Former VP Jagdeep Dhankhar, a prominent Jat, has vanished since July 21, 2025. Justice Markandey Katju explores the mystery, community concerns, and lighter Jat anecdotes.
Jats of the world, unite
By Justice Markandey Katju
The former Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankar, who is a Jat, has disappeared after his resignation on 21.7.2025, and since then his whereabouts are unknown. There is a lot of speculation about this. Has he been told by BJP leaders to remain silent and incommunicado? Is he under house arrest? Has he been kidnapped, etc, etc. Even the Jat leader Rakesh Tikait could not contact him despite his best efforts.
The eminent jurist and former Union Minister, Kapil Sibal, said '' I have heard of the disappearance of a woman, but I have never heard of the disappearance of a Vice President ''.
This has caused great concern in the Jat community ( which is a large caste, particularly in western UP and Haryana in India ), as stated by Pushpendra Singh, a Jat leader, in a recent interview with journalist Neelu Vyas.
Once, before the 2024 Indian parliamentary elections, I asked a friend of mine who is a Jat, and is an M.Tech in computer science, and holds a high post in a multi-national corporation, for which political party will Jats vote. He replied that Jats will vote for a Jat candidate, irrespective of the party. I then asked what would happen if there are several Jat candidates. He replied that in that case, they will vote for the most prominent Jat among them.
I may now tell some humorous stories about Jats.
These are all in a lighter vein, and not to disparage or insult Jats in any way. I have many Jat friends, and have found them wonderful and good people. I have a high opinion of Jats. So Jats should please take all these as jokes
1. When I was a Judge of Allahabad High Court, I was also Administrative Judge of Meerut and Baghpat.
Once on an inspection tour, I was travelling on a car from Meerut to Baghpat, accompanied by the District Judge, Meerut.. The car was going on a narrow path in the countryside when from the opposite direction, came a tractor, laden with sugar cane and driven by a young man. When the tractor came near my car, the young man on it started shouting at us.
I asked the District Judge what wrong had we done which made the young man shout at us ?. The District Judge replied, " We did nothing wrong, My Lord. Don't mind it . He is a Jat. Jats talk like this ".
2. There is a saying in Hindi: ' Jat mara jaaniye, jab terihi ho jaye '
3. There is another saying: " Jat kahe sun Jatini. Isi gaon mein rehna
Billee oonth le gayi, to ' haan ji, haan ji ' kehna "
( In other words, however preposterous may be a statement of the ruler, nod your head and say '' Quite right, Your Majesty, quite right '' ).
And hear this video clip which is part of an interview of me taken by journalist Aditya Sangwan, who is also a Jat
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. These are his personal views.)
