There has been an increasing debate taking place on caste census among individuals and social groups, political parties and voluntary organisations. Very recently Vakkaligas and Lingayats have voiced against caste survey by the governmental organisation in Karnataka state.
Likewise in several other states upper and dominant castes who are the major beneficiaries of the government speak against it.
RSS has openly opposed the caste census as divisive.
In reality diagnosing caste would reduce inequalities. Politically speaking though Union Home Minister Amit Shah says, “we are not opposed to it” but PM Modi is non-committal. However, he has said many things to address caste census. In fact he claimed OBC before coming to power but took position as Extremely Backward Class during 2015 Bihar elections. Later he said there are two castes; one is poor and the other is the class that uplifts the poor. Currently he says there are four castes–poor, youth, women and the farmer.
On the contrary Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav takes the position of PDA (Pichda, Dalit, Alpasankyak-Muslim, Adivasi and Aurath) to fight NDA and emphatically argues in favour of caste census. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi argued the need for caste census to fight the injustices done to the backward classes. Bihar has already conducted caste census and it’s become a national agenda fighting Hindutva campaigning religious polarisation. So is the case with INDIA alliance going more with caste census to deepen democracy and development.
RSS opposes caste census
RSS publicly made its policy clear that they oppose caste census and explains that there should not be any inequality, enmity and fights among castes. Further they said that there is no relationship between reservations and caste census. It only helps political leaders in pursuing politics.
In fact earlier, during Bihar elections in 2015, the RSS Sarsanghchalak spoke against reservations by saying that how long reservations are given to backwards and at whose cost and he wanted a review of it. Of course after amending the Constitution and making a law to give reservations to forward castes by way of economically weaker sections (EWS) RSS has mellowed down and started speaking in favour of reservations. It’s good that at last they withdrew from their earlier position of opposing the reservations.
But the latest statement against caste census in a way RSS is subtly once again trying to limit the forward March of the backward classes. In fact if one studies the developments over decades about reservations it is very clear that several courts have found fault with BC Committee/Commission reports and struck down their reports in ten to fifteen states for want of caste data and methodology based on scientific approach. However, the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court in 1992 upheld the definition of OBC and 27 percent of reservation in the central services as recommended by Mandal Commission which has produced the report based on 1931 caste census. The OBCs were denied identity and reservation for almost 46 years ie till 1993 since independence. Similarly they had to wait for the same in education in central institutions like IITs and Central Universities till 2008 i.e. almost 63 years.
Mandal Commission and OBC
We should make it clear that Mandal Commission gave birth to OBCs and fixed their share as 52 percent in the population based on the caste census. While working out the percentage, the Commission found little over 43 percent Hindu OBCs and about 8 percent non-Hindu OBCs which includes Muslims. Is it not the fact that it’s caste census besides others that made it possible to derive the accurate percentage of OBC population. Though it’s found to be 52 percent OBCs because of reservation ceiling fixed by the courts it had recommended only 27 percent reservation for OBCs as ST and SC reservation together it did not exceed the ceiling of 50 percent.
But today the reservation ceiling has been broken by the law enacted by the Parliament by giving 10 percent to EWS besides the existing 50 percent for socially and educationally backward classes, SC, SC and OBC.
The caste census conducted in Bihar made the government to increase the reservation for SC, ST, and OBC to 65 percent besides EWS 10 percent reservation. The government could take the decision because they found 63 percent OBCs. In fact courts observed earlier that the reservation percentage could be increased because of special circumstances.
Where lies the question of enmity among castes as the deprived backward groups have been demanding legitimate share which they deserve in the services and education. The RSS should have stood by the cause of reserved groups and persuaded the ill-informed social groups dispelling unfounded apprehensions upholding social justice and bringing harmony among castes. It’s constitutionally legitimate to stand by SC, ST and OBC promoting proportionate representation.
Politics and development
Caste census needs to be looked at from the point of view of political and developmental inclusion of the backwards. In fact the constitution directs the governance based on equality and social justice in building the nation. Unfortunately certain socio political elite with caste supremacist mindset are uncomfortable about the constitutional objective of equality. It’s a simplistic understanding that any social pathology needs to be diagnosed by exploring their livelihoods and level of backwardness. Like any human problem diagnosed through clinical tests social backwardness also needs to have not only x-rayed but also scanned. And it’s possible only one way of caste census. The survey determines the societal illiteracy, ill health, unemployment, homelessness, landlessness, malnutrition, stunted growth, indebtedness, occupational and cultural modernisation and developmental and democratic inclusion fighting not only casteisation of power and institutions and economy but also fighting ghettoised living.
Pluralising the polity deepens democracy and fights economic concentration. We cannot allow the nation to suffer from two major problems of poverty and social and educational backwardness perpetually. I think we need to come out from the developmental exclusion and social persecution.
While concluding the caste census we should remember the fact that India is a country of castes and every Hindu takes birth in on one caste or the other. And people live in caste in some form or the other.
Particularly we see caste is tagged on to their names while giving name to a new born. It is more prevalent among upper castes and it is imitated by dominant castes and it is spilled into other marginalised social groups. Marriages are performed in the caste and we see newspaper advertisements among caste elite seeking bride/bridegroom from similar castes. Similarly there are various subtle ways of renewing and promoting caste interests like housing friend and enquiring into food habits like vegetarian etc.
Is caste a pride?
Unfortunately in India caste is a pride for some and for others it’s an abuse. For no fault of the other the most oppressed carry the burden of caste. And is it not the fact that for those who suffer from it casteless-ness is liberation. It’s not only upper caste see pride in it but also the dominant caste imitates and asserts the birth right to power. Others are looked down upon and excluded from their right to dignity and respect.
In fact PM Modi often uses caste and takes objection to the others for their abuse because of his OBC status. So is the case with SC, ST, and OBC as they are often treated as low, unworthy of a place and respect. Even political parties and bureaucracies that operate through democratic institutions and governmental organisations often tend to practice caste excluding the other in the developmental, institutional and cultural spaces. In fact it’s caste census that reminds the concerned how different social groups are placed and how they can be uplifted to treat them as equal citizens.
No organisation questions such practices nor give call to shun caste suffix to reduce public identification of caste and it’s connections that originate from caste. Nor the parties or governments headed by them ever try to campaign against ‘casteisation’ of the society. Let’s be practical accepting the fact that caste runs through people’s DNA. It is all the more important that the leaders of Hindu persuasion begin to dismantle caste and making the religion caste free. Unless the religious leaders, Matadhishs, priests and pujaris begin to shun caste and pluralise the institutions and the governments and promote casteless practices, it will be difficult to erase it in the minds of the people and the society at large.
We should accept the fact that to make the nation humane and fraternal we should shun supremacist mindset and communal hatred. Nation should identify social/caste inequalities through caste census and fight for reducing them. It’s not unequals who build the nation. But by the very basis of the constitution, a nation can be built.
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