Jat/Tarkhan Relations ?

[jdeepkaur]

Thank you both for your comments.

As a followup, so if a family comes from a history of farming but they have a Tarkhan last name, would that make them Jatt or Tarkhan?

Thank you again.

is it wrong to consider oneself as Jatt due to a farming background, despite having Tarkhan surname?

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

High and low caste system was introduced by Manu in Hinduism and has not been accepted in Sikhism. However, to reap the fruits of reservation, the political leaders accepted the scheduled caste system as against the Sikh tenets. Since SC/BC system has been accepted as economically beneficial by the SC/BCs even by some Sikhs it has become difficult for the Sikh community to get rid of the caste system.

 

[Gyani Jarnail Singh]

Dont stress out on this jaatpaat thingy..its worthless POOCH.
Mine is called Dhillon.

 

[jdeepkaur]

Someone from a farming background would feel more "comfortable" considering themselves Jatt as they may feel they have no "connection" to their Tarkhan side if you will (just because the surname is a Tarkhan name mostly), from what I have heard, which is why I ask if it is wrong to consider themselves as Jatt.

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

In our younger days, there were no lower or upper castes. Jatts, tarkhan, Lohar, chamar, bania, banjara, sikligar, pandit, bhaiji, granthi etc were all professions that were essentially required for society for their day-to-day function. All were respected and treated equally and none of them was considered above the other. They were all called chachas and tayas by us. There was no bar for any of them from going to gurdwara and performing any function in a religious place. All sat in one line while having langar food. Things, however, changed with reservation and granting SC, ST status when distances started emerging and reached this dangerous scale.

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday (today) warned members against referring to anyone's caste and religion in the House after a Congress MP alleged that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made certain remarks about his proficiency in Hindi because he belonged to a particular community.
Taking serious exception to the word used by Congress member A R Reddy to refer to his own social category during the Question Hour, the Speaker pointed out that people have not elected the members to Lok Sabha on the basis of their caste and religion. "Anyone here should never use such words in the House. Otherwise, I will have to take action against such a member," the Speaker warned.

 

[JamesMitchell]

The Jats and Tarkhans are two different social groups within the Sikh community. Jats are traditionally farmers and landowners, while Tarkhans are carpenters and craftsmen. However, in modern times, these professions are not strictly limited to these groups, and people of various castes may practice them.

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

Since most of the professionals like Carpenters, iron-smiths have shifted from villages to cities and have established factories even, their financial status has gone much better than the farmers. The low paying farming profession has now only reduced their financial but also social status of farmers as most of the youth from farming community has shifted to foreign countries for better pastures. The social distinction between Jats and Tarkhan is more of less reduced to zero and there are cases of inter-marriages as well. Two of my own close relations in Jat families have married into tarkhan families. Hence dying down distinctions need not to be dragged further.