Yadav Sikhs of Panjab Seek OBC Status in India

Around 200K Yadavs live across Panjab, with the majority of them concentrated in nearly 30 villages across Patiala and Sangrur districts. Turban-wearing with flowing beards, Panjabi names, and the customary 'Singh' added to their names, they embody the principle of assimilation. 'Only our surname indicates that we are Yadavs. Otherwise our forefathers who got settled here adapted to local culture,' said Jarnail Singh Yadav from Patiala’s Dugal Kalan village. Mishra Singh Yadav from Nihalgarh village. His forefathers settled in Panjab after the 1857 Mutiny against the British, and eventually, they were raised as Sikhs. 'Around 700 out of approximately 1K voters of my village are Yadavs. We are followers of Lord Krishna, but we go to Gurdwaras, follow the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh scripture).' Secretary general of Punjab Yadav Mahasabha (grand gathering) Vijay Yadav said, 'Once the 1857 revolt backfired in many parts of the country, many Yadavs came to this pocket and started living here, and eventually a few of them followed Sikhi.' While they call themselves the ‘Yadavs of Panjab’, beneath this pride lies a long-standing struggle. In Panjab, the Yadav community was placed under the Backward Classes (BC) category in 2016 by the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party government. However, they are not placed in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category defined by the Indian union government. 'This means that Yadavs in Panjab are entitled to reservation benefits only at the state level—for state government jobs, admissions, and schemes. But they cannot avail the benefits of the union government’s OBC quota,' explains Jarnail. Yadavs are recognized as OBC in other Indian states. As a result, they are eligible for the 27% OBC reservation in union government jobs and institutions, in addition to state benefits. Vijay adds, 'Mostly, the ones living in Sangrur and Patiala villages are farmers, and many of them are efficient in using combines, harvesters. They take them to other states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh for harvesting operations to earn money.'