Is caste-count in census relevant in this age?
Should caste be included in Indian census?
Should caste be counted in the census?
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IS CASTE- COUNT IN CENSUS RELEVANT IN THIS AGE?
Govt’s decision to include caste-count in the census raises a few genuine questions in the mind of ‘aam aadmi’. Who will be benefited from this exercise? If we are a secular country what is Govt’s compulsion to go for caste- based census? Is secularism limited to religion only? Should it not consider all citizens in spite of their caste as equals?
Since ancient times Indian Society has been classified, should I say divided on the basis of castes. Our ancestors in the best of their wisdom created diverse sections in the society based on the work done by the people. They named the classification as ‘Varna’.
It was fourfold system putting Brahmins at the top of social order as ‘pujaris’ and teachers’, Kashatrias as rulers and soldiers, Vaishyas as business community and Sudras as uneducated workers doing menial jobs. It was a division of human beings on the caste basis without any godly oracle. But there was major flaw in the Varna system. The classification of individuals was based on the functional aspect alone, that is on the basis of role they played in the society , the Being aspect(considering every one as equal) was ignored. This parochial approach led to caste- bias and instilled feeling of inequality.
In India caste- bias is deep rooted in our psyche, the moment one knows the other person’s identity with a low caste surname he is looked down on and is put to disadvantageous position wherever he is working. Lately there was lot of hue and cry about same –gotra marriages leading to ‘honour killings’ and suicides. I wonder, what was the relationship between sons and daughters of Adam and Eve? Agreed, we now live in a civilized society where relationships are well defined and largely respected. But to establish brother-sister relationship between two individuals of the same-gotra is too far- fetched.
As we know all manmade concepts become meaningless after they have served their limited purpose in the process of evolution, so with the concept of Varna. Today Baniyas (Vaishyas Community) can be found amongst big army ranks, they can also be seen as Professors and engineers; Sikhs and Jats can be seen running successful businesses and the so called ‘low-caste’ citizens are seen as IAS and IPS officers. Both my plumber and watchman are Sharmas. Sant Kabir was born in the family of weavers, can anybody judge him on the basis of Varna.
In several communities in the world people do not carry surname-tag with their names; they prefer to be identified as Black, Brown, White, Rose or even Flower. Shakespeare has beautifully questioned the relevance of name in his famous Play Romeo and Juliet:
Tis but thy name is my enemy-
Thou art thyself, though not a Montage.
What’s Montage? It is not hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man, O, be some other name
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.
The door-to door survey by the Govt officials to record caste of the people is an act of encouragement to keep the caste –bias alive in our society. Even if urban India is prepared to let go this caste-bias, it’s the politicians of our country who don’t want so for their vested interests.
