New Delhi: Whether caste system is strong or not, a group of Central Ministers headed by FM, Pranab Mukherjee has accepted the principle of caste – based census 2011 for enumeration in phase 2 next year.
Caste has been condemned by one and all, but its roots are strong, and leaving the exceptions, everybody knows his / her caste.
The caste is so feeble in its power that if an Assamese marries a Tamilian, their kids have no caste, only a name. Similarly, the Brahmins do not intermarry in many sub-castes, but both sides not agreeable to wedlock relationship, swear by Brahmin ethics.
Also, the caste has a long shadow in eating habits. Many Brahmins and Jains / Lingayats remain vegetarian, and would not eat with Dalits as the latter eat beef and mutton. Non-eaters of fish will not marry fish eaters.
When caste goes under inspection, it does not touch the skin, black or white, but the blood and various smells of culture.
It was M. Veerappa Moily. Union Law & Justice Minister, a Dalit, who advocated caste basis for Census 2011, because he could not ascertain how many people had a caste in the last 3 or 4 decades. Some educated persons found fault with him.
Elections go by caste. For instance, B. Janardhana Poojary (BJP) in 2008 elections counted on 4 lakh Billava votes for Congress and lost his Mangalore Parliamentary Elections to a BJP worker, Nalin K Kateelu, while Dalit Moily from Karkala / Bangalore won his seat in Chikkaballapur. Moily is not wrong in defending a caste-based census.
Even if 90% people in India rejected caste in a social order, census would record it, that a 100 crores are Indians. Yes, we need a “caste” column in 2011 census to gauge its depth in society now, when it is condemned. Are you in this game?.