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Context: Members of the Ahir community are protesting for creation of an Ahir Regiment in the Indian Army.

What is the genesis of the demand for an Ahir Regiment?

• The Ahirwal region, which includes the southern Haryana districts of Rewari, Mahendragarh, and Gurgaon, and is associated with Rao Tula Ram, the Ahir hero of the revolt of 1857.
• This region has traditionally contributed soldiers to the Indian Army in large numbers.
• The community was brought into national limelight after the story of the bravery of the Ahir troops of Haryana in the Battle of Rezang La in 1962. The Ahirs of 13 Kumaon deployed at Rezang La in Eastern Ladakh resisted the Chinese attack on them until almost the entire company of 120 troops had been wiped out. Out of the 117 troops killed, 114 were Ahirs, and only three survived with serious injuries. The killed Ahir troops belonged to the Rewari-Mahendragarh belt of Haryana.
• Members of the community have long argued that the Ahirs deserve a full-fledged Infantry Regiment named after them, not just two battalions in the Kumaon Regiment and a fixed percentage in other regiments.

What has been the Army’s response to the demand?

• The Army has rejected the demand for any new class or caste based regiment.
• It has said that while the older regiments based on castes and regions like the Dogra Regiment, Sikh Regiment, Rajput Regiment, and Punjab Regiment will continue, no new demands on the lines of an Ahir Regiment, Himachal Regiment, Kalinga Regiment, Gujarat Regiment or any tribal regiment would be entertained.
• Military does not subscribe to the colonial theory of ‘martial races’, which led to the creation of single class or caste regiments, the regimental system has stood the test of time, and has acquired an Indian nationalist character.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-the-ahir-regiment-demand-7833461/

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