Cabinet tosses caste-based census demand to ministers' group!
Home proposes caste count after Census!
Indian Holocaust My Fathers Life and Time- Three Hundred Seventy SIXPalash Biswas
http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/
Caste census,OBC Headcount Put on Hold as RSS Wins the Brahaminical Battle and Earlier We Warned of UPA Strategic Betrayal!
Cabinet tosses caste-based census demand to ministers' group!Political parties, including the Samajwadi Party, RJD and JD-U have been strongly demanding inclusion of caste in the census exercise.
Home proposes caste count after Census!
Mind you, Bharat Mukti Morcha continues the Campaign for OBC Headcount in Full Swing as Government of India Incs Zionist Brahaminical defers the decision referring it to Group of Ministers to bypass Monsoon Session.
You may remember,as soon as the Prime Minister declared Caste Census in the Parliament and said that the Cabinet would endorse it, the Brahaminical Media, Intelligentsia and Civil Society launched intense hate campaign as I suggested only the Brahamins should be counted and be allowed the Foreigner Eurasians to have their share in accordance their percentage so that the IN FIGHT amongst the SIX thousand castes and converted minorities and aboriginal Communities which sustain the Manusmriti Rule, should end once for all!I was not joking.
It was quite clear in the National Press Conference of the Prime Minister to celebrate Completion of First Year of the back to back Second Tenure which turned to be a naked carnival amidst all round Disaster, as the PM denied Caste Census as reality. Even this Mornong , the TV Channels with screaming Headlines and constant Scrolling were indulged to control aboriginal indigenous minority Brains as they broke the news about SONIA GANDHI and Pranab Mukherjee favouring the decision.What a Joke! Sonia wants but the cabinet deferred!
With consensus eluding, the government on Wednesday decided to set up a Group of Ministers (GoM) to take a view on the controversial issue of whether there should be a caste-based census.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, discussed the issue over which various ministers are divided, official sources said.
The Cabinet then decided that a GoM should take a view on the issue, they said. The GoM is likely to be headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The Cabinet, which first discussed the issue at length on May 4, has been divided on it.
While Law Minister Veerappa Moily and some others are pushing for caste-based census, Home Minister P Chidambaram has reservations on it.
The Home Ministry is understood to have opined that the present exercise of enumeration should go on and caste could be included later at the time of taking biometric samples.
The Union Home Ministry has said that the best time to go for a caste-based headcount, if there is a decision to that effect, would be after tabulation of Census figures and during the biometric capture phase when photographing, fingerprinting and iris mapping of citizens for the National Population Register (NPR) is done.
The ministry has given its view in an amended note that will be put up for discussion before the Cabinet on Wednesday. The ministry had vehemently opposed caste-based census in an earlier note. The new note also reflects the realisation, in the backdrop of the recent debate in Parliament on the issue, that there is a wider political constituency favouring it.
At his press conference on Monday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said that a decision on caste census would be taken by the Cabinet after taking note of the opinion expressed during the Parliament debate.
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Cabinet tosses caste-based census demand to ministers' group
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In an obvious attempt to buy time, the highly emotive demand of political parties for conducting a caste-based census was Wednesday referred by the cabinet to a group of ministers for a decision.
The note for the Cabinet states that the caste data collected will be anonymised, i.e. anonymity will be preserved like in the case of AIDS screenings. It has, though, suggested that this job be entrusted to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs or be examined by an expert group. The reason, it says, is neither the Census Commission of India (CCI) nor the Office of the Registrar General (ORG) has the expertise to classify caste returns in such manner.
The MHA note poses two questions for the perusal of Cabinet ministers. One, whether the policy decision of not collecting and publishing data on castes other than SC and ST should be reversed and a question on caste be included in the questionnaire for Census 2011 to be conducted from February 9 to 28. And two, whether the question on caste should be taken up when biometrics — photographing, iris mapping and fingerprinting — is done.
'The cabinet has accorded in-principle approval to referring the issue to a group of ministers,' an official source said after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
'There was an intense discussion in the cabinet on the issue and it was felt that, given the diverse views on the issue, it would be best that a group of ministers consider such an emotive issue,' the source said.
'The modalities of creating the group of ministers is being worked out,' the source added.
While the sources wouldn't confirm this, the group of ministers is likely to be headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who has emerged as the government's top trouble-shooter on contentious issues.
The issue had generated considerable heat in the just-concluded budget session of parliament with near unanimity among the parties - both ruling and opposition - in the Lok Sabha on the demand for a caste-based census. Janata Dal-United's (JD-U) Sharad Yadav even warned of a 'volcanic eruption' (of backward class people) if this was not done.
Speaking on the concluding day of the session May 7, Manmohan Singh said: 'Home Minister (P. Chidambaram) has laid a detailed statement on the issue of Census 2011. I am aware of the views of honourable members belonging to all sections of the house. I assure you the cabinet will take a decision shortly.'
He spoke in a similar vein at his national press conference Monday to mark the first anniversary of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's second tenure.
A day before the Lok Sabha adjourned, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Left parties, the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) strongly supported the demand for a caste-based census.
Some constituents in the UPA government, including the DMK, the National Conference and the Muslim League, were also in agreement.
While some Congress MPs like Sandip Dikshit and Beni Prasad Verma supported the caste-based census, Lal Singh and Bhakta Charan Das said caste-based politics should be avoided.
On May 7, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, while replying to a short duration discussion on the issue in the Lok Sabha, said that 'nothing should be done that may affect the integrity of population census'.
Mentioning the problems in including caste in the census, he opposed a caste-based count of people in the upcoming exercise.
'After Independence, as a matter of policy, the question relating to caste, other than the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, was not included,' he added.
The prime minister's statement had come after this.
Also on May 7, prominent OBC (other backward classes) leaders from the BJP, the RJD, the SP and the JD-U met Finance Minister Mukherjee on the issue.
The meeting was also attended by Chidambaram and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal.
The last caste-based Census was conducted in 1931 during the British rule.
Several political parties, including Samajwadi Party, RJD and JD(U), have been pressing for caste-based census but the government is moving cautiously on the politically-sensitive matter.
The issue had figured prominently in the just-concluded Budget Session of Parliament when the Prime Minister had assured the members that government would take their views into account before deciding on the matter.
The Prime Minister, during his press conference on Monday, said the decision would be taken by the Cabinet.
"I made a statement in Parliament in which I said that we shall take into account the views expressed in Parliament by various sections ...and that I will ask the Cabinet to consider them. That process is on," Singh said.
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UIDAI: What Nandan means to Nalanda
26 May 2010, 0259 hrs IST,Pankaj Mishra,ET BureauTopics:
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Munchun Devi, 28, a resident of Masihadeeh village in Nalanda, Bihar, has never heard of Nandan Nilekani. "Is he a sarkari babu (government official)?" she asks. She has no clue that he is the reason why she is standing in a queue, awaiting her turn to submit indelible impressions of her face, fingerprints and iris to the government. In return, she will get a 12-digit number with which every government agency and even banks will identify her for the rest of her life. Devi is among the two dozen folks from her village who have turned up to participate in a pilot being conducted by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) — the world's biggest citizen database project, led by its chairman Nilekani. "I thought a movie is being shot here. But I am told this set-up has been created to capture our identities," she says. It's been an eventful summer day for the villagers of Masihadeeh. Earlier in the day, two volunteers had visited their homes to record details about each family member, their occupation, age, etc. The single-page forms were handed back to villagers, duly filled, and they were asked to visit the panchayat (village council) building later in the day for verification. All of this will culminate in 20,000 residents of Nalanda getting an UID number, or 'Aadhaar', as it is now called. The pilot is in its last lap now — 19,000 residents have already completed the process that Devi is about to do. Nalanda district, located 50 miles south-east of Bihar's capital Patna, along with Mysore in Karnataka and Medak and Krishna districts in Andhra Pradesh, is among the earliest pilots for the identity project. The learning from these trials will form the foundation on which the identification exercise will be rolled out to over a billion citizens. About 600 million will be covered in the first four-and-a-half years. On the outside, Masihadeeh's panchayat building, the centre of all the action today, is just another non-descript structure... patched roof and faded, worn walls. Inside, the importance of the project is completely lost on Masihadeeh's residents. Most of them initially see this as just another government exercise. "I am not sure what UID is, but I am here because it's a government initiative and I am sure it will bring some good, some day," says Jagdish Kevat, a 55-year-old farm worker. Like most in 23 lakh residents of the district, Kevat works the ground, producing rice, potato and onion. The district epitomises the challenges faced in a majority of Indian villages, home to 70% of the nation's citizens. "We picked up blocks in Nalanda for the UID pilot because this is the toughest anywhere in India — it's the most backward pocket and is located the farthest from the district headquarters," says Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, district magistrate and collector of Nalanda. | |
Cabinet to consider caste census today
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Baba Ramdev does a political 'shirshasana' for South
Baba Ramdev is the sadhu who owns a Scottish island, has a zillion homes imitating his yogic postures every morning, and counts the high and the mighty across India (and increasingly the world) as his 'students'. The island in Scotland was a gift from one such student. Now, he is the using the power of yoga for another sort of power: political.
As part of his political ambitions, he is seeking to use his devoted yoga students, in lakhs, to launch his political career. He was recently in Bangalore to test the waters in the South and build his yoga institute - Patanjali Yogpeeth - and his "social, spiritual organisation" - Bharath Swabhiman Trust - in the South. He also held a three-day long Yog Science Camp in Bangalore and other towns of Karnataka. It is very clear that these entities and his activities are just a front for Ramdev's barely disguised political ambitions. He is a fairly well known entity in North India, now the Baba has set his sights on the South.
Decrying the ill-effects of modern lifestyles, Ramdev says, "Everyone's home in India today is an hospital, everyone a medical store", he says, adding, "a regular but simple Yoga regime that I prescribe will make people healthy not just in body but the mind too". It is indisputable that Ramdev has been a catalyst in taking yoga to the Indian masses - especially the middle class. The number of families who spend their morning in front of their televisions with Ramdev's tuitions on yoga either beamed on one of the channels or through CDs/DVDs are legion. He has undoubtedly contributed to raising the awareness and importance of a healthy lifestyle in India and propagating the efficacy of the ancient Indian system of yoga.
However, when it comes to the political Ramdev's solutions (through the Bharat Swabhiman movement)seems border on the simplistic and closely reflect the prescriptions of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an affiliate of the Sangh Parivar. In an era where India's innate strength as a knowledge society and the knowledge of English is seen to give India a 'comparative advantage' and catapulted it into a global player, Ramdev 's seems to go against the grain.
Proclaiming that "everything that is going on is British", Ramdev wants to "change the British style of administration and the laws enacted by the British". In the field of economics calls for a "complete boycott (of) every foreign good (sic), manufactured with zero (sic) technology" - a throwback to the days of the freedom struggle. In an increasingly flat world, where goods and services will be produced and provided in sites which provide maximum efficiency and least cost, Ramdev's advocacy seems to go completely against the grain. One of the solutions for beefing up the Indian economy and alleviating the lot of the poor in India is through an end to corruption, the Baba says. "We should enact a law which will prescribe the death penalty for corruption", he thunders.
However, His route to end corruption is as novel as some of his other ideas. "Abolish all currency in India more than Rs 100," he says. This will at one stroke make redundant the black money (which are usually in high denominations) accumulated by the unscrupulous. Plus, he says with a laugh, "it will stop big corruption as well, as you will need to take cash in a truck rather than a bag, if someone wants to pay a bribe". He also advocates that the cash illegally stashed by Indians abroad to the tune of "100 lakh crore rupees should be brought back to the country, which should be used to alleviate poverty and to shore up social sector projects".
While Ramdev is clear that he will step into the whirlpool of politics ("politics should not remain the preserve of the corrupt" ), he has still not announced the name or format of his political formation other than promising that his "people" will contest "all the seats" in the next general elections. However, he completely rules out a role for himself, other than being a moral force - "no elections, no positions", he says. Have we heard that before.
Source: India Syndicate
Photos: E Jayakrishnan/India Syndicate
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Bids for one set of all-India wireless broadband spectrum licences reached 31.98 billion rupees ($670 million), or about 83 percent higher than the base price, on the second day of an auction, government data showed on Tuesday.
- Monsoon winds pause, but seen reviving - experts Reuters - Tue, May 25
Monsoon winds in South Asia have not advanced since last Friday after an early arrival in the region, but the vital June-September rainfall is still expected to be normal, weather scientists said on Tuesday.
- StanChart India issue covered 5 pct on first day Reuters - Tue, May 25
UK bank Standard Chartered's India share sale to raise up to about $580 million was roughly 5 percent subscribed on its first day, with most bids at the low end of the price band, stock exchange data showed, as a global selldown kept a lid on demand.
- Global Internet group cautions against U.N. takeover Reuters - Tue, May 25
The head of the U.S.-monitored organisation in charge of assigning global internet addresses such as .com and .net has cautioned against proposals to put the group under U.N. or other international control.
- FACTBOX - Ambani Brothers: Who does what? Reuters - Tue, May 25
REUTERS - Billionaire Ambani brothers took a step towards reconciliation in their long-running feud on Sunday, ending non-compete agreements in a move they hoped would remove a source of friction between the two groups.
- ANALYSIS - Gas price rise to boost LNG, spur fuel reform Reuters - Tue, May 25
The governments move to more than double the price of natural gas pumped by state firms will drive investment in gas output and spur LNG imports, raising the share of gas in the energy mix of Asia's third-largest oil consumer.
- BSE Sensex provisionally close down 2.7 pct Reuters - Tue, May 25
The BSE Sensex provisionally fell 2.7 percent on Tuesday, mirroring the losses in world stocks as euro zone worries continued to curb risk appetite.
- Pakistani court quashes appeals Hafiz Mohammad Saeed Reuters - Tue, May 25
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court's decision to release an Islamist militant who India accuses of masterminding a 2008 assault on Mumbai, dismissing a government appeal.
- Pakistani court quashes appeals against Hafiz Saeed Reuters - Tue, May 25
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday backed the release of an Islamist militant leader who India accuses of masterminding the 2008 attacks on Mumbai, dismissing government appeals against his release.
- Black box of crashed Air India plane found Reuters - Tue, May 25
A black box recorder has been recovered from an Air India Express Boeing 737-800 aircraft that crashed in Mangalore last week, killing 158 people on board, an official said on Tuesday.
National News
Need for tri-Service communications networks stressed
IANS - 07:46 PMThiruvananthapuram, May 26 (IANS) Top commanders of the Indian armed forces Wednesday stressed the need for seamless integration and synergy of the three Services to counter threats to the vast national resources in the southern peninsula and economic zones in the Indian Ocean Region.
- JVM-P not averse to forming government with Congress IANS - 07:45 PM
Ranchi, May 26 (IANS) The Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) Wednesday said it was not averse to forming a government in alliance with the Congress after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) withdrew support to the Shibu Soren-led government.
- India backs Africa for Security Council IANS - 07:36 PM
New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) India Wednesday backed Africa's demand to get a permanent seat in the UN Security Council and sought closer collaboration with the continent over a slew of global issues ranging from terrorism and climate change to eradication of poverty and hunger.
- PDP leader sacked for vulgarity against Omar IANS - 07:33 PM
Jammu, May 26 (IANS) The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expelled one of its leaders, A.K. Sawhney, for using vulgar language against Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. But Sawhney claimed he quit on his own.
- Mayawati is officially worth Rs.88 crore IANS - 07:29 PM
Lucknow, May 26 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Wednesday filed her nomination seeking a fresh term in the Vidhan Parishad (upper house) in which she declared assets worth Rs.88 crore, an increase in Rs.36 crore from 2007.
- Caste-based census a sensitive issue: Congress IANS - 07:24 PM
New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) The Congress Wednesday said a caste-based census is a sensitive issue and there is difference of opinion on it - even within the political parties.
- Maoists gun down BJP leader in Chhattisgarh IANS - 07:21 PM
Raipur, May 26 (IANS) A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was shot dead by Maoists in Chhattisgarh's restive Dantewada district, a police official said.
- Hyderabad steals the show in IIT-JEE IANS - 07:20 PM
New Delhi/Hyderabad, May 26 (IANS) Hyderabad boys have claimed the top two positions in the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE) this year, the results of which were declared Wednesday.
- Assam government to hold talks with ULFA IANS - 07:13 PM
Guwahati, May 26 (IANS) The Assam government Wednesday announced it would hold peace talks with the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) whether or not the outfit's elusive commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah joins the negotiations.
- Delhi High Court stays Air India strike IANS - 07:00 PM
New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Wednesday stayed the ongoing strike by Air India employees till July 13.
- PDP expels leader for indecent act against Omar IANS - 06:59 PM
Jammu, May 26 (IANS) The main opposition in Jammu and Kashmir, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has expelled one of its top leaders A.K. Sawhney for allegedly using 'vulgar' language against Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at a party rally last month.
- Designers Parvesh-Jai accuse Riyaz Gangji of plagiarism IANS - 06:54 PM
New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) Designer duo Parvesh-Jai have sent a legal notice to Mumbai-based designer Riyaz Gangji for stealing the design of one of their outfits.
- President, vice president greet nation on Buddha Purnima IANS - 06:44 PM
New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) President Pratibha Patil and Vice President Hamid Ansari Wednesday greeted the nation on the occasion of Buddha Purnima Thursday.
- Maoists kill teenager in West Bengal IANS - 06:27 PM
Kolkata, May 26 (IANS) Maoists allegedly opened fire indiscriminately early Wednesday in West Bengal's west Midnapore district killing a teenaged boy, police said.
- Bodies of three more Keralite crash victims identified IANS - 06:26 PM
Kasargode (Kerala), May 26 (IANS) Three more bodies of Keralites who died in the Air India Express plane crash in Mangalore have been identified through DNA test, a state government official said.
- Twins head for Germany, apex court seeks law on surrogacy IANS - 06:06 PM
New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) As the last hurdle was cleared Wednesday in the travel of surrogate twins to Germany with their natural father Jan Balaz, the Supreme Court said the central government should enact a legislation to take care of surrogacy and related issues.
- Cabinet tosses caste-based census demand to ministers' group IANS - 05:53 PM
New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) In an obvious attempt to buy time, the highly emotive demand of political parties for conducting a caste-based census was Wednesday referred by the cabinet to a group of ministers for a decision.
- After BJP, JD-U withdraws support to Soren IANS - 05:43 PM
Ranchi, May 26 (IANS) The Janata Dal-United Wednesday pulled out of the Shibu Soren-led government in Jharkhand, two days after the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) withdrew support.
- Mulayam renominates Jaya Bachchan to Rajya Sabha IANS - 05:29 PM
Lucknow/New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has again named actress-politician Jaya Bachchan for another term in the Rajya Sabha, a move that is likely to further alienate his one-time close aide Amar Singh.
- Rape by traffic cop shakes faith in police: activists IANS - 05:18 PM
New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) The rape of a woman Sunday night in a moving car allegedly by a Delhi Police traffic constable and his friend is not just shocking, but also threatens to make the common man lose all faith in police, activists said Wednesday.
National News
UPA lacks clarity in dealing with Maoist threats: BJP
IE - 05:11 PMBJP alleged that the Congress led UPA government's 'lack of clarity' in dealing with threats by Maoist threats from various parts of the country has resulted in lack of effective functioning of police and paramilitary forces.
- Take strong action against striking employees: Govt to AI IE - 05:11 PM
Taking exception to the "illegal and irresponsible" strike by a section of Air India staffers, the government on Wednesday gave a free hand to the airline to take firm measures to restore normalcy in its operations, the disruption of which has caused harassment to travellers.
- Bail plea: No immediate relief for Rathore IE - 05:11 PM
Spending a night in jail, disgraced ex-Haryana DGP SPS Rathore on Wednesday failed to get any immediate relief when the Punjab and Haryana High Court adjourned to Friday his bail plea hearing in the Ruchika molestation case.
- Surrogate twins of German couple get visa IE - 05:11 PM
Curtains came down on a two-year- long legal battle involving the surrogate twins of a German couple with the Supreme Court being told today that they have been granted visa to leave the country.
- No court relief for AI over staff strike IE - 05:11 PM
The Air India on Wednesday moved the Bombay High Court seeking a direction restraining its employees from continuing their strike.
- Sena nominates Raut for RS; Raote, Parab for Council IE - 03:30 PM
Shiv Sena on Wednesday announced renomination of its MP Sanjay Raut for Rajya Sabha and senior leader Diwakar Raote and Anil Parab for Maharashtra Legislative Council.
- Fatwa: Muslim women can work in offices but with veil IE - 03:30 PM
Days after a leading Islamic seminary held as un-Islamic women working in offices in proximity with men, another seminary has issued a fatwa that Muslim women can work in offices but with a veil.
- Agni-5 ICBM to be a reality by next year: DRDO IE - 03:30 PM
India is likely to enter the elite club of nations with Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) capability as the over 5,000 km range Agni-5 missile was expected to become a reality by next year.
- 'Go' and 'no go' areas in iron ore mining soon: Ramesh IE - 03:30 PM
Like coal, the iron ore mining sector in the country too will soon have 'go' and 'no go' areas where green clearance will be given depending on their ecological sensitivity, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has said.
- Rahul's 'project' moves beyond UP to Chhattisgarh, MP, Haryana IE - 05:42 AM
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has finally moved his focus from Uttar Pradesh to reach out directly to party legislators from other states.
- Face-recognition software helped cops zero in on Bakery suspect IE - 05:42 AM
Images generated using a face-recognition software, combined with careful study of CCTV visuals from Pune's German Bakery where a bomb exploded on February 13 and comparison with photographs of suspects, helped police zero in on Abdul Samad Mohammed Zarrar alias Abdul Samad Bhatkal.
- Home proposes caste count after Census IE - 05:42 AM
The Union Home Ministry has said that the best time to go for a caste-based headcount, if there is a decision to that effect, would be after tabulation of Census figures and during the biometric capture phase when photographing, fingerprinting and iris mapping of citizens for the National Population Register (NPR) is done.
- If you can't sack Raja, change his portfolio for fair probe: BJP to PM IE - 05:42 AM
From limited mandate to limited authority, the debate it seems is not ending. A day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh firmly backed his embattled Telecom Minister, the BJP on Tuesday trained its guns at the PM saying he doesn't have the "political authority" to sack A Raja and sought at least a change in the minister's portfolio.
- I'm fed up, hang me quickly if you have to: Afzal IE - 09:49 AM
Sentenced to death in the Parliament attack case, Mohammad Afzal Guru wants a quick decision on his mercy petition, whatever the outcome.
- Passengers grounded as AI crew stay off air IE - 05:42 AM
The Indira Gandhi International Airport's Terminal 1A, which caters to all domestic flights of the national carrier Air India, was flooded with people in the wake of the strike called by NACIL (I) on Tuesday.
- Book the show IE - 05:42 AM
Brick Lane reaches Indian theatres after three years, but director Sarah Gavron still sounds excited The film Brick Lane was made in 2007. But it's releasing in India only now.I was very keen that the film releases in India, which is an important market.
- Finally, dedicated lanes for BEST buses IE - 05:42 AM
The agencies looking after transport and infrastructure of Mumbai have agreed to construct dedicated lanes for Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) buses on the Western and Eastern Express Highways and the Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR).
- On day without toppers, star performers look back & ahead IE - 05:42 AM
With a score of 98.5 per cent, Sudarshan Somnath Lamture, 18, who plays table tennis at state level, is certain he is among the top scorers in HSC science.
- Guwahati Rajdhani derails in Bihar IE - 05:42 AM
Fourteen coaches of the Guwahati-New Delhi Rajdhani Express derailed near Naugachhia in Bihar's Bhagalpur district on Tuesday morning.
- City briefs IE - 05:42 AM
Will have 15 per cent women soon: Delhi Police in RTI replyThe Union Home Ministry has advised Delhi Police to increase the strength of women in the capital's police force to 15 per cent. Responding to queries filed by RTI activist Subhash Chandra Aggarwal, the MHA said the police have been advised to raise the strength of women in the force for which fresh recruitments are being undertaken.
National News
Virus plays havoc with 'papayas' in UP
HT - 04:40 PMViral diseases and difficulty in differentiating the male and female breed have ruined the 'desi papaya' (carica papaya) crop in State.
- No women officers in Delhi Police's top posts HT - 10:45 AM
As the country debates reservation for women in parliament and state assemblies, cops have admitted that the top ranks of Delhi Police have no women officers.
- India's fashion icon Kirmani back in Valley to promote fashion HT - 10:45 AM
The country's famous fashion designer Zubair Kirmani --- who left conservative Kashmir at the peak of militancy to pursue his interest in fashion despite societal pressures --- has decided to set-up a unit in Srinagar with an aim: to define nuances of fashion to people here and to alleviate condition of artisans.
- Rush hour at St Stephen's HT - 10:15 AM
After a lull during vacations, the St Stephen?s College campus came alive on Tuesday with students thronging the college on the first day of sale of forms.
- Want to know the secrets of life processes? HT - 10:15 AM
The BSc (H) in Biomedical Science is specially designed to cover a broad range of basic as well as interdisciplinary areas in biological and chemical sciences. This course was introduced in the year 1999 by Acharya Narendra Dev College (ANDC) and now is also offered by Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences and Shaheed Rajguru College of Applied Sciences.
- DTU joins the rat race today HT - 10:15 AM
The Delhi Technological University (DTU), will commence its admission procedure for its various undergraduate and postgraduate courses for the 2010 academic session from May 26.
- Instead of an Alto she gets lock-up in dowry HT - 10:15 AM
Devender Kumar did what any Indian brother would do for his sister. He tried to give her the best wedding he could afford. He gave the groom?s family several things ? from gold, refrigerator, washing machine to clothes and utensils. But none of these impressed the groom?s family. They wanted a Maruti Alto and allegedly threatened to call off the wedding if they weren?t given that in dowry.
- Bullet at wedding hurts 15-year-old HT - 10:15 AM
A 15-year-old boy was injured on Monday night when a celebratory gunshot hit him in the chest. The accident occurred at Dankore, where the boy was attending a wedding party.
- Woman found murdered HT - 10:15 AM
A 35-year-old woman was found murdered at her house on Tuesday in Arthala area of Ghaziabad district.
- Not enough women in Delhi Police HT - 10:15 AM
Since the day Kiran Bedi was selected as the first woman IPS officer, the Delhi Police have come a long way. However, the elite force is yet to fulfil the expected 15 per cent quota meant for women personnel.
- The other side of law HT - 10:15 AM
From July 1, litigants from south and southeast Delhi will be fighting their bitter cases in the cool environment of the brand new district court complex at Saket.
- Caste census in cabinet today HT - 10:15 AM
The Union Cabinet will take a final call on Wednesday if 25 million enumerators tasked to conduct India?s headcount next February should ask people their caste too.
- Azad prescribes cheap drugs HT - 10:15 AM
Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday directed all Central government hospitals and institutions to give generic names of drugs along with the brandname on all prescriptions.
- Head constable held for taking bribe HT - 10:15 AM
The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Delhi government on Tuesday arrested a head constable of Delhi police for demanding and accepting bribe of Rs 2,000 from a person.
- Awkward social situation for traffic police HT - 10:15 AM
Delhi Traffic Police perhaps did not anticipate the questions that would come their way when communicating with the public through the Internet.
- Battle for justice not over: Father HT - 10:15 AM
Thought satisfied that the man who molested his daughter 20 years ago ? and yet rose to become Haryana?s highest ranking police officer ? was sent to 18 months in jail, S.C. Girhotra said on Tuesday that his battle for justice for Ruchika was not over.
- Prisoners using cell phones, HC shocked HT - 10:15 AM
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday expressed shock at the rampant use of cell phones by prisoners from inside Tihar jail despite a strict ban on carrying them, installation of jammers and CCTVs.
- Nirupama talks tough on Canada's BSF comment HT - 10:15 AM
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said on Tuesday that India takes ?very seriously? the disparaging comments by the Canadian high commission about the BSF while rejecting an immigration plea of one of its former constables.
- Tuesday: You burned. Today: You'll be fried HT - 10:15 AM
With the mercury touching 44.6 degree Celsius and humidity between 14 and 63 per cent, Tuesday was a scorcher for Delhiites. The maximum temperature was four degrees above normal for this time of the year.
- Strike-hit AI grounds flights, chaos reigns HT - 10:15 AM
After waiting for three hours at Mumbai airport on Tuesday, Debang Patel called off his meeting in Delhi because his Air India flight was cancelled.
National News
NACIL to operate three domestic flights
FE - 12:17 PMThe NACIL will operate three domestic flights on Wednesday using Air India aircraft and cabin crew in view of the ongoing agitation by a section of employees of the airline.
- Report card FE - 01:30 AM
The paper* analyses the regulatory structure of the Indian OTC derivatives market and other related issues.
- Singapore CECA tests India's patience FE - 01:30 AM
India has told Singapore that allowing immediate free movement of skilled people and substantially higher investment in India's capital markets are essential for the survival of the five-year old Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with the island state.
- Canada wants environment issues included in trade pact with India FE - 01:30 AM
After the EU, Canada is now pitching for inclusion of environment-related issues in the trade and investment agreement with India.
- Quick View FE - 01:30 AM
BP contingency plan to plug leak BP Plc outlined a contingency plan should an attempt to plug a leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico using heavy liquids fail.
- Home proposes caste count after census FE - 01:30 AM
Revising its stand on the issue of caste census, the Union home ministry has said that the best time to go for a caste based headcount—if there is a decision to that effect—would be after tabulation of census figures and during the biometric capture phase when photographs, fingerprints and iris mapping of citizens for the National Population Register is done.
- We want India to be part of our international supply chain FE - 01:30 AM
US aircraft manufacturer Boeing plans to bid for defence projects worth up to $30 billion (Rs 1,43,480 crore) in India over the next 10 years.
- Letters to the editor FE - 01:30 AM
Apropos of the edit 'To win this battle' (FE, May 19), of the three aspects of tackling Naxal insurgency, the third one of drawing the insurgents into talks is well worth exploring at this stage, since the other two aspects—policing and development—require resources we don't seem to be able to ramp up and a time range we can ill-afford.
- BJD throws spanner into Naveen's Posco plan FE - Tue, May 25
Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik may have initiated a political process to solve the Posco crisis, but party MLAs are playing spoilsport.
- Jhansi power plant collapse kills five FE - Tue, May 25
At least 5 people are feared dead and more than 100 labourers are suspected to be trapped under the debris of the 220 metre under-construction chimney of the 2x250 mw Parichha Extension thermal power station collapsed in Jhansi district in Bundelkhand region on Monday.
- No retirement before mandate is fulfilled, declares Manmohan FE - Tue, May 25
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh marked his first press conference in four years on Monday by declaring that he had no intention of retiring before he fulfilled 'his mandate'. While he gave defensive answers to most questions pertaining to his Cabinet, this was one definitive statement that he chose to make.
- Time to stop preaching FE - Tue, May 25
Campaign : Aaj Se Khilana Bandh, Pilana Shuru Brand : Tata Tea Company : Tata Global Beverages Agency : Lowe Lintas The Campaign In the new commercial, Tata Tea continues its crusade against corruption, this time focusing on college admissions.
- Six Naxals held for massacre in Dantewada FE - Tue, May 25
A wireless set misplaced by CRPF personnel during an area-domination operation in the Dantewada forests fell into the hands of Maoists who used it to monitor conversations, pinpoint the location of the securitymen and lay an ambush that killed 76—75 of them from the CRPF—on April 6.
- Haryana FM bats for 2 rate GST structure FE - Tue, May 25
Haryana finance minister, Ajay Singh Yadav has stressed the need for a two rate GST structure viz lower rate goods and general rate goods as against single rate structure proposed by the revenue department.
- Looking for the right classroom FE - Tue, May 25
There was a time when the Pakistan cricket team produced a seemingly endless list of fast bowlers. It is said that one man - Imran Khan, inspired a whole generation of fast bowlers. In India, Kapil Dev is credited with inspiring many youngsters to take up fast bowling instead of spin -which was India's domain as it were.
- Small-town India calls the shots FE - Tue, May 25
It's the small-town customer who's calling the shots and how.
- Green Talk FE - Tue, May 25
Next time you are watching television and the ubiquitous ads come by, just count how many of the products advertised are talking 'green'. From low carbon emission cars to toxic free paints to recyclable packaging to eco-friendly detergents to energy efficient refrigerators to bio-degradable cleaning solutions, each of them touts their green credentials.
- PM is all talk, doesn't have any answer: BJP FE - Tue, May 25
The Opposition BJP made a scathing review of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's press conference saying that the entire exercise was designed to 'deflect' rather than answer questions.
- Spreadsheet FE - Tue, May 25
Giving away For more than a decade, India has been successfully lifting a large number of people out of acute poverty, but a staggering 40% of the country's population still lives below the poverty line.
- Bits & bytes FE - Tue, May 25
Shah Rukh Khan features in new Pepsodent TV spot Hindustan Unilever's oral care brand Pepsodent has launched a "Papa & Pappu" TV campaign featuring actor Shah Rukh Khan to encourage fathers to spend quality time with their children and make brushing more fun.
Next »A Way Of Reinventing Identities
The main question raised by the prospect of a caste-based census is not whether to collect census data based on caste but how to do it in a way that does not trap citizens in caste identities. We need data based on caste to address inequalities based on caste. Not everyone agrees. Some argue the best solution to the problem of inequality is to target `economically disadvantaged' populations the poor or the landless or the jobless without classifying them by caste. If those from subordinate caste groups are more likely to suffer from economic disadvantages, the argument goes, then they will also automatically be the likely beneficiaries of such policies.This argument ignores the fact that caste identity is not only associated with inequalities, but can also be constitutive of those inequalities. Counting citizens on the basis of purely economic categories, then, would not address the root cause of the problem. This does not mean that the state should not use economic categories in conjunction with caste, to distinguish between more and less disadvantaged members of individual caste categories. But to do this, it needs to count those citizens based on caste in the first place.
The problem is that a caste-based census, while intended to help citizens escape inequalities based on caste, can imprison them in caste itself. Why is this a problem? In part because being trapped in caste categories especially those with stigmas attached has material and social consequences. In part because it can produce a divisive problem of politics. But most of all, because the freedom to choose how we are defined to be who we want to be, and to become who we want to become is fundamental to democratic politics.
Obviously, none of us are completely free to choose our caste memberships. But we should at a minimum have the freedom to choose whether we want to be defined by caste at all and, if we do, which of our caste identities we want to claim. A daughter of Nishad parents in UP, for instance, cannot choose to call herself Jat or Brahmin. But she should still have a choice in whether she defines herself by caste at all. She should have a choice in which of the many available aggregate caste categories she might subscribe to: current possibilities in UP include Bahujan, OBC, MBC and SC. And she should also have the choice to construct new categories that define her.
How can a caste-based census in India avoid setting its own identity traps? At the very least, what such a census should not do is use a single set of uniform nationwide aggregate caste categories for counting. What it should do is to collect data on caste at a highly decentralised and disaggregated level, and make these decentralised and disaggregated data widely available. Further, census authorities should also construct and publicise local level cross-tabulations between caste and other ethnic and economic categories such as income, language, literacy, landlessness and so on. These data could then be aggregated differently for different policy purposes at different levels of government. They could not only be used to construct uniform nationwide aggregates, but also local, block or district specific ones. Different aggregations could well employ different categories.
The solution to the problem of entrapment, in other words, is not to collect no data, but to collect more data. The more caste-based data we have, the finer the grain in which these data are collected. And the more these data allow the analysis of caste in conjunction with other categories, the better we will do both in addressing the root cause of inequality and in preserving or providing the freedom of self-definition.
The principal users of these data are likely to be politicians as much as bureaucrats. This should be a cause for optimism rather than fear. In just the last two decades, political parties have taken us through a large variety of caste constructions, including Dalit, Bahujan, OBC, MY, Most Backward, Extremely Backward, Forward, Backward among Forward, and Forward Among Backward. Others are sure to follow. This fluidity was produced not by the mainstream politics of the Congress but by 'caste parties' such as the BSP, the SP and the RJD. Silence about caste in the political sphere stabilised caste identities and inequalities at the local level. Caste-based parties, by openly naming caste categories in politics, have also continually reinvented them, and unsettled old inequalities in the bargain. If other parties follow suit in the wake of a caste-census, the process of reinvention should continue.
But the ability of political parties to continue to propose fluid forms of self-definition is contingent on the categorisations used by the government. A census which only counts citizens according to a small set of uniform categories will produce a politics that only mobilises people according to a small set of uniform categories. That will surely be divisive. A census that uses many and various categories, on the other hand, also makes it easier for political parties to mobilise many and various selves. Such a census should widen the options for self-definition instead of narrowing them.
The writer is associate professor of politics at New York University.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/A-Way-Of-Reinventing-Identities/articleshow/5969667.cms
palashbiswaslive: Mulnivas Nayak on OBC Headcount and the Betrayal
9 May 2010 ... Mulnivas Nayak on OBC Headcount and the Betrayal. Mulnivas Nayak on OBC Headcount and the Betrayal. Posted by Palash Biswas at 7:25 AM ...
palashbiswaslive.blogspot.com/.../mulnivas-nayak-on-obc-headcount-and.html - CachedSupreme Court to hear PIL on OBC headcount - dnaindia.com
13 Apr 2010 ... A separate OBC headcount was required to silence the critics of reservation for OBCs in educational institutions and government jobs on the ...
www.dnaindia.com/.../report_supreme-court-to-hear-pil-on-obc-headcount_1370551 - CachedCensus: Bhujbal, Munde seek OBC headcount
11 Apr 2010 ... Latest news, breaking news - Census: Bhujbal, Munde seek OBC headcount.
www.indianexpress.com/...obc-headcount/604303/ - United States - CachedCan't have OBC headcount says Registrar General
Financial express latest business and finance news: Can't have OBC headcount says Registrar General.
www.financialexpress.com/.../Can't%20have%20OBC%20headcount%20says%20Re... - United States - CachedHave separate head count for OBCs: Munde, News - City - Mumbai Mirror
11 Apr 2010 ... Gopinath Munde and Chhagan Bhujbal are with political parties opposed to each other. So when they come together on a dais, it could spell ...
www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?page=article§id=2... - CachedSC gives government 3 weeks to explain why 'no OBC census' - India ...
12 Apr 2010 ... The lawsuit said a separate OBC headcount is also required to silence the ... The headcount will help counter opposition to OBC quota on the ...
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5788574.cms - CachedBJP support for OBC census- Hindustan Times
Openly taking a line that has hitherto been associated with regional parties, the BJP has come out in favour of an OBC headcount in Census 2011. ...
www.hindustantimes.com/BJP-support...OBC.../Article1-539031.aspx - Cached[ZESTCaste] Census: Bhujbal, Munde seek OBC headcount
13 Apr 2010 ... http://www.indianexpress.com/news/census-bhujbal-munde-seek-obc-headcount/604303/ Census: Bhujbal, Munde seek OBC headcount Express News ...
www.mail-archive.com/zestcaste@yahoogroups.com/msg15348.html - CachedSupreme Court to hear PIL on OBC headcount
Facing a challenge to hold a separate OBC headcount, the government on Monday explained to the Supreme Court (SC) that it was conducting a census based on ...
www.24dunia.com/english.../0/...OBC-headcount/5897482.html - CachedIndian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time: Waman Meshram Demands ...
22 Apr 2010 ... Waman Meshram Demands OBC Headcount for social Justice and Planning as Bharat Mukti Morcha Continues to Burn the anti People Budget! ...
indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/.../waman-meshram-demands-obc-headcount-for.html - Cached
Caste system in India
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The Indian caste system (pronounced /ˈkæst/ or /ˈkɑːst/) describes the social stratification and social restrictions in the Indian subcontinent, in which social classes are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups, often termed as jātis or castes. Within a jāti, there exist exogamous groups known as gotras, the lineage or clan of an individual, although in a handful of sub-castes like Shakadvipi, endogamy within a gotra is permitted and alternative mechanisms of restricting endogamy are used (e.g. banning endogamy within a surname). However, none of the Hindu scriptures endorse caste-based discrimination.[1][2][3][4]
Although generally identified with Hinduism, the caste system was also observed among followers of other religions in the Indian subcontinent, including some groups of Muslims and Christians.[5] The Indian Constitution has outlawed caste-based discrimination, in keeping with the socialist, secular, democratic principles that founded the nation.[6] Caste barriers have mostly broken down in large cities,[7] though they persist in rural areas of the country, where 72% of India's population resides. Nevertheless, the caste system, in various forms, continues to survive in modern India strengthened by a combination of social perceptions and divisive politics.[8][9]
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[edit] History
There is no universally accepted theory about the origin of the Indian caste system. The Indian classes are similar to the ancient Iranian classes ("pistras"),[10] wherein the priests are Brahmins, the warriors are Kshatriya, the merchants are Vastriya, and the artisans are Huiti.[11][12]
[edit] Varna and Jati
According to the ancient Hindu scriptures, there are four "varnas". The Bhagavad Gita says varnas are decided based on Guna and Karma. Manusmriti and some other shastras mention four varnas: the Brahmins (teachers, scholars and priests), the Kshatriyas (kings and warriors), the Vaishyas (agriculturists and traders), and Shudras (artisans, service providers).
This theoretical system postulated Varna categories as ideals and explained away the reality of thousands of endogamous Jātis actually prevailing in the country as being the result of historical mixing among the "pure" Varnas - Varna Sankara. All those, including foreigners, tribals and nomads, who did not subscribe to the norms of the Hindu society were contagious and untouchables. Another group excluded from the main society was called Parjanya or Antyaja. This group of former "untouchables" Dalits) i.e. downtrodden, was considered either the lower section of Shudras or outside the Varna system altogether. Passages from scriptures such as Manusmriti indicate that the varna system was originally non-hereditary.[13]
Several critics of Hinduism state that the caste system is rooted in the varna system mentioned in the ancient Hindu scriptures.[14] However, many groups, such as ISKCON, consider the modern Indian caste system and the varna system as two distinct concepts.[15][16] Many European administrators from the colonial era incorrectly regarded the Manusmriti as the "law book" of all the Hindus, and thus concluded that the caste system is a part of Hinduism, an assertion that is now rejected by most scholars, who state that it is a social practice, not a religious belief.[1][2][3][4]. Manusmriti, was in any case a work of reference for the Brahmins of north India, especially Bengal and was largely unknown in southern India.
Although many Hindu scriptures contain passages that can be interpreted to sanction the caste system, they also contain indications that the caste system is not an essential part of Hinduism. The Vedas placed no importance on the caste system, mentioning caste only once (in the Purush Sukta) out of tens of thousands of verses. Most vedic scholars believe even this to be a subsequent and artificial insertion. In fact, none other than B. R. Ambedkar concluded after a thorough study that this is a much later interpolation and gave strong scholarly evidence to support his conclusion. In the Vedic period, there was no prohibition against anyone, including the Shudras listening to the Vedas or participating in any religious rite.[17]
In Early Evidence for Caste in South India, George L. Hart stated that "the earliest Tamil texts show the existence of what seems definitely to be caste, but which antedates the Brahmins and the Hindu orthodoxy". He believes that the origins of the caste system can be seen in the "belief system that developed with the agricultural civilization", and was later profoundly influenced by "the Brahmins and the Brahmanical religion". These early Tamil texts also outline the concept of equality. Saint Valluvar has stated "pirapokkum ella uyirkkum", which means "all are equal at birth". Likewise, Saint Auvaiyaar has stated that there are only two castes in the world: those who contribute negatively and those who contribute positively. From these, it can be inferred that the caste system is more of a socio-economic class system.
[edit] Caste and social status
Traditionally, although the political power lay with the Kshatriyas, historians portrayed that the Brahmins as custodians and interpreters of Dharma enjoyed much prestige and many advantages.[18]
Fa Hien, a Buddhist pilgrim from China, visited India around 400 AD. "Only the lot of the Chandals he found unenviable; outcastes by reason of their degrading work as disposers of dead, they were universally shunned... But no other section of the population were notably disadvantaged, no other caste distinctions attracted comment from the Chinese pilgrim, and no oppressive caste 'system' drew forth his surprised censure."[19]. In this period kings of Sudra and Brahmin origin were as common as those of Kshatriya varna and caste system was not wholly prohibitive and repressive.[20]
The castes did not constitute a rigid description of the occupation or the social status of a group. Since British society was divided by class, the British attempted to equate the Indian caste system to their own social class system. They saw caste as an indicator of occupation, social standing, and intellectual ability.[21] Intentionally or unintentionally, the caste system became more rigid during the British Raj, when the British started to enumerate castes during the ten year census and codified the system under their rule.
The Harijans, or the people outside the caste system, had the lowest social status. The Harijans, earlier referred to as "untouchables" by some, worked in what were seen as unhealthy, unpleasant or polluting jobs. In the past, the Harijans suffered from social segregation and restrictions, in addition to extreme poverty. They were not allowed temple worship with others, nor water from the same sources. Persons of higher castes would not interact with them. If somehow a member of a higher caste came into physical or social contact with an untouchable, the member of the higher caste was defiled, and had to bathe thoroughly to purge him or herself of the impurity. Social discrimination developed even among the Harijans. Sub-castes among Harijans, like dhobi, nai etc., would not interact with lower-order Bhangis, who were described as "outcasts even among outcastes".
Sociologists have commented on the historical advantages offered by a rigid social structure, such as the caste system, and its lack of usefulness in the modern world. Historically, the caste system offered several advantages to the population of the Indian subcontinent. While Caste is nowadays seen by instances that render it anachronistic, in its original form, the caste system served as an important instrument of order in a society where mutual consent rather than compulsion ruled;[22] where the ritual rights as well as the economic obligations of members of one caste or sub-caste were strictly circumscribed in relation to those of any other caste or sub-caste; where one was born into one's caste and retained one's station in society for life; where merit was inherited, where equality existed within the caste, but inter-caste relations were unequal and hierarchical. A well-defined system of mutual interdependence through a division of labour created security within a community.[22][23] In addition, the division of labour on the basis of ethnicity allowed immigrants and foreigners to quickly integrate into their own caste niches.[24] The caste system played an influential role in shaping economic activities.[25] The caste system functioned much like medieval European guilds, ensuring the division of labour, providing for the training of apprentices and, in some cases, allowing manufacturers to achieve narrow specialisation. For instance, in certain regions, producing each variety of cloth was the speciality of a particular sub-caste. Also, philosophers argue that the majority of people would be comfortable in stratified endogamous groups, and have been in ancient times.[26]
[edit] Caste system in South Asian Hindus
Is divided into Brahmin,Kshatriyas,Vaishyas,Shudras,Pariah.[27]
[edit] Caste mobility
Some scholars believe that the relative ranking of other castes was fluid or differed from one place to another prior to the arrival of the British.[28] Sociologists such as Bernard Buber and Marriott McKim describe how the perception of the caste system as a static and textual stratification has given way to the perception of the caste system as a more processual, empirical and contextual stratification. Other sociologists such as Y.B Damle have applied theoretical models to explain mobility and flexibility in the caste system in India.[29] According to these scholars, groups of lower-caste individuals could seek to elevate the status of their caste by attempting to emulate the practices of higher castes.
Flexibility in caste laws permitted very low-caste religious clerics such as Valmiki to compose the Ramayana, which became a central work of Hindu scripture.
According to some psychologists, mobility across broad caste lines may have been "minimal", though sub-castes (jatis) may change their social status over the generations by fission, re-location, and adoption of new rituals.[30]
Sociologist M. N. Srinivas has also debated the question of rigidity in Caste. In an ethnographic study of the Coorgs of Karnataka, he observed considerable flexibility and mobility in their caste hierarchies.[31][32] He asserts that the caste system is far from a rigid system in which the position of each component caste is fixed for all time. Movement has always been possible, and especially in the middle regions of the hierarchy. It was always possible for groups born into a lower caste to "rise to a higher position by adopting vegetarianism and teetotalism" i.e. adopt the customs of the higher castes. While theoretically "forbidden", the process was not uncommon in practice. The concept of sanskritization, or the adoption of upper-caste norms by the lower castes, addressed the actual complexity and fluidity of caste relations.
Historical examples of mobility in the Indian Caste System among Hindus have been researched. There is also precedent of certain Shudra families within the temples of the Sri Vaishnava sect in South India elevating their caste.[29]
The fact that many of the dynasties were of obscure origin suggests some social mobility: a person of any caste, having once acquired political power, could also acquire a genealogy connecting him with the traditional lineages and conferring Kshatriya status. A number of new castes, such as the Kayasthas (scribes) and Khatris (traders), are mentioned in the sources of this period. According to the Brahmanic sources, they originated from intercaste marriages, but this is clearly an attempt at rationalizing their rank in the hierarchy. Many of these new castes played a major role in society. The hierarchy of castes did not have a uniform distribution throughout the country.[33] Khatri appears to be unquestionably a Prakritised form of the Sanskrit Kshatriya.[34]
[edit] Reforms
There have been challenges to the caste system from the time of Buddha,[35] and from the time of Mahavira (Jaina founder) and (still earlier) of Gosāla Maskarin (Ājīvika founder).
Opposition to the system of varṇa ('caste') is regularly asserted already in the Yoga Upaniṣad-s (of early mediaeval date); and is a constant feature of Cīna-ācāra tantrism (Chinese-derived movement in Asom, and also of medieval date). The Nātha system (likewise medieval) founded by Matsya-indra Nātha and by Go-rakṣa Nātha, and spread throughout India, has likewise been in consistent opposition to the system of varna.
Many Bhakti period saints rejected the caste discriminations and accepted all castes, including untouchables, into their fold. During the British Raj, this sentiment gathered steam, and many Hindu reform movements such as Brahmo Samaj and Arya Samaj renounced caste-based discrimination. The inclusion of so-called untouchables into the mainstream was argued for by many social reformers (see Historical criticism, below). Mahatma Gandhi called them "Harijans" (children of God) although that term is now considered patronizing and the term Dalit ("downtrodden") is the more commonly used. Gandhi's contribution toward the emancipation of the untouchables is still debated, especially in the commentary of his contemporary Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, an untouchable himself, who frequently saw Gandhi's activities as detrimental to the cause of upliftment of his people.[citation needed]
The practice of untouchability was formally outlawed by the Constitution of India in 1950, and has declined significantly since then. K. R. Narayanan, who became the President of India in 1997, and K. G. Balakrishnan (former Chief Justice of India) have belonged to castes formerly considered untouchable.
[edit] British rule
The fluidity of the caste system was affected by the arrival of the British. Prior to that, the relative ranking of castes differed from one place to another.[36] The castes did not constitute a rigid description of the occupation or the social status of a group. The British attempted to equate the Indian caste system to their own class system. They saw caste as an indicator of occupation, social standing, and intellectual ability.[21] During the initial days of the British East India Company's rule, caste privileges and customs were encouraged,[37] but the British law courts disagreed with the discrimination against the lower castes. However, British policies of divide and rule as well as enumeration of the population into rigid categories during the 10 year census contributed towards the hardening of caste identities.[38]
During the period of British rule, India saw the rebellions of several lower castes, mainly tribals that revolted against British rule. These were:[39]
- Halba rebellion (1774–79)
- Bhopalpatnam Struggle (1795)
- Bhil rebellion (1822–1857)[40]
- Paralkot rebellion (1825)
- Tarapur rebellion (1842–54)
- Maria rebellion (1842–63)
- First Freedom Struggle (1856–57)
- Bhil rebellion, begun by Tantya Tope in Banswara (1858)[41]
- Koi revolt (1859)
- Gond rebellion, begun by Ramji Gond in Adilabad (1860)[42]
- Muria rebellion (1876)
- Rani rebellion (1878–82)
- Bhumkal (1910)
[edit] Modern status of the caste system
In some rural areas and small towns, the caste system is still very rigid. Caste is also a factor in the politics of India (see Caste politics in India).
The Government of India has officially documented castes and subcastes, primarily to determine those deserving reservation (positive discrimination in education and jobs) through the census. The Indian reservation system, though limited in scope, relies entirely on quotas. The Government lists consist of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes:
Scheduled castes (SC)Scheduled castes generally consist of former "untouchables" (the term "Dalit" is now preferred). The present population is 16% of the total population of India (around 160 million). For example, the Delhi state has 49 castes listed as SC.[43] Scheduled tribes (ST)Scheduled tribes generally consist of tribal groups. The present population is 7% of the total population of India i.e. around 70 million. Other Backward Classes (OBC)The Mandal Commission covered more than 3000 castes under OBC Category and stated that OBCs form around 52% of the Indian population. However, the National Sample Survey puts the figure at 32%.[44] There is substantial debate over the exact number of OBCs in India. It is generally estimated to be sizable, but many believe that it is lower than the figures quoted by either the Mandal Commission or the National Sample Survey.[45]The caste-based reservations in India have led to widespread protests, with many complaining of reverse discrimination against the forward castes (the castes that do not qualify for the reservation). The 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests are one major example. Many view negative treatment (or hatred) of forward castes as socially divisive and just as wrong.
[edit] Caste system among non-Hindus
In some parts of India, the Christians are stratified by sect, location, and the castes of their predecessors,[46] usually in reference to upper class Syrian Malabar Nasranis. Christians in Kerala are divided into several communities, including Syrian Christians and the so-called "Latin" or "New Rite" Christians. Syrian Christians, especially Knanaya Christians tend to be endogamous, and tend not to intermarry with other Christian castes[47]. Also, very rarely are there intermarriages between Syrian Christians and Latin Rite Christians (converted in the 16th and 19th centuries) in Kerala; the latter were converted mainly from lower castes where fishing was the traditional occupation. Due to active conversion by Latin Missionaries in the coastal belt of Kerala, the new Latin converts were poor and deprived. So the Government of India gave them the social benefit of OBC status (Other Backward Classes) so that the deprived members of that community can be uplifted. It is a matter of great significance that Missionary activities were done by Western Latin rite missionaries who did not understand the significance of the caste system in India. None of the Syrian Churches ever indulged in these kinds of activities among the scheduled castes of India because they were aware of the prejudices of the caste system.
Syrian Christians derive status within the caste system from the tradition that they are converted Namboodiris and Jews, who were evangelized by St. Thomas[48]. Writers Arundhati Roy and Anand Kurian have written personal accounts of the caste system at work in their community.[47][49][50][51][52]
Anthropologists have noted that the caste hierarchy among Christians in Kerala is much more polarized than the Hindu practices in the surrounding areas, due to a lack of jatis. Also, the caste status is kept even if the sect allegiance is switched (i.e. from Syrian Catholic to Syrian Orthodox)[53].
In the Indian state of Goa, mass conversions were carried out by Portuguese Latin missionaries from the 16th century onwards. The Hindu converts retained their caste practices. The continued maintenance of the caste system among the Christians in Goa is attributed to the nature of mass conversions of entire villages, as a result of which existing social stratification was not affected. The Portuguese colonists, even during the Goan Inquisition, did not do anything to change the caste system. Thus, the original Hindu Brahmins in Goa now became Christian Bamons and the Kshatriya became Christian noblemen called Chardos. The Christian clergy became almost exclusively Bamon. Vaishyas who converted to Christianity became Gauddos, and Shudras became Sudirs. Finally, the Dalits or "Untouchables" who converted to Christianity became Maharas and Chamars (an appellation of the anti-Dalit ethnic slur Chamaar).
Units of social stratification, termed as "castes" by many, have developed among Muslims in some parts of South Asia.[54][55] Sources indicate that the castes among Muslims developed as the result of close contact with Hindu culture and Hindu converts to Islam.[54][55][56][57] The Sachar Committee's report commissioned by the government of India and released in 2006, documents the continued stratification in Muslim society.
Among Muslims, those who are referred to as Ashrafs are presumed to have a superior status derived from their foreign Arab ancestry,[58][59] while the Ajlafs are assumed to be converts from Hinduism, and have a lower status. In addition, there is also the Arzal caste among Muslims, who were regarded by anti-caste activists like Ambedkar as the equivalent of untouchables.[60][61] In the Bengal region of India, some Muslims also stratify their society according to 'Quoms'.[62] While many scholars have asserted that the Muslim Castes are not as acute in their discrimination as that among Hindus,[57][63] some like Ambedkar argued otherwise, writing that the social evils in Muslim society were "worse than those seen in Hindu society".[60][61]
The nastik Buddhists too have a caste system. In Sri Lanka, the Rodis have always been despised and they might have been out-casted by the Lankan Buddhists due to the absence of "ahimsa" (non-violence), which Buddhism heavily depends on. The writer Raghavan notes: "That a form of worship in which human offerings formed the essential ritual would have been anathema to the Buddhist way of life goes without saying; and it needs no stretch of imagination that any class of people in whom the cult prevailed or survived even in an attenuated form would have been pronounced by the sangha (i.e. the Buddhist clergy) as exiles from the social order." Savarkar too believed that the status of the backward castes (e.g. Chamar) that performed non-violence only worsened.[64] When Ywan Chwang traveled to South India after the period of the Chalukyan Empire, he noticed that the caste system had existed among the Buddhists and Jains.[65]
The Jains too have castes in places such as Bihar. For example, in the village of Bundela, there are several "jaats" (groups) amongst the Jains. A person of one "jaat" cannot intermingle with a Jain or another "jaat". They also cannot eat with the members of other "jaats".[66]
The Sikh Gurus criticized the hierarchy in the caste system. Where some castes were perceived by people as being better or higher than others (e.g. Brahmins being higher than others) they preached all sections of society were valuable and merit and hard-work were essential aspects of life. In Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, out of 140 seats, twenty are reserved for low caste Sikhs. However, the quota system has attracted much criticism due to the lack of meritocracy, where merit is considered the single most important component of winning a seat.[67]
In only 3 decades, Baha'i Faith has quickly grown to prominence in India, as approaches on the unity of humanity attracted many of the lower castes.[68]
[edit]
Independent India has witnessed considerable amount of violence and hate crimes motivated by caste. Ranvir Sena, a caste-supremacist fringe paramilitary group based in Bihar, has committed violent acts against Dalits and other members of the scheduled caste community. Phoolan Devi, who belonged to Mallah lower-caste, was mistreated and raped by upper-caste Thakurs at a young age. She then became a bandit and carried out violent robberies against upper-caste people. In 1981, her gang massacred twenty-two Thakurs, most of whom were not involved in her kidnapping or rape. Phoolan Devi went on to become a politician and Member of Parliament.
Over the years, various incidents of violence against Dalits, such as Kherlanji Massacre have been reported from many parts of India. At the same time, many violent protests by Dalits, such as the 2006 Dalit protests in Maharashtra, have been reported as well.
[edit] Caste politics
B. R. Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru had radically different approaches to caste especially over constitutional politics and the status of "untouchables".[69] Until the mid-1970s, the politics of independent India was largely dominated by economic issues and questions of corruption. But since 1980s, caste has emerged as a major issue in the politics of India.[69]
The Mandal Commission was established in 1979 to "identify the socially or educationally backward",[70] and to consider the question of seat reservations and quotas for people to redress caste discrimination. In 1980, the commission's report affirmed the affirmative action practice under Indian law whereby members of lower castes were given exclusive access to a certain portion of government jobs and slots in public universities. When V. P. Singh Government tried to implement the recommendations of Mandal Commission in 1989, massive protests were held in the country. Many alleged that the politicians were trying to cash in on caste-based reservations for purely pragmatic electoral purposes.
Many political parties in India have openly indulged in caste-based votebank politics. Parties such as Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Samajwadi Party and the Janata Dal claim that they are representing the backward castes, and rely primarily on OBC support, often in alliance with Dalit and Muslim support to win the elections.[71] Remarkably, what is called a landmark election in the history of India's biggest state of Uttar Pradesh, the Bahujan Samaj Party was able to garner majority in the State assembly Elections with the support of the brahmin community.
[edit] Criticism
There have been many criticisms[72] of the caste system, both within and outside India. Criticism of the Caste system in Hindu society came both from the Hindu fold and Dalit.
[edit] Historical criticism
Gautama Buddha and Mahavira, the founders of Buddhism and Jainism respectively, were perhaps against any kind of caste structure. Further, rejection of caste may have developed before these religions within Hinduism.[citation needed] Many bhakti period saints such as Nanak, Kabir, Caitanya, Dnyaneshwar, Eknath, Ramanuja and Tukaram rejected all caste-based discrimination and accepted disciples from all the castes. Many Hindu reformers such as Swami Vivekananda believe that there is no place for the caste system in Hinduism. The 15th century saint Ramananda also accepted all castes, including untouchables, into his fold. Most of these saints subscribed to the Bhakti movements in Hinduism during the medieval period that rejected casteism. Nandanar, a low-caste Hindu cleric, also rejected casteism and accepted Dalits.[73]
Some other movements in Hinduism have also welcomed lower-castes into their fold, the earliest being the Bhakti movements of the medieval period. Early Dalit politics involved many Hindu reform movements which arose primarily as a reaction to the advent of Christian Missionaries in India and their attempts to convert Dalits to Christianity, who were attracted to the prospect of escaping the caste system.
In the 19th Century, the Brahmo Samaj under Raja Ram Mohan Roy, actively campaigned against untouchability and Casteism. The Arya Samaj founded by Swami Dayanand also renounced discrimination against Dalits. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and his greatest disciple Swami Vivekananda who founded the Ramakrishna Mission that participated in the emancipation of Dalits. Upper caste Hindus, such as Mannathu Padmanabhan also participated in movements to abolish Untouchability against Dalits, opening his family temple for Dalits to worship. Narayana Guru, a pious Hindu and an authority on the Vedas, also criticized casteism and campaigned for the rights of lower-caste Hindus within the context of Hinduism.
The first "upper-caste" temple to openly welcome Dalits into their fold was the Laxminarayan Temple in Wardha in the year 1928 (the move was spearheaded by reformer Jamnalal Bajaj).
The caste system has also been criticized by many Indian social reformers. Some reformers, such as Jyotirao Phule and Iyothee Thass argued that the lower caste people were the original inhabitants of India, and were conquered in the ancient past by "Brahmin invaders." Mahatma Gandhi coined the term "Harijan", a euphemistic word for untouchable, literally meaning Sons of God. B. R. Ambedkar, born in Hindu Dalit community, was a heavy critic of the caste system. He pioneered the Dalit Buddhist movement in India, and asked his followers to leave Hinduism, and convert to Buddhism.India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, based on his own relationship with Dalit reformer Ambedkar, also spread information about the dire need to eradicate untouchability for the benefit of the Dalit community. Another example was the Temple Entry Proclamation issued by the last Maharaja of Travancore in the Indian state of Kerala in the year 1936. The Maharaja proclaimed that "outcastes should not be denied the consolations and the solace of the Hindu faith". Even today, the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple that first welcomed Dalits in the state of Kerala is revered by the Dalit Hindu community.
[edit] Contemporary criticism
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Kancha Ilaiah, a Christian, formerly of the Shephard caste in Andhra, and professor at Osmania University is known for his public and often un-compromising statements on Hindus and the caste system and is considered an anti-Hindu by his critics[citation needed]. Similarly, Dalit rights activist such as Udit Raj[citation needed], a Buddhist neoconvert, who have attacked Hindus for still maintaining their Casteism, have achieved some popularity among evangelical Christian groups[citation needed] such as the Dalit Freedom Network in their criticism of Hindism. The website Dalitstan (presently taken down), once banned by the Indian government, is an example of anti-Brahmin and anti-Hindu rhetoric by Dalit extremists supported by Christian missions[citation needed].
Many Hindus point out that the caste system is related to the Indian society, and not Hinduism (as is evident by presence of caste among Indian Christians and Muslims).[citation needed] Brahmin organizations such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have actively criticized the caste system.[74]
Some activists consider that the caste system is a form of racial discrimination.[75] The participants of the United Nations Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa in March 2001, condemned discrimination due to the caste system, and tried to pass a resolution declaring that caste as a basis for the segregation and oppression of peoples in terms of their descent and occupation is a form of apartheid. However, no formal resolution was passed to that effect.[76]
The alleged maltreatment of Dalits in India has been described by some authors as "India's hidden apartheid".[77][78] Critics of the accusations point out the substantial improvements in the position of Dalits (former "Untouchables") in post-independence India, consequent to the strict implementation over sixty decades, of the rights and privileges enshrined in the Constitution of India (primarily written by a Dalit, Ambedkar), which is the principal object of article 17 in the Constitution as implemented by the Protection of Civil rights Act, 1955[79] and the fact that India has had a Dalit, K.R. Narayanan, for a president, as well as the disappearance of the practise in urban public life.[80][page needed]
According to William A. Haviland, however:
Although India's national constitution of 1950 sought to abolish cast discrimination and the practice of untouchability, the caste system remains deeply entrenched in Hindu culture and is still widespread throughout southern Asia, especially in rural India. In what has been called India's "hidden apartheid", entire villages in many Indian states remain completely segregated by caste. Representing about 15 percent of India's population—or some 160 million people—the widely scatter Dalits endure near complete social isolation, humiliation, and discrimination based exclusively on their birth status. Even a Dalit's shadow is believed to pollute the upper classes. They may not cross the line dividing their part of the village from that occupied by higher castes, drink water from public wells, or visit the same temples as the higher castes. Dalit children are still often made to sit in the back of classrooms.[81]
However, such allegations of apartheid are regarded by academic sociologists as a political epithet, since apartheid implies state sponsored discrimination, and no such thing exists in India. The Constitution of India places special emphasis on outlawing caste discrimination, especially the practice of untouchability.[82] In addition, the Indian penal code inflicts severe punishments on those who discriminate on the basis of caste. Anti-dalit prejudice and discrimination is a social malaise that exists primarily in rural areas, where small societies can track the caste lineage of individuals and discriminate accordingly. Sociologists Kevin Reilly, Stephen Kaufman, Angela Bodino, while being critical of casteism, conclude that modern India does not practice any "apartheid" since there is no state sanctioned discrimination.[83] They write that Casteism in India is presently "not apartheid. In fact, untouchables, as well as tribal people and members of the lowest castes in India benefit from broad affirmative action programmes and are enjoying greater political power."[83]
[edit] Caste and race
Allegations that caste amounts to race were addressed and rejected by B.R. Ambedkar, an advocate for Dalit rights and critic of untouchability. He wrote that
"The Brahmin of Punjab is racially of the same stock as the Chamar (Dalit) of Punjab. The Caste system does not demarcate racial division. Caste system is a social division of people of the same race",[84]
Such allegations have also been rejected by many sociologists such as Andre Béteille, who writes that treating caste as a form of racism is "politically mischievous" and worse, "scientifically nonsensical" since there is no discernible difference in the racial characteristics between Brahmins and Scheduled Castes. He writes that "Every social group cannot be regarded as a race simply because we want to protect it against prejudice and discrimination".[85]
The Indian government also rejects the claims of equivalency between Caste and Racial discrimination, pointing out that the caste issues as essentially intra-racial and intra-cultural. Indian Attorney General Soli Sorabjee insisted that "[t]he only reason India wants caste discrimination kept off the agenda is that it will distract participants from the main topic: racism. Caste discrimination in India is undeniable but caste and race are entirely distinct".[75] Many scholars dispute the claim that casteism is akin to racism. The view of the caste system as "static and unchanging" has been disputed. Sociologists describe how the perception of the caste system as a static and textual stratification has given way to the perception of the caste system as a more processual, empirical and contextual stratification. Others have applied theoretical models to explain mobility and flexibility in the caste system in India.[29] According to these scholars, groups of lower-caste individuals could seek to elevate the status of their caste by attempting to emulate the practices of higher castes.
Sociologist M. N. Srinivas has also debated the question of rigidity in Caste.[31][32] For details see sanskritization.
Pakistani-American sociologist Ayesha Jalal also rejects these allegations. In her book, "Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia", she writes that "As for Hinduism, the hierarchical principles of the Brahmanical social order have always been contested from within Hindu society, suggesting that equality has been and continues to be both valued and practiced."[86]
In India,[87] some observers felt that the caste system must be viewed as a system of exploitation of poor low-ranking groups by more prosperous high-ranking groups. In many parts of India, land is largely held by high-ranking property owners of the dominant castes that economically exploit low-ranking landless labourers and poor artisans, all the while degrading them with ritual emphases on their so-called god-given inferior status.
Matt Cherry,[88] claims that karma underpins the caste system, and the caste system traditionally determines the position and role of every member of Hindu society. Caste determines an individual's place in society, the work he or she may carry out, and who he or she may marry and meet. According to him, Hindus believe that the karma of previous life will determine the caste an individual will be (re)born into.
According to Stanford University scholar Oman Jain,[89] there is no caste system currently in place in India.
On 29 March 2007, the Supreme Court of India, as an interim measure, stayed the law providing for 27 percent reservation for Other Backward Classes in educational institutions like IITs and IIMs. This was done in response to a public interest litigation — Ashoka Kumar Thakur vs. Union of India. The Court held that the 1931 census could not be a determinative factor for identifying the OBCs for the purpose of providing reservation. The court also observed, "Reservation cannot be permanent and appear to perpetuate backwardness".[90] However, Supreme Court has later upheld the 27% reservation to OBCs [91].
[edit] Genetic analysis
There have been several studies examining caste members as discrete populations, examining the hypothesis that their ancestors have different origins. A 2002-03 study by T. Kivisild et al. concluded that the "Indian tribal and caste populations derive largely from the same genetic heritage of Pleistocene southern and western Asians and have received limited gene flow from external regions since the Holocene."[92] Studies point to the various Indian caste groups having similar genetic origins[93] and having negligible genetic input from outside south Asia.[93] }}</ref> Because the Indian samples for this study were taken from a single geographical area, it remains to be investigated whether its findings can be safely generalized.[94]
An earlier 1995 study by Joanna L. Mountain et al. of Stanford University had concluded that there was "no clear separation into three genetically distinct groups along caste lines", although "an inferred tree revealed some clustering according to caste affiliation".[95] A 2006 study by Ismail Thanseem et al. of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (India) concluded that the "lower caste groups might have originated with the hierarchical divisions that arose within the tribal groups with the spread of Neolithic agriculturalists, much earlier than the arrival of Aryan speakers", and "the Indo-Europeans established themselves as upper castes among this already developed caste-like class structure within the tribes."[96] The study indicated that the Indian caste system may have its roots much before the arrival of the Indo-Aryans; a rudimentary version of the caste system may have emerged with the shift towards cultivation and settlements, and the divisions may have become more well-defined and intensified with the arrival of Indo-Aryans.[97]
A 2006 genetic study by the National Institute of Biologicals in India, testing a sample of men from 32 tribal and 45 caste groups, concluded that the Indians have acquired very few genes from Indo-European speakers.[98] More recent studies have also debunked the British claims that so-called "Aryans" and "Dravidians" have a "racial divide". A study conducted by the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in 2009 (in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT) analyzed half a million genetic markers across the genomes of 132 individuals from 25 ethnic groups from 13 states in India across multiple caste groups. The study establishes, based on the impossibility of identifying any genetic indicators across caste lines, that castes in South Asia grew out of traditional tribal organizations during the formation of Indian society, and was not the product of any "Aryan Invasion" and "subjugation" of Dravidian people.[99]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Axel Michaels, Hinduism: Past and Present 188-97 (Princeton 2004) ISBN 0-691-08953-1
- ^ a b "Hindu Wisdom: The Caste System". http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Caste_System.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-08.
- ^ a b Nitin Mehta (2006-12-08). "Caste prejudice has nothing to do with the Hindu scriptures". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/india/story/0,,1967446,00.html. Retrieved 2006-12-08.
- ^ a b M V Nadkarni (2003-11-08). "Is Caste System Intrinsic to Hinduism? Demolishing a Myth". Economic and Political Weekly. http://www.epw.org.in/showArticles.php?root=2003&leaf=11&filename=6474&filetype=html. Retrieved 2006-12-08.
- ^ Francis Buchanan, Indian Census Record, 1883
- ^ BBC profile, India
- ^ BBC, Religion and ethics, Hinduism
- ^ Bayly, Susan (July 1999). Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.2277/0521264340. ISBN 9780521264341. http://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521264340.
- ^ "Caste-Based Parties". http://countrystudies.us/india/116.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
- ^ The Cambridge History of Iran by Ilya Gershevitch, p. 651.
- ^ The World Year Book of Education by Columbia University. Teachers College, University of London Institute of Education, p. 226.
- ^ Origin and Growth of Caste in India by Nripendra Kumar Dutt, p. 39.
- ^ ManuSmriti X:65: "As the son of Shudra can attain the rank of a Brahmin, the son of Brahmin can attain rank of a shudra. Even so with him who is born of a Vaishya or a Kshatriya".
- ^ David Haslam (2006-11-18). "Face to faith". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1951144,00.html. Retrieved 2006-12-08.
- ^ "Varnashrama-dharma and Caste". ISKCON. http://hinduism.iskcon.com/lifestyle/901.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-12.
- ^ "The Varnasrama Social System". Hare Krishna News Network. http://krishna.org/ctfote/varnash.html. Retrieved 2007-04-12.
- ^ White Yajurveda 26.2
- ^ "Brahman". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9016155/Brahman. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
- ^ John Keay, India: A History, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, London, 2000. p. 145.
- ^ John Keay, India: A History, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, London, 2000. p. 189.
- ^ a b Kevin Hobson. "The Indian Caste System and The British: Ethnographic Mapping and the Construction of the British Census in India". http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/h_es/h_es_hobso_caste_frameset.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
- ^ a b W. Klatt, Caste, class and communism in Kerala, Asian Affairs, Volume 3, Issue 3 October 1972, pp. 275-287, DOI: 10.1080/03068377208729634.
- ^ The Varna and Jati Systems by Terence Callaham and Roxanna Pavich.
- ^ Nehru, J "Discovery of India", Oxford India Paperbacks.
- ^ Sankaran, S (1994). "3". Indian Economy: Problems, Policies and Development. Margham Publications. p. 50. ISBN.
- ^ Oriental Philosophy,lander.edu.
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- ^ "Govind Sadashiv Ghurye: Ghurye's Views about Indian Society" (PDF). http://www.ncert.nic.in/textbooks/XI/Un_socity_XI/Chapter%2010.pdf. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
- ^ a b c James Silverberg (November 1969). "Social Mobility in the Caste System in India: An Interdisciplinary Symposium". The American Journal of Sociology 75 (3): 443–444.
- ^ Social Structure & Mobility in Economic Development, By Neil J. Smelser, Seymour Martin Lipset, Published 2005.
- ^ a b Srinivas, M.N, Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India by MN Srinivas, p. 32 (Oxford, 1952).
- ^ a b Caste in Modern India; And other essays: p. 48. (Media Promoters & Publishers Pvt. Ltd, Bombay; First Published: 1962, 11th Reprint: 1994).
- ^ "India." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 6 June 2008.
- ^ "Glossary of the tribes and Castes of the Punjab and N.W. Frontier Province.", vol. 2, p. 501, by H.A. Rose, First ed. 1911.
- ^ The Buddha - Caste Problem.
- ^ "Govind Sadashiv Ghurye: Ghurye's Views about Indian Society" (PDF). http://www.ncert.nic.in/textbooks/XI/Un_socity_XI/Chapter%2010.pdf. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
- ^ Alavi, Seema (1998). Sepoys And The Company Tradition and transition in Northern India 1770-1830. Oxford University Press India. p. 5. ISBN 0-195-63484-5.
- ^ Corbridge, Staurt; Harriss, John (2000). Reinventing India: Liberalization, Hindu Nationalism and Popular Democracy. Polity press. p. 8.
- ^ "Tribal Protests and Rebellions'
- ^ The Freedom Struggle in Hyderabad: A Connected Account by Hyderabad, (India : State), p. 111.
- ^ Social and Political Awakening Among the Tribals of Rajasthan by Gopi Nath Sharma, p. 32.
- ^ Who's who of Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh by Sarojini Regani, p. 420.
- ^ List of Scheduled Castes Delhi Govt.
- ^ Reply to SC daunting task for government, Tribune India.
- ^ What is India's population of other backward classes?,Yahoo News.
- ^ Christian Castes Encyclopedia Britannica.
- ^ a b Rao Babadur L. K. Anantakrishna Ayyar, Anthropology of the Syrian Christians. Cochin Government Press. 1926
- ^ Fuller, C.J.Indian Christians: Pollution and Origins.Man, New Series, Vol. 12, No. 3/4. (Dec., 1977), pp. 528-529.
- ^ "Caste among Syrian Christians". Encyclopedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115071/Christian-caste. |access date=19 March 2010}}
- ^ "Racing on the fast track". Hindustan Times. http://www.hvk.org/articles/0606/16.html.
- ^ Fuller, C.J.Indian Christians: Pollution and Origins.Man, New Series, Vol. 12, No. 3/4. (Dec., 1977), pp. 528-529.
- ^ "Nambudiri origin". www.hindutva.org. http://www.hindutva.org/christianity.html. |access date=19 March 2010}}
- ^ Kerala Christians and the Caste System C. J. Fuller Man, New Series, Vol. 11, No. 1. (Mar., 1976), pp. 53-70.
- ^ a b "Islamic caste." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 18 Oct. 2006.
- ^ a b Burton-Page, J. "Hindū." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzeland W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2006. Brill Online.
- ^ Muslim Caste in Uttar Pradesh (A Study of Culture Contact), Ghaus Ansari, Lucknow, 1960, p. 66.
- ^ a b Singh Sikand, Yoginder. "Caste in Indian Muslim Society". Hamdard University. http://stateless.freehosting.net/Caste%20in%20Indian%20Muslim%20Society.htm. Retrieved 2006-10-18.
- ^ Aggarwal, Patrap (1978). Caste and Social Stratification Among Muslims in India. Manohar.
- ^ Social Stratification Among Muslims in India by Zarina Bhatty.
- ^ a b Ambedkar, Bhimrao. Pakistan or the Partition of India. Thackers Publishers.
- ^ a b Web resource for Pakistan or the Partition of India.
- ^ Leach, Edmund Ronald (1971-11-24). Aspects of Caste in South India, Ceylon and North-West Pakistan (p. 113). Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Muslim Communities of South Asia: Culture and Society Edited by T.N. Madan. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1976 p. 114.
- ^ "Are neo-Buddhists- Hindus?" by Koenraad Elst.
- ^ Durga Prasad, p. 115, History of the Andhras upto 1565 A. D..
- ^ Martin, Robert Montgomery, p. 216, The History, Antiquities, Topography, and Statistics of Eastern India.
- ^ Dr. Sewa Singh Kalsi. "Problems of Defining Authority in Sikhism". DISKUS Vol.3 No.2 (1995) pp. 43-58. http://web.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/diskus/kalsi_2.html. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
- ^ Notes on Bahá'í population in India by Charles Nolley and William Garlington, 1997-03
- ^ a b Danny Yee. "Book review of Caste, Society and Politics in India: From the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age". http://dannyreviews.com/h/Caste_India.html. Retrieved 2006-12-11.
- ^ Bhattacharya, Amit. ""Who are the OBCs?"". http://www.theotherindia.org/caste/who-are-the-obcs.html. Retrieved 2006-04-19. Times of India, April 8, 2006.
- ^ "Caste-Based Parties". Country Studies US. http://countrystudies.us/india/116.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-12.
- ^ India's caste system discriminates.
- ^ Shaivam.org.
- ^ http://www.sanghparivar.org/wiki/rashtriya-swayamsevak-sangh
- ^ a b An Untouchable Subject?
- ^ Final Declaration of the Global Conference Against Racism and Caste-based Discrimination.
- ^ Gopal Guru, with Shiraz Sidhva. India's "hidden apartheid".
- ^ Rajeev Dhavan. India's apartheid.
- ^ The Constitution of India by P.M. Bakshi, Universal Law Publishing Co, ISBN 8175345004.
- ^ Mendelsohn, Oliver & Vicziany, Maria, "The Untouchables, Subordination, Poverty and the State in Modern India", Cambridge University Press, 1998.
- ^ William A. Haviland, Anthropology: The Human Challenge, 10th edition, Thomson Wadsworth, 2005, ISBN 0534623611, p. 575.
- ^ Excerpts from The Constitution of India.
- ^ a b Kevin Reilly, Stephen Kaufman, Angela Bodino, Racism: A Global Reader P21, M.E. Sharpe, 2003 ISBN 0765610604.
- ^ Ambedkar, The Annihilation of Caste. p. 49 of his Writings and Speeches, vol.1, Education Dpt., Government of Maharashtra 1979.
- ^ Race and caste by Andre Beteille.
- ^ A. Jalal,Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia: A Comparative and Historical Perspective (Contemporary South Asia), Cambridge University Press (May 26, 1995), ISBN 0521478626.
- ^ India - A Country Study, USA Library of Congress, 1995, Chapter 5.
- ^ Matt Cherry, "Humanism In India", Free Inquiry magazine, Vol 16 Num 4.
- ^ "Caste System in India: A Criticism", Stanford University Press, 5 Jun 2008.
- ^ "Supreme Court stays OBC quota in IITs, IIMs". rediff.com (Rediff.com India Limited). 2007-03-29. http://in.rediff.com/news/2007/mar/29quota.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
- ^ http://sify.com/news/sc-upholds-27-pc-obc-quota-news-national-jegnGRdgjda.html
- ^ Kivisild, T.; S. Rootsi, M. Metspalu, S. Mastana, K. Kaldma, J. Parik, E. Metspalu, M. Adojaan, H.-V. Tolk, V. Stepanov, M. Gölge, E. Usanga, S. S. Papiha, C. Cinnioglu, R. King, L. Cavalli-Sforza, P. A. Underhill, and R. Villems (February 2003). "The Genetic Heritage of the Earliest Settlers Persists Both in Indian Tribal and Caste Populations". American Journal of Human Genetics 72 (2): 313–332. doi:10.1086/346068. PMID 12536373. PMC 379225. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=379225&blobtype=pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
- ^ a b http://www.pnas.org/content/103/4/843.full.pdf
- ^ Basu, Analabha; Namita Mukherjee, Sangita Roy, Sanghamitra Sengupta, Sanat Banerjee, Madan Chakraborty, Badal Dey, Monami Roy, Bidyut Roy, Nitai P. Bhattacharyya, Susanta Roychoudhury and Partha P. Majumder (2003). "Ethnic India: A Genomic View, With Special Reference to Peopling and Structure". Genome Research 13 (10): 2277–2290. doi:10.1101/gr.1413403. PMID 14525929. PMC 403703. http://www.genome.org/cgi/reprint/13/10/2277. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
- ^ Mountain, Joanna L.; J M Hebert, S Bhattacharyya, P A Underhill, C Ottolenghi, M Gadgil, and L L Cavalli-Sforza (April 1995). "Demographic history of India and mtDNA-sequence diversity". American Journal of Human Genetics 56 (4): 979–992. ISSN 0002-9297. PMID 7717409. PMC 1801212. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1801212&blobtype=pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
- ^ Thanseem, Ismail; Kumarasamy Thangaraj, Gyaneshwer Chaubey, Vijay Kumar Singh, Lakkakula VKS Bhaskar, B Mohan Reddy, Alla G Reddy, and Lalji Singh (August 2006). "Genetic affinities among the lower castes and tribal groups of India: inference from Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA" (PDF). BMC Genetics 7: 42. doi:10.1186/1471-2156-7-42. PMID 16893451. PMC 1569435. http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2156-7-42.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
- ^ G.S. Mudur (2007-01-01). "Caste in the genes". The Telegraph, Calcutta. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070101/asp/knowhow/story_7203802.asp. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
- ^ Brian Handwerk (2006-01-10). "India Acquired Language, Not Genes, From West, Study Says". National Geographic News. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/01/0110_060110_india_genes.html. Retrieved 2006-12-08.
- ^ Aryan-Dravidian divide a myth: Study, Times of India
[edit] References
- Aggarwal, Patrap. Caste and Social Stratification Among Muslims in India. Manohar. 1978.
- Ambedkar, Bhimrao. Pakistan or the Partition of India. Thackers Publishers.
- Ansari, Ghaus. Muslim Caste in Uttar Pradesh: A Study of Culture Contact. Lucknow, 1960.
- Bayly, Susan. Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age. Cambridge University Press. 1999. DOI:10.2277/0521264340. ISBN 9780521264341.
- Michaels, Axel, Hinduism: Past and Present 188-97 (Princeton 2004) ISBN 0-691-08953-1.
- Srinivas, M. N. Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India. Oxford, 1952.
[edit] Further reading
- Swami Sahajanand Saraswati Rachnawali (Selected works of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati), Prakashan Sansthan, Delhi, 2003.
- Baldev Upadhyaya, Kashi Ki Panditya Parampara, Sharda Sansthan, Varanasi, 1985.
- M.A. Sherring, Hindu Tribes and Castes as Reproduced in Benaras, Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, First edition 1872, new edition 2008.
- Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and Sects, Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi, first edition 1896, new edition 1995.
- E.A.H.Blunt, The Caste System of North India, first edition in 1931 by Oxford University Press, new edition by S.Chand Publishers, 1969.
- Christopher Alan Bayly, Rulers, Townsmen, and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1770–1870, Cambridge University Press, 1983.
- Anand A. Yang, Bazaar India: Markets, Society, and the Colonial State in Bihar, University of California Press, 1999.
- Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi Rachnawali, Rajkamal Prakashan, Delhi.
- Bibha Jha's Ph.D thesis Bhumihar Brahmins: A Sociological Study submitted to the Patna University.
- Arvind Narayan Das, Agrarian movements in India : studies on 20th century Bihar (Library of Peasant Studies), Routledge, London, 1982.
- M. N. Srinivas, Social Change in Modern India, Orient Longman, Delhi, 1995.
- Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi essays.
- Ambedkar, B.R. (1946). The Untouchables: Who Were They and Why They Became Untouchables? as reprinted in Volume 7 of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, published by Government of Maharashtra 1990; Complete Writings.
- Ambedkar, B.R. (1946) Who were the Shudras (Read online).
- Atal, Yogesh (1968) "The Changing Frontiers of Caste" Delhi, National Publishing House.
- Atal, Yogesh (2006) "Changing Indian Society" Chapter on Varna and Jati. Jaipur, Rawat Publications.
- Baines, Jervoise Athelstane (1893). General report on the Census of India, 1891, London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
- Blunt, E.A.H. (1931). The Caste System of Northern India, republished 1964, S. Chand, Delhi.
- Crooke, William (1896). Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, 4 vols.
- Duiker/Spielvogel. The Essential World History Vol I: to 1800. 2nd Edition 2005.
- Dumont, Louis. Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and Its Implications. Complete English edition, revised. 540 p. 1970, 1980 Series: (Nature of Human Society).
- Ghurye, G. S. (1961). Caste, Class and Occupation. Popular Book Depot, Bombay.
- Ghurye, G. S. (1969). Caste and Race in India, Popular Prakashan, Mumbai 1969 (1932).
- Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes, C. Hurst & Co.
- Kane, Pandurang Vaman: History of Dharmasastra: (ancient and mediaeval, religious and civil law) — Poona : Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1962-1975.
- Lal, K. S. Growth of Scheduled Tribes and Castes in Medieval India (1995).
- Murray Milner, Jr. (1994). Status and Sacredness: A General Theory of Status Relations and an Analysis of Indian Culture, New York: Oxford University Press.
- Raj, Papia & Aditya Raj (2004) "Caste Variation in Reproductive Health of Women in Eastern Region of India: A Study Based on NFHS Data" Sociological Bulletin 53 (3): 326-346.
- Ranganayakamma (2001). For the solution of the "Caste" question, Buddha is not enough, Ambedkar is not enough either, Marx is a must, Hyderabad : Sweet Home Publications.
- Russell, R.V. and R.B. Hira Lal (1916). The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, 4 vols., London.
- Liz Stuart , in the Guatdian Weekly , January 10, 2002
[edit] External links
- BAMCEF organisation is an anti Caste System and Castism
- Caste System is Not Vedic
- The Caste System in India
- Annihilation of Caste with a Reply to Mahatma Gandhi Part I & Part II by Dr.B.R.Ambedkar
- Varna Ashram and Hindu Scriptures (pdf)
- Articles on Caste by Koenraad Elst: Caste in India, Buddhism and Caste, Indian tribals and Caste, Physical anthropology and Caste, Etymology of Varna
- India's Caste System at Kamat's Potpourri
- Hidden Apartheid Caste Discrimination against India's "Untouchables"
- Flood victims face caste discrimination retrieved Sep 12, 2008
- The Castes, Culture, and Hedonism: An abstract of the ideology by: Nevill Kumar
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Life in 
DEMOGRAPHY
Caste and the Census
Suggestions of caste-based enumeration in the 2001 Census have provoked a serious debate.
ASHA KRISHNAKUMAR
CASTE-BASED enumeration of the population has not been carried out in India since 1931. In the last 70 years, some caste names have changed, quite a few new ones have emerged, several castes have merged with others or have moved up or down the social hie rarchy, and many have become politically active.
Caste being a sensitive issue, the proposition of caste-based census naturally provoked serious debate. Social scientists such as Marc Galanter have argued that the census recording of social precedence is a device of colonial domination, designed to und ermine as well as to disprove Indian nationhood. They contend that even assuming that caste data are relevant, enumeration of the population on the basis of caste is bound to be vitiated by vote-bank and reservation politics, leading to the inflation of population figures and the suppression or distortion of vital information on employment, education and economic status, among other things (Frontline, September 25, 1998). They hail the announcement of the Registrar-General of Census, J.K. Bantia, that castes would not be enumerated in the 2001 Census. The decision, according to those opposed to caste enumeration, reflects a clear commitment to eliminate inequality of status and invidious treatment and to establish a society in which the governme nt takes minimal account of ascriptive ties.
An argument in favour of caste enumeration is that if the complexity of castes, which have a significant bearing on society and the polity, is to be understood, authentic data on castes should be available. This was the general opinion of academics, poli ticians, government officials, representatives of various Backward Classes Commissions and mediapersons who gathered in Mysore in July for a seminar on "Caste Enumeration in the Census". The seminar, organised by the Madras Institute of Development Studi es (MIDS), Chennai, in collaboration with Mysore University, the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, and the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, also discussed alternative systems of data collection to obtain authentic inf ormation on castes.
The need to enumerate castes was emphasised by representatives of various Backward Classes Commissions. Their argument primarily centred on the problems of identification of B.Cs and providing reservation for them.
According to the Chairman of the Karnataka Backward Classes Commission, Prof. Ravivarma Kumar, the first National Commission on Backward Classes (appointed in 1953) and also the various State Commissions have recorded the difficulty they faced in impleme nting reservation for want of caste-related Census data. The Constitution, while providing for reservation in professional institutions and State services for the Scheduled Castes (S.Cs) and the Scheduled Tribes (S.Ts), which are known to be historically disadvantaged, has provisions in Article 15(4) (reservation in professional courses) and Article 16 (4) (reservation of jobs in state services) for reservation "for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes of citizens, known as Oth er Backward Classes (OBCs), in proportion to their population". (However, the C in the OBC began to be referred to as denoting ''castes'' instead of "classes", which denotes a collection of individuals satisfying specified criteria.)
While Census enumerators continue to collect caste data of all castes and tribes listed in the Schedules to Articles 341 and 342, they do not collect data on OBCs. Hence, for want of data, the Backward Classes Commissions resort to indirect methods to ar rive at a head count of the OBCs, whose classification the judiciary most often invalidates.
On the recommendation of these commissions, the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993, was enacted to revise the B.Cs list periodically for "the deletion of castes that have ceased to be backward classes or for inclusion in such lists new ba ckward classes". Again, this cannot be done without caste data.
J.K. Bantia defended the government's decision not to have caste enumeration during the head-count planned for 2001, saying: "The Census as it is is overloaded. Over five million tables are generated and analysed even without caste enumeration."
Andhra Pradesh Backward Classes Commission Chairman K.S. Puttaswamy built up a case for a well-designed, rigorous sample survey by an independent agency. He based his arguments on the path-breaking experiment of his Commission, which appointed T.V. Hanur av to conduct one of the largest independent statistical sample surveys in the country on the socio-economic and educational conditions of caste groups.
THE reasons which were laid out against enumerating castes in the Census broadly fell into three categories - moral, pragmatic and technical. A vigorous moral argument against the collection of caste data is that it would "increase casteism" , "legitimis e castes", "perpetuate castes" and "create cleavages in society". But most of the participants felt that these apprehensions were baseless as non-collection of caste data in the last 70 years had neither eliminated caste distinctions nor ended caste ineq uality.
A pragmatic argument was that there was a tendency to misreport and misrepresent data in order to garner benefits and privileges or to incite caste clashes. But then, non-collection of data has not helped reduce the frequency of caste clashes, which hav e become a reality especially in Bihar. Atrocities against Dalits occur with alarming frequency and intensity in many parts of the country. In fact, some experts argue that in order to address the issue of caste clashes there is a need for authentic data on the socio-economic and political conditions of caste groups.
In the absence of authentic caste data, either the 1931 figures are extrapolated with some modifications or estimates by caste groups themselves are relied upon. Either of these can be misleading, Puttaswamy says. For instance, the population of Andhra P radesh, according to the 1991 Census, was 6.65 crores and the Central Statistical Organisation's (CSO) estimation for 2001 is 7.69 crores. Almost all castes barring Kammas, Jains, Anglo-Indians and Buddhists have claimed B.C. status, arguing that they ar e the most backward on social, educational and economic grounds and that they are under-represented in government services and in political institutions. These castes have come out with estimations of their own numbers; the trouble is that only that they add up to 25 crores, or four times the State's actual population.
That the Census cannot enumerate castes for technical reasons, given the socio-economic complexities and political dimensions, was elaborated by Prof. K. Nagaraj of the MIDS and Prof. P.K. Misra and Suresh Patil of the Anthropological Survey of India. Ba sed on a statistical analysis of the size and spatial distribution of castes in the 1881 Census, Nagaraj argued that "there are broad dimensions to the caste structure which make it extremely difficult to capture the phenomenon of caste through a massive , one-time, quick operation like the Census." He said the complexity arose primarily because of the fragmentation, localisation, fluidity and ambiguity of castes.
Fragmentation: Of the 1,929 castes aggregated in the 1881 Census, 1,126 (58 per cent) had a population of less than 1,000; 556 (29 per cent) less than 100; and 275 (14 per cent) less than 10. There are a large number of single-member castes. At the other extreme, three caste groups - Brahmins, Kunbis and Chamars - accounted for more than a crore each. These three accounted for as many people as the bottom 1,848 (96 per cent) castes.
Localisation: Of the 1,929 caste groups, 1,432 (74 per cent) were found only in one locality (out of 17); 1,780 (92 per cent) were spread across four localities; and only two, Brahmins and the so-called Rajputs, had an all-India presence. The pattern of localisation also seemed to vary across space. For example, while the eastern and southern regions had high localisation of the big caste groups, in the northern and western regions they were spatially spread.
Thus there is a need for knowledge of the local caste systems. Even such statistical techniques as sampling would vary across space. "Decentralised data collection rather than a uniform all-India approach appears essential," Nagaraj said.
The Census, while aggregating caste groups across the country, predicates the exercise on 'varna' or on the caste-occupation nexus. This has resulted in disparate caste groups being clubbed together. If castes could not be grouped in 1881, it would be th at much more difficult to do so today because a number of changes have taken place in the caste system over the years.
Fluidity and ambiguity: Socio-economic and political changes, particularly those since Independence, have introduced a number of ambiguities in the structure and conception of castes, posing enormous problems in enumerating them through a Census-type pro cedure. For example, the changes in migration patterns and caste agglomerations, the caste-occupation nexus and the mix of sacral and secular dimensions in the nature of the caste groups vary widely across space and castes. This introduces ambiguities in the very perception of caste at various levels - legal, official, local and so on.
Misra and Suresh Patil argued that a centralised census operation was not the appropriate way to enumerate castes for several reasons, including change of nomenclature (for instance, Edagai and Balagai, two depressed communities in Karnataka, were entere d as Holeya and Madiga respectively until the 1921 Census, while they became Adi Karnataka and Adi Dravida in the 1931 Census); phonetic resemblance in names (for instance, the Gonds of Karnataka's Uttara Kannada district have nothing to do with the Gond tribals of Madhya Pradesh); religious movements and change of faith (the Veerasaiva religious movement in northern Karnataka drew many artisan castes such as the Kammara (blacksmith), Badiga (carpenter), Kumbara (potter) and Nekara (weaver) into its fol d, while not accepting some other artisan castes such as Bestha (fishermen), Machegara (cobbler) and Dhor (tanner), making it difficult to get separate figures for different artisan groups); and encroachment into another community's identity (the Nayaka community of Karnataka got into the S.T. list as there is a Nayaka tribe in Gujarat. Also its numbers swelled from 4,041 in 1931 to 1,37,410 in 1981).
There is thus the need for a decentralised, multi-disciplinary approach to caste enumeration involving all the stakeholders in the process. Thus the Census, which is centralised on several counts, is not the appropriate agency to enumerate something as complex as castes.
While Ravivarma Kumar argued that the Census could collect caste data by simply introducing a few parameters in the schedule, Prof V.K. Natraj of the MIDS said that it could at best give a head count of various caste groups but would not capture the soci o-economic and political complexities of caste in the country. A head count must be supplemented by an independent, decentralised study, which should then be made transparent, he said.
Among the various alternative methods of caste enumeration discussed at the seminar, the Andhra Pradesh experience, it was felt, was worth considering and replicating in other parts of the country.
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