Reply to Chetan Bhagat on TOI article ‘What’s Gotra What To Do With It’

on 30/5/2010

Chetan Bhagat ji , I’m not a revered writer like you still mustering the courage to reply line by line (my comments in blue) of your article .
You disappointed greatly because we expect clarity of thought , social awareness and sensibility some one like you, sorry to say your article is insipid ,immature and shows that you haven’t qualified to write on social issues yet, and probably never be , because it seems you have not seen the Indian society and don’t have any first hand experience . There is nothing wrong , we have plethora of such thinkers and sociologist around and fiercely vocal , those have just the birds’ eye view on every social issue , long gone the days when Premchand , Sharatchand and Gurudatt..etc. could reflect the Indian society in just few lines.
Knowingly or unknowing you have joined the chain of pseudo journalist engage in tarnishing the image of khap Panchayats , like by birth we become Indian in the same way every Jat is defecto member of Khap. And this compelling reason forcing me to try to bridges some gaps transpire from your article.

I don't know my own gotra. I didn't even know what gotra meant until recently.
In what account this is a matter of pride , not able to understand. I hope ,you at least know name of your grandfather. It’s all in lineage , if our family and we are proud of it we will be aware of it thoroughly else family will not touch this thread and child will be ignorant. 2ndly , if we incline towards social subject.. like history, literature this will lead to us automatically to this understanding , if we are incline towards Science subject , our inclination towards math and science have less to do with history and anthropology , in your case you were incline to science subject and writer by accident.
Many people still don't, but calling it a sub-caste is a good proxy definition.
Chetan ji , one thing I will admire about you that you are thoroughly honest in showing your ignorance and that too on a national daily. Gotra a subcast , such a lame definition can be expected from a foreign journalist who is on one month tour of incredible India or from some Firangi professor teaching about indian society in some foreign university . Their ignorance is pardonable , but here a whole lot of writers and social thinkers are making all sort of comments and definition based on sallow knowledge of matter at hand and over simplifying it that it become counter productive.

I don't know why it was invented, or why it is still relevant.
You are right up to some extent that these were “Invented” , Brahmins they invented by the names of rishies. These Brahnmin further invented gotra for rajputs at Agnikund of Mount Abu around 1100 years back. Gotra is the word mainly used with Brahmin terminology, different people interpret it differently.
For Jats we have clan system and organized in 4000 different patrilineal clans. These clans are started from some historical person , families . Over the time decedents of these person or family grown up and we have clans living in only one village and some big clans live in 70,80 villages. Our clan is taken as gotra by all non jats those are unaware of clan system.
Because of these clan , this give us far rigorous social bonding and we are aware of the house and family from where the whole clan started centuries ago . The eldest member or patriarch of this house and family is known as Baba or Dada like in our family. So whole bloodline and clan genealogy is in front of our eyes . If you visit house of any of these Baba , (ust 100 KM from delhi) ,you will find them among the modest household in village ,but whole clan give respect to clan’s Baba and this is only power they have . Over the years they never let down their extended family members (clan). That’s the reason we don’t marry in clan because of this strong feeling of brotherhood/sisterhood among the clan members.
So there is vast difference between “Gotra” and Clan , former is just for name sake and some time use during marriage ceremonies , while Clan is family linage , not something imaginary gotra name that has no meaning today.
When you are saying “why it is still relevant” . I would say it is very subjective , it’s upto individuals how much respects and affection he bestow on his family and extended family (clan) . We have cases where all children settled in US and old parents are left behind in India. So instead of being judgmental , lets leave it on the family/community members.
As if it wasn't good enough to divide people on caste, we needed one more level of sub-caste slicing to ensure as many Indians hate each other as possible.
Nothing was created to divide and to integrate , everything happened as a part of social evolution . So ,don’t take these from prejudice mindset . And level don’t ends here , level are upto individual , even born in same family , siblings do differently , some add the level of BE some will add MBA and they may hate each other for some or other reason , and this give the birth of word “sibling rivalry” . So these individual emotions of hate , love can’t be generalize on the basis of any structure.

However, this time it isn't being from different gotras that is a problem, it is being from the same one. Unlike inter-caste marriages that are considered problematic, the problem lies in intra-gotra marriages. These, according to some, will completely tarnish a family's reputation and pose health risks to kids of the wedded couple, due to genetic similarities. People from the same gotra aren't blood related, but marriage between them is not encouraged (read: death sentences are passed).

Leading the 'no-same-gotra- love' T-shirt brigade are the khap panchayats. The khap system is thousands of years old, and our erstwhile British rulers lived with it and probably encouraged it, to avoid the judicial system being flooded with petty disputes and enabling these to be solved at the local level.
Dear Chetan , you really don’t know history. During and after 1857 British rulers put Khap Panchayat members under the steam rollers , hang them on nearest tree .
Yes , Brits as more rational people didn’t interfere in the social custom and traditions of our community that includes widow remarriage (so no sati system) and almost no child marriage.
Are issues of property , land holding , water sharing are petty dispute ? , if any of such issue is not talked timely may start a series of murder in village . So what are “Real” dispute , wrong parking ? , because this is only issue urbanite face and keep city police busy.
I hope you haven’t forgotten the term “ Gram Swaraj” , a word coined by Mahatam Ghandhi , in recognition of the competence of the people to manage its own life according to its traditions and customs. It would have been the real freedom for the people of india living in ‘7-lakh Village Republics’ , instead of centrally managed beurocracy with the help of all tools and paraphernalia by which British was ruling the masses , like Indian Penal code , and a replica of US,UK,Ireland constitution.
“Read Death Sentences pass” : However a lot of hue and cry is being made about death sentences but at a time when video camera has make way to the bedroom of Governor and Swamis , no one has produced single video clipping of panchayat delivering such sentence in broad day light in front of hundred of people.
The British left 63 years ago, but khaps have survived, aided by the patronage of local political parties which in turn find them nice little rural vote banks.
These Khaps have written references in Vedic text , 2500 BC , Buddhist and Panini text . This was the first attempt of humanity to live in republic formation and till that time they are in practice . Just imagine how much challenges have been passed by these republic formation .
These republic formation bore the brunt of Muslim invasion and if India still has it’s old faith , major credit goes to these Khaps. Muslim wave started from Arab has the history of changing the socio political landscape of the country it pass thru, in 100 years , take the example of any country from Arab to border of Spain.

The khap justice system is neither as rigorous as nor always consistent with the Indian legal system. Nor has it been reformed. However, given political patronage, khaps still thrive in parts of north India. One of the most controversial khap diktats is the no-same-gotra- marriage, something the youth in rural areas find quite baffling. Desperate for reform, the youth had hoped a young leader like their MP Naveen Jindal would come and change draconian rules. But he backed the khap's demand to turn no-same-gotra- marriage into a law. While shocking and disappointing to many, one can see his motivation in backing regressive ideas. It is always easier to tap into traditions and win support. It is much harder to be progressive, change thinking and still take people along.
I have explained why same clan marriage is considered incest in Jat community or in any Aryan community like Gujjar and Ahir. Mixed Caste and community having dubious ancestry will not be able to comprehend it , out of their historical and ancestral guilt they will do what is expected from a frustrated lot , malign the image of impeccable community on false charges . I really don’t know which youth you are talking about I personally never came across any lad who is finding it’s baffling. Just go to any related web page and see what the young Jats are saying , now they are talking about some “direct Action” because they feel this is the only way left for the deaf ears .
Fears of genetic similarities leading to offspring risks do not hold. Apparently, there are historical roots between same gotra people and hence there could be genetic similarities. Those roots may be 10 generations old, and anyone with basic knowledge of genetics and mathematics will tell you that in 10 generations, less than 0.1 per cent of DNA may be sibling-like between two offspring of the same roots. Legality is also a non-issue. Many communities have marriages between cousins, without any legal issues.
I would recommend you study the findings of Renowned DNA scientist James D Watson , who endorse the view point of avoiding marriages in the bloodline as it’s reduce the genetic diseases.
BBC reported high number of birth related diseases in Muslim community in UK because of marriages in family.Another BBC report suggest high number of microcephalics-babies born in Pakistan because of genetic diseases , also linked to marriages in bloodline. Parsi are struggling with various genetic diseases and low potency and community has reached a level of wiped out from with in.
Dr Praveen C Sobti, a thalassaemic expert at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) found that Punjabi Khatri are more prone to congenital disease and to overcome this now only choice they have is inter-cast marriage , because they didn’t care bloodline ,clan and as a results whole community is contaminated with disease.
0.1 percent is one out of 10 or 10% , the above thalassemic case is 7.5 % of population and crossed the signification limit. Doctors suggest that ideal situation is 0% gene match , might be impractical but nearer is better.

I’m not able to understand , at one place you say that these concepts are outdated and not progressive and on the other hand you shrug off the genetic findings , biology and health data.
You judge yourself , who is real progressive and who is just prejudice.
While chances of the no-same-gotra diktat becoming a law are extremely remote, outright support of medieval traditions by modern era leaders make one shudder about which direction politicians are taking our country.
If we leave everything to people like you , I tell you where our country will lead , in next 2-4 years you gays will be admiring and supporting following cases in Indian society too , on the basis of Individual choice.
1-April 30,2010’Dakota news” , In UK grandmother and grandson having baby together.
2-Feb 27,2007,guardian.co.uk ,Brother and sister had 4 children together and brother is saying incest law is outdated and they should be allowed to make their personal choice.
These are enough to suggest that we have completed the circle and have started and willing to lead a animal life.
Jindal had earlier fought in court for every citizen's freedom to hoist the Indian flag. When a crusader for individual freedom backs a proposal preventing two human beings to be in love and make a future together, one wonders what our politicians will do to get a few extra votes. Did he make a calculation? Did the number of older people versus younger people (those who actually vote) go in favour of the older people? Is that the only criterion for making political decisions? Or is it about doing the right thing and leading the country to progress?
I really don’t know how did you get the impression that we young are so dumb that we are not able to read between the lines , and will give a toss to history , ancestry and scientific reasoning.
Will you support marriage of brother and sister in your family in the name of individual freedom , if your answer is ‘No’ then you are not honest to your conviction , you also hold some concepts and tradition which you feel right . I hope you will not impose your concepts and tradition on this loving pair , being a crusader of ‘individual Freedom’ even this adrift to immorality and incest.We live in rare times where conflict between the thought of the old and new generations is at its peak.
Here is nothing permanent except change ,new generation will be old very soon, and this is happening since the time immemorial , all these concepts have reached us shows ,that generations passes these from one to next , and time has tested the veracity of these. we feel , now questions should be asked whether we want a civilized life or animal life like freedom of gay sex, unnatural sex , sex with in immediate or extended family , live in sex…etc. and last custodian of family value “KHAP’ is under attack by corporate funded NGOs and media houses.
We have Indian women leading global corporations. We also have Indian parents who don't want their daughters to study further. I was in Gorakhpur last week, where a young girl in a semi-rural area confessed to me that her father didn't want her to go to college unless it was within a five-kilometre radius of the house. There was no consideration for what the girl wanted to become in life. This is just one example.
Just compare the background of both the ladies , a lot has been said about Bharat and India in this country , but this India do almost nothing to make the Bharat capable enough so that it can use his full potential . Question should be asked why there is no college with in 5 KM , why govt. and establishment not able to generate the feeling of safety and protection in the mind of father of this young girl . We just can’t discard the concerns of a father , who is very much willing to send his daughter but seems a “trust deficit” on part of system for safety.

From khap rules to individual rules, India-old and India-new battle everyday. India-old is powerful: khaps wield power. However, India-new has better ideas for progress. India-old has dominated thought for the last six decades and, to put it bluntly, not achieved much. We are, despite all our missile and satellite launches, one of the poorest nations on earth. Our biggest cities don't have basics like good water and power. With such a poor report card, it is suprising India-old still makes and imposes rules. The only reason it can do so is difference in power. This is where politicians come in.
Where and how does Khap rules , Mr Chetan . Do they have any home/office address , any bank account , any ‘rule’ enforcing agency . You know highest per capita income district of India , falls in Khap area “Muzaffarnagar in west UP’ happen to be 8th in the world . And this not because of India-new and it’s BPO and ITEs but by old traditional family labour ‘Agriculture’ . I think rest of questions you should ask from politicians , as far KHAP (Farmers) is concerns they did more then expected by making Green revolution successful so that India don’t bag for daily diet.
Frankly speaking , I tried my best to make out something from your above Para , but this is more or less jumbled up thoughts .
Politicians have power which they can lend to India-new and back them all the way. They can take a stand, embrace progress, back individual freedom, uphold modern laws and focus on real rural issues (corruption in NREGA, for instance). This will lead to a more prosperous country and a better life for all Indians. Jindal had a chance to do that, to play a part in history, be the role model for rural Haryana's youth. However, he blew it, with his short-sightedness to remain in power. What use is power when it isn't used to help others?

OK, again all chatter no substance .
I think IITs and similar prominent institutes of other fields are branded as the top dens of ‘India-new’.
What is the contribution of India-new to the society , every indian including beggars fund these institutes like IIT , in form of taxes he pays . What is outcome , some ready to employ skilled hands for foreign and Indian MNCs.
In last 60 years tell me a single invention from IITs , that has touched the life of common Indians , these IITs have research centers , labs , workshops , have they produced some thing like a better hand pump , which will take less effort & will give more water , a better bullock cart which can carry much load , a cost and quality effective water purifier for masses to save them from water born diseases , a better power alternative …list is long , and outcome is none.
So why should society care about the ‘India-new’ , which has turn out to be NPA (non performing Asset)
So This branding of “IIT” and shining “India-new” may means something at US Shores , but a Indian farmer may be aware of PUSA not IIT, et al.

most of DMs and SPs of rural district are in bracket of Young , still corruption is going on in NREGA , NGOs those are crying horse on a non issue like gotra ,what is their report card in unearthing scam in NREGA , almost none because very soon they become cozy with the system. No NGO really wants to work in field except initial 2-3 formative years , once they get some recognition and assurance of steady fund from some govt. department and foreign philanthropy trust , they will look for such issues those can be handled from cozy offices ,TV studio and will help them in news and media glare.
Individual freedom has become favorite phrase in support of animal instinct. Will this individual freedom will work in some moral and social framework or this will consider every other “body” a good for love , and every behavior driven by whim ,lust and desire will be considered a sacrosanct expression of Individual freedom. If we are to be logically consistent we must embrace and celebrate pretty much every desire or whim that crosses anyone’s heart regarding anything.
Meantime, pass whatever diktats and make whatever laws - none of them can take on Mother Nature, and prevent two people from falling in love. Try as much as you can. Meanwhile, i still don't know my gotra. And i hope i never find out.
Unfortunately it’s not mother nature that driving the thing , it’s all to create a few places like SoHo in India , particularly NCR , a lot of corporate funding is going on to buy shrill NGOs and media groups , just look at the coordinated way of campaign against the informal institution KHAP. All and sundry joined this campaign , with the palpable ignorance on the issue…and you have joined too.
Following the very relevant t excerpt from one social activist.
“The corporate agenda on the question of ‘love, sex and marriage’ has reached a point of decisive assertion. The crusaders feel confident that their past labour is going to pay dividends now or never. The war is at decisive level. They feel emboldened enough to demolish Khaps now openly and pointedly. As custodian of these values Gotra Khaps and Khaps or Bhaichara assemblies, being informal institutions of social interaction and dispute resolution with rural India, also known by many such other names, are in for an intense berating. -both as concept and practice. The shrill chorus to ban these institutions signify this assault. Simultaneously, the dare-devil campaign in favour of gay sex or unnatural sex and opening doors wide for live-in relationship, is that unmistakeable turning point the corporate capital has gained foothold on this accord through its steady and long drawn effort for the past two decades of liberalism to make it truly irretrievable.


Opening the country to FDI and collaboration regime in the economic field from the West, corporate world needs congenial atmosphere for entertainment of western investors who revel in sexual forays as entertainment. Smooth ground is being prepared by free India with feverish speed and removing all hurdles like family norms, which British rulers had feared to tread in their times. The country is being prepared for these ‘valuable guests’ with such infrastructure in place. Is it a mere sublime coincidence that, on one hand unnatural sex and live-in relations are made acceptable to Indian mind just on the eve of Commonwealth Games and, on the other a high pitch campaign is released for banning the custodians of family ethos like Gotra Khaps in tow? You are in a hurry to ban beggars in the Capital, de-criminalising gay sex, legitimising live-in relationship and clamping ban on Khaps in the interest of corporate capital to gain fabulous profits simply because these institutions do not approve of an alien agenda!! Is it not a part of the same game plan? Pl. deny, if it is wrong.”

As far your Gotra imbroglio is concern, that you have to resolve yourself as it’s your personal issue , it’s hardly matter to anybody , if you know the name of your Gotra or not , or for that matter name of your father and grand father….after all it’s individual choice.
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At last I will take the opportunity to clear a few points.
Bloodline make the clan members brother and sister , and we have our bloodline and clan linage very clear , so same clan marriage is unacceptable in Jat communities .
For us we have options lined up
(1) Easiest way is to accommodate the tradition of the community , 4 -5 Crore in numbers , in the Hindu Marriage act . HMA also acknowledge “Custom and usage signify any rule which having been continuously and uniformly observed for a long time ,has obtained the force of law among Hindus in any local area , tribe ,community, group of family.” ( WE are proposing amendment for Jats only , we are not concerned in what custom other communities indulge in)
(2) Next option is , We are ready to severe our association with Hindu religion , we were always on the fringe and were loggerhead with the puranic/Bhrahmenical mindset . We never bow down to rigid and inhumane practices , massacre of Buddhists in the name of religion , sacrifice of animals , ritual on the basis of false purans , Sati … list is long . On the contrary we observes widow marriage . All these things kept us on the fringe of Hindu religion and were never a complete Hindu.
So if people will keep on imposing us the custom of Hindus , under the disguise of Hindu marriage act . We should call us ourselves non-Hindu , and demand our right as minority religion , like Sikh & Muslim.
(3) Finally , In the case of continuous oppression by the hand of these Hindus , in their pursuit of creating a homogenous religion and from state who don’t want to acknowledge our ethnic identity and culture and want to force the constitutional clause of marriage , those are against the belief and ethos of our community. We should approach the UN and other world bodies and raise the issue that in Indian state our ethnic community’s culture and tradition is not safe and not being protected and we are facing soft ethnic cleansing, so need a separate homeland , like Kurd are demanding in Iraq and Turkey , Jews got Israel .

Indian subcontinent is the house of may nations and ethnic groups . These groups have their own customs , tradition , way of life and they put more loyalties and pride in their ethnicity then their religion and nationality.
We have seen the example of Pakistan , who tried to create a homogenous society in the name of ISLAM and with the slogans “Hum sab musalman hain” ,hoping that religion will be the glue to keep the different ethnicity together even without a cumbersome democracy. First causality was in the form of Bangladesh , Bengoli ethnicity came out of Islamic glue ,when their tradition and culture was ridiculed and humiliated by the powerful Punjabi ethnicity , it was a loss for Pakistan and setback for Muslim ummat.
To day in Pakistan , there is very visible divide on ethnic lines , Baloch are all out for freedom and it can happen at any time , Sindhi , Mohajir , Hazara , Pakhtun , Pathan and Punjabi ethnicity are suspicious with each other . So, it’s clear in this subcontinent Ethnic affiliation is far more emotional issue and people has very clear priority ,ethnicity comes on top of priority compare to religion and nationality .
USSR broke into numerous countries formed basically on ethnic basis , so monolithic and homogenous society created by the name of nationality can’t survive too.
We can change our faith in two minutes ,can change our nationality in manageable time , but never our ethnic linage.
Hope this will make you little more wiser , NOW , people like you should think , in which way you want us to behave and pursue the option . Compromising on our ethnic identity and it’s institution is unacceptable to every young Jat.