year-old practice and one can easily anticipate what would happen across the Jammu province if the practice of issuing Dogra certificates to the Dogras of Jammu province is discontinued. There would be a revolt in Jammu province and those who would raise the banner of revolt would be the Hindus, the Muslims and the Sikhs. Hence, there is no cause for the brave Dogras of Jammu province to feel disheartened or disappointed. At the same time, however, they have to remain very cautious and watchful to ensure that the anti-Dogra forces in Kashmir do not do anything that could motivate the biased authorities to tinker with the age-old practice of issuing Dogra certificates to the Dogras.
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