Journalism of Courage
The chorus for a nation-wide caste census grew Sunday with a resolution calling it as an “imperative” to ensure targeted affirmative action for marginalised communities being passed with the backing of many Opposition parties and NDA ally JD(U).
The parties made common cause over the issue during an event hosted by the Jayant Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) at Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan to commemorate the 35th death anniversary of former Prime Minister and stalwart farmer leader Chaudhary Charan Singh.
“The last caste census in India was done in 1931 and all government policies are framed according to the numbers enumerated back then. Therefore, it is imperative for us to implement a caste census immediately to inform data-driven decision-making as is the case in almost all spheres of our life whether in medicine, sciences or business…,” said the resolution passed after day-long discussions.
While the BJP-led Centre has ruled out a national caste census, with the Centre informing the Supreme Court in 2021 that such an exercise would not be feasible, in Bihar, which is run by the saffron party along with the JD(U), an all-party meeting will be held over the issue on June 1.
Apart from RLD and JD(U), the Vigyan Bhawan resolution received the support of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, CPI(M), Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) and the Tripura-based TIPRA Motha. Meghalaya Governor Satyapal Malik, who was also supposed to attend the event, stayed away citing health issues.
SP Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav and BSP Lok Sabha MP Danish Ali, who were also expected to participate, could not do so as they had to travel outside Delhi, RLD sources said.
At the programme, which saw the presence of a large number of RLD workers, the parties alleged that the BJP is wary of caste census as it will jeopardise its brand of politics “fuelled by creating communal divide”. Incidentally, the BJP’s Bihar unit has confirmed its participation in the upcoming all-party meeting, with it unwilling to cede political space to its coalition partner JD(U).
On Sunday, speaking at the event, JD(U)’s KC Tyagi urged the RLD to hold on to the demand for a nation-wide caste census, asserting that an overwhelming majority of the country’s population will support the move.
Backing the demand for caste census, RJD MP Manoj Jha said: “You cannot change your country’s destiny without data, numbers.” AAP’s Singh said the demand is being opposed by “the establishment in Delhi and the one in Nagpur as it will not suit them”.
At the event, the demand for a “Social Justice Commission” or an “Equal Opportunities Commission” also came up. The panel, they said, is required to analyse the data that a caste census may throw up so that representation for women, SC, ST, backward, minorities or rural-based weaker sections is not the exception, but the norm.
TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said, “It is a matter of regret that caste census, which used to take place during the British Raj, is not being done now. They don’t want to carry out caste census as they want to perpetuate the Manuvadi system. Social justice, equality is not on their agenda, their agenda is Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura.”
Chaudhary, who has been picked as a joint SP-RLD nominee for the Rajya Sabha, also pitched for the creation of a “Social Justice Commission” or an “Equal Opportunities Commission”, a demand which was also supported by the other parties.
The resolution stated that the commission is required to analyse the data that a caste census may throw up. “We demand a Social Justice Commission or an Equal Opportunities Commission to analyse the data of the Caste Census and other public and private sources and recommend affirmative action and policies so that representation for women, SC, ST, backward, minorities or rural based weaker sections and especially in the private sector is not the exception, but the norm,” it said.
For Chaudhary, the occasion of his grandfather’s death anniversary was also an opportunity to ensure that the momentum gained by the RLD in the recent months, with the party improving its tally from zero to eight in the Uttar Pradesh legislative Assembly, is sustained.
