All of us born after the National Struggle were provided a glimpse last week of what those decades might have felt like. Then too, as is now, the British government entangled dissidents in fake cases to pack them off to prison. Then too, as is now, the hope for a better future inspired many to overcome their fear of the oppressive British regime to walk the path of resistance.

On October 2, hope for a more substantive equality ballooned because of the Bihar caste survey findings. A fundamental question was subliminally raised: is it a just, democratic system wherein the upper castes, just 15.5 per cent of the state’s population, should monopolise resources and representations? The caste survey was a strike against the quest of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-Bharatiya Janata Party to perpetuate the hierarchical social order.