‘Caste is principle on which Indian society is organised’

It all goes back to the dark agesrdquo says Professor Shravan Deore founderpresident of Maharashtrabased party OBC Rajkiya Aghadi as he goes on to quote from the Manusmriti ldquoIf money accumulates in a shudrarsquos house it is harmful for a Brahminrdquo ldquoThis line forms the basis of why independent India has never seen a caste censusrdquo he tells us over a phone callLast week the Bihar government unveiled the results of its caste census According to the survey Other Backward Classes OBCs and Extremely Backward Classes EBCs form 63 per cent of the statersquos population While the number of OBCs stands at 2713 per cent of Biharrsquos 1307 crore population EBCs are at 36 per cent with upper castes making up just 1552 per centldquoWhat has never happened in the last 75 years may soon happen in Bihar nowrdquo says Deore adding ldquoA caste census means that the governmentrsquos pursestrings will loosen for the downtrodden classes This is exactly why there has never been a countrywide caste census Because once the numbers are out the government has to sit up and take notice and ensure that those in need are given the aid that they requirerdquoA washerman hailing from the Dhobi caste being interviewed by census officials during Biharrsquos recent caste census PicGetty ImagesThe last caste census in India was conducted in 1931 when India was still under the British rule The mammoth task was spearheaded by then Census Commissioner of India JH Hutton an anthropologist by training and a civil servant during the British ruleA decade later in 1941 a similar census was undertaken but the findings were never published Since then every census has taken into account the population of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in India but never the OBCs In 2011 a Socio Economic and Caste Census was conducted in India but when the findings were published all casterelated data excluding SCs and STs was omitted from the reportldquoWhen the caste system was still coming into being around 12th century AD people gravitated towards each other depending on the work they were doing Potters blacksmiths cobblershellip they all started staying together and bastis were formed Meanwhile the Brahmins made their way into the government and became advisors to the kings Their status remained the same when the British took overrdquo says Deore As a result every policy that is in place ldquohas been formed by the upper castes and to their advantagerdquo ldquoAt least the British were open to having conversations with reformers like Raja Ram Mohun Roy and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule They abolished the sati tradition and were interested in progress But when they left the reins fell to the upper castes and the rest literally is historyrdquo he says Sahil Valmiki cofounder and editor of Dalit Desk agreesShabbir Ansari head of the All India Muslim OBC Organisation says that he has been championing the cause for a national caste census since 1982 PicAnurag AhireldquoThe resistance to a countrywide caste census stems from the apprehension that such a census would unveil the harsh reality of the disproportionate privileges held by a small fraction of upper castes Delving into a thorough caste census would illuminate the intricate web of social hierarchies laying bare the extent of advantages enjoyed by specific segments of societyrdquo says the Dalit activist and scholarIn the absence of a clear picture about the ground realities OBCs continue to suffer be it in education jobs representation or opportunities in crucial fields like politics In its 1979 study the Mandal Commission which was established to identify the socially or educationally backward classes in India reported that 52 per cent of Indiarsquos population belonged to OBC category After much argument the Mandal decided on 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in private and government jobs The decision however sparked off protests across the country with people threatening immolation if it were implementedUltimately a petition was filed in the Supreme Court and the verdict imposed conditions on the reservation including that it should not extend to promotions and that the carry forward rule should not breach the percentage ceilingShravan Deore founderpresident of OBC Rajkiya Aghadi and Sahil Valmikimidday in its September 17 article on the KunbiMaratha controversy had reported how the 1931 caste census data had met with opposition A day in January 1931 was notified by the Congress Committee to be observed as Census Boycott SundayThe Bihar caste census too did not go unopposed Even as the census was being conducted multiple petitions were filed in the Patna high court and a stay was sought on its publication After the first set of figures was released the petitioners approached the Supreme Court saying that the Bihar government had preempted the stay However on Friday the apex court refused to stay the publishing of the census saying that while the issue of the state government having powers to conduct such a census would be examined separately it would not interfere with a policy decision eitherShabbir Ansari head of the All India Muslim OBC Organisation remembers the time when he stood shoulder to shoulder with the late Gopinath Munde the veteran BJP leader to gherao the Parliament in 2010 The agitation went on for three days during which Parliament proceedings remained suspendedldquoMunde in his speech had pointed out how the country has a census for animals and trees but not for caste He was under tremendous pressure from his own party when he took this stand The government ultimately announced in 2013 that a countrywide caste census would soon be undertaken but the government changed in 2014 and that was the end of itrdquo says Ansari who has been fighting for the cause since 1982 and has gone to jail several times for itLike him scores of people who are strongly advocating the caste census say that the census is not just about putting a number to the population of a communityldquoThere are so many things you need to know about a communityrdquo says Deore ldquoWhat kind of jobs they have if they have jobs at all do they own land what is their standard of living whether they are under any debt who do they owe money tohellip it is a comprehensive picture of the caste and the person belonging to the casterdquoShireen Azam doctoral researcher at University of Oxford adds ldquoIndia has continued to record religiouswise data in every census These made big headlines and the numbers of Muslims and Christians are discussed to build a narrative of fear and frenzy What is the special need for counting people on the basis of religion In fact caste is a much more tangible category because caste determines the community you come from the occupation your family has done traditionally Caste is the principle on which society in India is organised We need to know the data to be able to counter itrdquoA nationwide census is urgent Azam argues ldquoHopefully the Bihar census will be the beginning of a muchneeded change in discourse in national politics which is built on false chimera of shiny and tall buildings that are only great to photographrdquo