சிந்துவெளி தீரத்துச் செந்தமிழே !

 

All the seven snippets given above have been taken from the article of Mr.H.D. Sankalia in Science Today of June 1978.

2019 ம் ஆண்டு செய்தி  சேர்க்கப்பட்டது.

Caste Census: Census Commissioner played mischief !

The Mischief of the Census Commissioner !

We are told that we do have democracy in India. Democracy in India means that there would be periodical elections on the basis of one-man-one-vote system and that everyone would be permitted to vote. And, that Democracy ends there and there itself. Thereafter, it is an oligarchy that controls us. That oligarchy has usurped the Bureaucracy for it and taken over the Media(crazy) too. The Bureaucracy and Media work, in tandem, to ensure that real democracy does not come into practice in India. One is, therefore, left with no choice but to fight against them for securing one’s legitimate rights too. This is the fate of the ordinary Indian citizens for the past 68 years. The latest fight in the series is the demand of the common man to make the Census Commissioner perform his duty in releasing the caste-wise census details without tampering with the data collected.

 The Government of India launched the decennial exercise of head count in the year 2011. The suppressed people of India represented to the Government to go for caste-census too, because it had been done last in 1931 only. And, they had not simply represented, but agitated, lobbied, protested and litigated too. This, even when the Courts had actually wanted to know the basis on which reservation and the percentage were decided earlier.

Parliament had taken policy decision on 07.05.2010 itself

There had been discussion in the House of the People (Lok Sabha) on 07.05.2010 and a decision was taken to  go for caste census too.

It is very clear from the events found recorded in Pages 81 – 87, 102, 104, 107, 108, 110 & 111 of the proceedings of the Lok Sabha (Fifteenth Series), Vol. IX, Fourth Session, 2010 No. 32 that a policy decision had been taken in the House to conduct caste census. It was decided to ask everyone ‘what is your caste’ and to ‘record’ the answer. (Page 102 of the Proceedings containing the discussion at 13.26 hours of 07.05.2010). The subsequent events, the details of which are available in public domain, reveal that the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner had permitted taking Caste Census which had actually been done by the field offices throughout India.

There was however a different case filed by Mr. K. Balu, President, Advocates Forum for Social Justice in W.P. (C) No. 21172 of 2009  before the Hon'ble High Court of Chennai praying for direction to the Government of India to conduct caste census. The High Court had given the direction on 21.01.2010. 

The Census Commissioner complied with that direction and communicated the following  as his decision

“2. Caste-wise enumeration in the census has been given up as a matter of policy from 1951 onwards. In pursuance of this policy decision, castes other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have not been enumerated in all the Censuses since 1951. In Census 2011 also no question on enumeration of castes other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has been included. As such, the first phase of Census 2011 enumeration, namely, the Houselisting and Housing Census is commencing on the 1st of April, 2010. The forms required for this phase of the Census has already been printed in many States and Instruction Manuals required for training the enumerators has also been finalized and printed.  The second phase of Census 2011, namely, Population Enumeration, is due to be conducted in February 2011. The data gathered in the first phase (April to September 2010) is linked to the data to be collected in February-March 2011. Hence, enumerating castes other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will not be possible in that phase also. As such, it is not possible to include any question relating to the enumeration of Castes other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Census of India 2011.

3. As regards the policy decision whether castes other than the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes should be enumerated, the manner in which such enumeration should be done and by whom, the matter has been referred to the nodal Ministry, i.e. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.”

Meanwhile, another case had been filed by one Mr. R. Krishnamurthy in W.P. (C) 10090 of 2010 before the High Court of Madras which had been disposed of with the following observation: 

    We may note that this order had been passed by the Hon'ble High Court on 12.05.2010, chronologically, after the Parliament of India had taken decision, five days earlier, on 07.05.2010 itself.

On that basis, the Census Department had officially issued pamphlets also to the people informing that their caste would be asked for. 

Villainy by the Census Commissioner

Yet, the Census Commissioner had filed an appeal before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India,  against the order passed by the Hon'ble High Court on 12.05.2010.  He was aware that the Parliament o of India had taken decision on 07.05.2010 itself to conduct caste census. Still, he filed his appeal before the Hon'ble Supreme Court on 31.10.2011, after a lapse of more than 17 months. 

It was a clear case of Bureaucratic thuggery.  That apppeal itself was uncalled for, once the Parliament had taken decision to conduct caste ssurvey. In his Affidavit before the Hon'ble Supreme Court in this case,  the Census Commissioner did not mention that the Caste Survey work had alread started and that it was done as per the mandate of the Parliament of India. The Hindu had also, editorially, referred to this lapse on the part of the Census Commissioner, on 20.11.2014.

 The puzzle regarding this bureaucratic mischief remains unsolved till date. It was essential to have caste-wise census because caste became reality in India and is not permitted to evaporate to evolve a caste-free society. The social division will continue to exist as long as the Brahmins manage to retain reservation in priesthood in all the money-spinning temples, insisting on their theory of supremacy by birth by reiterating their Chaturvarna concept even in the portals of judiciary and seeking legal sanction for such policy of apartheid. 

The Census Commissioner is to be made accountable to the public, in the context, because he had abused his bureaucratic advantage and misled the Supreme Court in his affidavit by suppressing the facts.

Mandal Commission theorised that the Backward Classes constitute 52% of the entire population of India, on the basis of the 1931 Census data only. At that time also, vested interests castigated the Commissioner and campaigned against Caste Census. But he ridiculed them and went ahead with his mission. He said that reality cannot be and need not be hiden from analysis and discussio.

 The National Sample Survey Organisation later said that the percentage was 41%. Caste-census data are, therefore, essential for the public to know about themselves, in the backdrop of such conflicting conclusions. Such knowledge would be available to the public, only when the details of caste-census are placed in public domain. But, when the data have been collected, the government is hiding the caste-data and releasing only the socio-economic data. 

Reason was invented and the government said that the caste data was inaccurate and. unusable. That was not the real reason. The caste data was collected based on the statement of every individual who was asked what his caste was. Nothing more. There cannot be any inaccuracy in the collection of this simple data. 

Mandate of NCBC Act, 1993

Sec. 11 of the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993, says that Periodic revision of lists by the Central Government is essential.  “(1) The Central Government may at any time, and shall, at the expiration of ten years from the coming into force of this Act and every succeeding period of ten years thereafter, undertake revision of the lists with a view to excluding from such lists those classes who have ceased to be backward classes or for including in such lists new backward classes.” It, therefore, becomes essential to go for periodical caste-census. This is in consonance with Art. 341 (2) of the Constitution which empowers government to remove castes from the list of beneficiaries of reservation. That being the case, there was no reason for the Census Commissioner to challenge the verdict of the High Court, Chennai. But, that bureaucrat did it.

Questionable integrity of the Census Commissioner

When the bureaucracy led by the Census Commissioner could go to the extent of suppressing truth regarding the then ongoing caste census work even before the Supreme Court, there is no reason for the people to believe him that he is hiding the caste-census data only in public interest. Nor is there any credibility in him that he would release the data without meddling with them. People are, therefore, required to keep a close watch over his conduct. Because, the suspicion of the people about his bona fides got strengthened when he chose to release the uncalled for religious data, without releasing the essential caste date, which is, in fact, the third component of the SE ‘C’ Census-2011.

Bihar Election and Religion-wise data

The data on religion released by the Census Commissioner are so ambiguous and mischievous that the media-crazy went to town to project that the Muslim population was increasing and the Hindu population was decreasing. The saffron brigades were using this data to foment alarm among the Hindus against the Muslims in the context of the impending Bihar election.

Earlier, BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj, who had said that the killer of Mahatma Gandhi was a patriot, exhorted, in January 2015, that the “Hindu woman must produce at least four children in order to protect Hindu religion." In February 2015, BJP”’s Sadhvi Prachi said, “A lion doesn't have just one child. We also need four children in each family. One will fight the enemies on the border, give one to saints, give another to VHP for social work.”

One has reason to believe that the release of this unwanted data on religion, at this juncture, is a follow-up of the reaction of the saffron brigade, in April, 2015 when the data collected by the PEW Research Center, USA had been released. That Report dated 02.04.2015 projected that the Hindu population would fall from the present 79.5% to 76.7% in the year 2050, while the Muslim population would raise to 18.4% from the present 14.4%.  That report also said that in Kashmir itself, the rate of growth of Hindu population was more than that of the Muslim population. Besides, the rise of Hindu population in states like Tamilnadu, Kerala and Karnataka was less than what was obtaining in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, the report said. But, the saffron brigade projected only the growth in Muslim population and attempted to frighten the Hindu populace, to reap political division through polarisation of the society.

In fact, the overall increase in population must be the real cause of concern for every responsible government, to stir it into action to focus attention on population control. But, this government does not care about it. The intention is to mislead the people for nefarious purposes. This kind of false and wrong projections is not new to the Tamil society.

The false propaganda in Tamilnadu

Mr. N. Narayanan, the then President of Brahmins Association of Tamilnadu had exhorted the Brahmins, in the year 2012, to increase the population strength of the Brahmin community. He had reasoned out that in India, on many occasions, democracy had become mobocracy and it had become a number game and that it was a mistake on the part of the Brahmins to have made their families smaller because of the call of the then Prime Minister Nehru in the 1960s. "We, the Brahmins, over-reacted to the call of the Government of India to adopt Family Planning and adopted the same seriously"(Page 4 to 6 - Thambraas April 2012), he had said. The Brahmins did not heed to the acharyas of Advaitha, Dwaitha or Vazhishtathvaidha but accepted family planning methods because of the welfare of the nation, he added.

But, he had suppressed the fact that as per the census data of 1931, Brahmins constituted 4.3% of the population of the entire India. The study conducted by the Centre for Study of Developing Societies, Delhi in the last decade claimed that the population of Brahmins was 5.6 crores and it constituted 5% of the total population (Outlook, June 04, 2007). For more, please visit: http://www.outlookindia.com/images/brahamins_table_20070604.jpg.

Just five years back, the same Mr. Narayanan had given interview to The Hindu stating that "The Brahmin population in Tamil Nadu was 6.75 per cent and it was 16.5 per cent at national level" (The Hindu 26.10.2010). So, his claim in April 2012 that the Brahmin population had become less and that it happened so because they considered the welfare of the nation as foremost was a total lie. The population of Brahmins had, actually, increased, going by his own statistics, obviously because they had obeyed the religious leaders, as per the theory of Mr. Narayanan himself.

Procreation for political purposes

Mr. Narayanan had, however, exhorted all the Brahmins to have minimum of two children per couple and where the couple were rich enough they must beget three or four children. He had also said that increase in population strength of Brahmins was essential for discharging their duty towards their community. And, it so happened that the leaders of other communities followed suit, later, without applying their mind, as usual. No leader seems to feel concerned about the consequences the nation would face, when everybody starts procreating for political purposes, as exhorted by Mr. Narayanan. False propaganda has been the norm of the protagonists of Chaturvarna in India from the days of Rig Veda. The Census Commissioner is now, by releasing the truncated religion-wise data, aiding one more such false propaganda by the saffron media to incite the Hindus against the Muslims.

Chinese model of population control

            

       It is, therefore, essential, in national interest, to go for aggressive family planning campaign, by adhering to the Chinese model, if necessary. Otherwise, the population explosion in India that consistently proves the Malthusian theory, would cause not only social problems and serious economic problems, but would reduce India to become a nation of Slave Labour, with attendant undesirable consequences.

            Besides, the Census Commissioner must release, immediately, the Caste-wise data collected for the SEC Census-2011, without meddling with the facts collected. By doing so, he will just be discharging his constitutional duty as could be seen from Art. 341 (2) of the Constitution and Sec. 11 (1) of the NCBC Act, 1993.

Kannahi asked whether you were a 'Saandron'?

Kannahi the Great, burnt entire Madurai because she knew that the people there did not deserve to live, particularly the educated ones, as they kept quiet and did not raise their voice against unjust action of the people in power. When people constitute a society, they, as individuals, must contribute their mite and ensure that the society does have norms to ensure that there is real justice and fair-play in public life so that innocents do not fall prey to the machinations of the wicked who have acquired power to manipulate the society. When injustice is inflicted on someone, it is the entire society that must be held accountable. That was why she questioned, "Are there educated people here? சான்றோரும் உண்டுகொல்?" 

Baaradhiyaar said that he would set fire to the entire world, if a lone individual anywhere, is denied food. "தனியொருவனுக் குணவிலையெனில் ஜகத்தினை அழித்திடுவோம்".

Now, a child on the seashore of Turkey has made the Turkish president ask the same question.

Such things happen only because, the politicians of many countries are crooked that the people of those countries are required to flee those countries and seek refuge in other countries or die. It is the duty of others in those countries, especially  those who know facts, to stand up and fight against the atrocities of the rulers of their countries. 

Every country can support and feed all its citizenry. But, the problems to the humanity arises only when one group turns wicked and  wants to acquire power over the others and, thereby, exploit the later. 

Let those 'others' perform their role ordained on them to fight for justice, so that there will be no need for anyone to leave his homeland and seek refuge in another land. 

Let other nations also play active role that every nation is governed by transparent law with proper democratic set up. Otherwise, such rogue nations which do not permit real democracy for their people, would pose danger to the other nations too. The reason why the world faces the pangs of conscience now  on seeing the body of the child, is just that.

There was an ordinary man who performed his role with whatever power was in his hands, to stop a convoy of  military tanks. He went to the middle of the road and lifted his hand to stop them, when those tanks were going to Tiannanmen square to mow down the students of China who were fighting for liberty. 

He had performed his role as a Man. 

Would we?