Should we start using caste-based census?
Current Affairs
There is a lot of debate around caste-based oppression in India. The citizens of the country are largely divided on whether caste is still a major factor in shaping the class structures of the country.
However, is there actual data to help drive this point home? Evidently, not.
It is estimated that the SC, ST, OBC communities all put together constitute about 70-75% of the country’s population. If this is true, they make for a case of ‘Oppressed Majority’ which is why the term ‘Bahujan’ has been coined to represent this majority.
Now, this is a fact that you don’t find in most of your textbooks growing up.
Current consensus includes only SC/STs
Recently, a 10-party delegation from Bihar, including BJP, and led by Nithish Kumar, met PM Modi in New Delhi on August 23 to push for a caste-based census.
This is because the most relevant source for this data is the Census of India. Today, this census only includes data around this SC/ST community (at around 21.53% of the population) but not the other communities like the OBCs.
A bit of history
Before the 1948 census, caste data was actively collected and published, after which only data around economic classes seem to have been collected.
2011 saw a socio-economic and caste census, but again, no caste data was published, leading to protests by Lalu Prasad Yadav, Karunanidhi and Nithish Kumar.
Is there any other data that looks at caste?
The OBCs were found to comprise 52% of the country's population by the Mandal Commission report of 1980. Also, the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) conducts large-scale sample surveys across all socio-economic indicators. Merging a few samples from NSSO and extrapolating/guesstimating will get you to around:
Caste vs economic classes
A very famous Oxfam report (from 2020) reveals:
The top 10% of the Indian population owns 74.3% of the total wealth
The middle 40% owns 22.9%
The bottom 50% owns a mere 2.8%
When we make a case for/against caste-based reservation, a common argument is “But I know so many rich Dalits”.
How do we prove/refute this argument?
Relationship between caste and economic classes
If we have census data, we can:
Take the total population
Break it down by caste
Understand what castes by economic strata
Example: If most of your forward castes lie in the Top 10% and most of the OBC/SC/ST population lie in the bottom 50%, we would have made a case.
Note: This is of course a very simplistic and superficial breakdown for illustrative purposes. Caste & Economic Activity is a much more nuanced topic and Reservation is not just a "poverty-alleviation scheme."
Much needed to distribute government benefits
If we can establish that today’s socio-economic hierarchy is based on caste, we can set concrete policies and incentives to alleviate these inequalities.
Also, since OBCs currently have many welfare schemes and other affirmative action programmes such as reservations in government jobs and education, having a clear idea of their numbers will help justify and adjust OBC quotas.
Technicalities make the data collection difficult
There is a central list of OBCs and a state-specific list of OBCs. Some states, however, do not maintain this list.
Names of some castes are present in both the list of Scheduled castes and the list of OBCs.
Scheduled castes converted to Christianity or Islam are also treated differently in different states.
It is unclear as to what the status of a migrant from one state to another, and the status of children of inter-caste marriage should be.
Some people and leaders also fear social and political unrest upon release of these numbers.
Rabiya Saifi’s murder: Why is the internet outraged?
Current Affairs
The death of a 21-year-old civil defence worker, Rabiya Saifi, who was associated with the Lajpat Nagar District Magistrate office in Faridabad, has led to a nationwide outrage.
Murderer claims to be her husband
The perpetrator, Mohammad Nizammudin (25), a resident of Jaitpur Extension in Delhi, claims to be the deceased woman’s husband. He claims to have married the deceased secretly at Saket court in Delhi.
However, Rabia’s brother has denied this claim, stating that there is no proof of marriage and that it's a conspiracy to defame her. Currently, the police are verifying Nizammudin’s claim.
A fit of rage over suspected infidelity
Nizamuddin alleged to the police that, on August 26, 2021, he had picked Rabia on his motorcycle from Lajpat Nagar and drove her towards Palli Road in Surajkund. There, he slit her throat with a knife in a fit of rage as he suspected infidelity.
On August 27, 2021, Nizammudin surrendered himself at Kalindi Kunj Police Station after confessing to the murder.
Family demands CBI probe
Nizammudin was arrested after Delhi Police informed their counterparts in Faridabad. Rabiya’s family believes that she was sexually assaulted too and that this was the work of more than one person. The family got to know the extent of her injuries while conducting her last rites when the body was being cleaned.
It is alleged, she was beaten up ruthlessly and gang-raped, stabbed at 50 places and her breast was cut.
Sangam Vihar police station refused to file or accept complaint
It is further alleged, a woman is also involved in this disheartening case. The family alleged that two of her colleagues are involved in her murder, and added that the Sangam Vihar police station refused to either file or accept the complaint against the two, who the family claimed are presently absconding.
The Station house officer (SHO) of Surajkund, Haryana ensured a fair investigation in the rape and murder case.
Autopsy report has ruled out rape
Dr Anshu Singla, DCP, NIT, Faridabad, said, “There is no mention of sexual assault in the post-mortem report. The body was not mutilated. Several injuries had been inflicted on the body with a sharp object and there were several stab wounds.”
The post mortem report suggested the victim had 15 external injuries, of which 14 are incision wounds and one a small burn mark.
“The cause of death, in this case, is shock and haemorrhage due to injury to vital organs.”
Outrage by opposition
“A civil defence staffer is brutally raped and murdered in the country’s capital and there is an utter pin drop silence by BJP controlled Delhi police! Hope both the governments won’t bury their heads in the sand like an ostrich…” senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi tweeted from his personal handle.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted “her family deserved to know how and why she was killed”.
Demand for justice
Jamaat-E-Islami Hind Women’s Wing has demanded a probe into the brutal murder. AIMIM also held protests demanding justice for Rabiya.
People took to Twitter with #JusticeForRabiya to record their protests.
The need for justice and stronger laws on women safety is becoming imminent every passing day. This isn’t even the first case of a gruesome murder of a woman in Delhi this year.
In August 2021, Sameer Khan (45) was arrested after he allegedly killed his wife and walked into Mangolpuri police station to surrender with a blood-stained knife.
In July 2021, 61-year-old Jahid Ali allegedly killed his 53-year-old wife, Nazneen after a heated argument and then hanged himself in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj.
Will the outrage over Rabiya’s murder bring some change in laws or will this become just another news story? Only time will tell.
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