Monday, September 7, 2015

Caste Census 2011- Another Mandal Agitation Waiting to Happen

Caste Census 2011- Another Mandal Agitation Waiting to Happen 

I am really wondering how the caste census data of 2011 that is likely to be released by the government will be received by the people.

The ballot box democracy based on electoral roll calls has generated huge interests in symmetry of primordial loyalties and caste matrix provides as readymade glue for such alignment of identities.

To put it in simple words, the census data may reveal how many Brahims, Rajputs and Bhumiyars etc are there in our country? What is the level of their development and where they stand in social order today?

If that may be the case, this data may be something really startling and eye opener for the countrymen. It may lead to realignment of castes and set a new paradigm of electoral arithmetic in the country.

Living in Tamil Nadu, I have come across a person, who said, he belongs to the Yadav community and was lamenting his caste’s poor presence in the state. He said while in Bihar and UP this caste is ruling elite, it has no voice in TN.

Well this caste matrix in India is a huge puzzle and to peel each of its layers will generate its own allied layers. I really don’t know how the data will be interpreted by the countrymen.

Will the Kashmiri Brahmins, will be on the same page with Bhadralok or Aiyers and Ayangars?

According to reports the central government is waiting for the Bihar elections to open up this Pandora box. When they do so what will happen in the country?

I feel there is going to be a huge churning out process in the social matrix of the country. The whole country will be on boil engaged in solving the puzzle “Bule ki Jan Main Kaun.”

Being a student of India’s freedom struggle, I can say with some clarity that the British in the 1930’s wanted to organize India on the basis of its castes.

In their scheme of things India is made of jumble mumble societies a graveyard on nationalities and it’s the castes that make up India. Hence the development of caste categories can really develop India.

In their vision they wanted the caste identity to be solidified and the caste groups be allowed to be cemented into the electoral block for their real development of the people of the country.

Our freedom fighters negated this idea tooth and nail. They said any such ideas negated the Indian identity. There were some forces who differed from this idea and had their own interpretation of India. Well that’s another story.

The story in hand is how the caste census data of 2011 if and when released, will be taken up by the countrymen. How the politicians are going to use it for their own purposes.

My feeling is another round of Mandal agitation is waiting in the wings to happen with the release of census data on caste. It has all the ammunitions that can take team Indian ship in the mid ocean and ignite the fire on the board.

The Patel agitation in Gujarat has given a wakeup call on this issue. India is sure to burn at different places when the revelation of the caste identity is really known to the categories of the people.

In such case what will happen to vision and mission of our great Prime Minister His vision of Ram Raj.