Movement against inclusion of caste in Census gains impetus

New Delhi: We, the concerned citizens, have noted with regret that the Government is favourably considering a decision to include caste in the census of 2011.  In fact an impression was given at the conclusion of the last session of the Parliament that a favourable decision has been taken, however, the matter has now been referred to a Group of Ministers.

For more than a century, the British had used every constitutional and administrative measure to aggravate caste and community differences to obstruct the emergence of Indian nationalism.  This strategy had not only helped the colonial rule to perpetuate but ultimately resulted in the partition of the country.

Founding fathers of our constitution realising the divisive potential of caste and community, had specifically abolished untouchability and separate electorate to deny caste and community any role in political or national domain and the Constitution had pledged to build a casteless and classless social order, ensuring equality and justice and prohibiting any discrimination only on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, residence or any of them.   Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, while presenting the final draft of the Constitution, had expressed his fears about the revival of what he called “our old enemies in the form of castes and creeds”. We, however,  recognize that in order to build a strong and united India we need to strive for a truly egalitarian society. We therefore, strongly support any meaningful affirmative action for the deprived and disadvantaged sections of the society.

It is extremely distressing that now, after sixty years, the government appears to be inclined to revive the old British colonial practice of caste enumeration.  Inclusion of caste in the census will cause deep fissures and divisions in the society and weaken the sense of Indian nationhood.

We appeal to our fellow citizens to realize the dangers inherent in caste based census and stand up jointly to protect India’s unity and integrity against this insidious onslaught from within. The citizens alone by their democratic assertion can make the Government and the political parties refrain from taking this regressive decision which will transform Indian nation into a conglomeration of warring castes and communities.  It will destroy our vision of twenty first century and take us back to medieval times.

Members of Movement :-

Dr. Ved Pratap Vaidik, Convener

Mr. Soamnath Chattrjee, Mr. Ram Jethmalani, Shri Balram Jakhar, Mr.Vasant Sathe, Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan, Mr. Jagmohan, Mr. Naresh Chandra, Mr. Muchukund Dubey, Mr. Jeorge Verghese, Acharya Satyanarayan Goenka (Vipasana), Baba Ramdev (Patanjali Yogpeeth), Dr. Pranav Pandya (Vishva Gayatri Parivar), Mr. Ram Naresh acharya (Ramanuj Sanpraday), Swami Pragyanand, Mr. ArifMuhammd Khan (Former Minister), Mr, Jagdish Chandra Sharma (Former Secretary, External Affairs), Mr.Viresh Pratap Chaudhry (Senior Advocate), Dr. J .S. Yadav (Media Expert), Dr. as. Yadav (Engineers India), Dr. Subhash Kashyap (Former Secretary General- Lok Sabha), Mr. Sanjay Dalmia (Indrustialist), Dr. Ramprakash Arya (MP), Mr. R.L. Francis (Leader of Poor Christians), Mr. Naushad A1i (Writer), Mr. Rambahadur Rai (Journalist), Dr. Bhanu Pratap Mehta (Sociologist), Dr. Dilip Padgaonkar (Journalist), Mr. Bal Anand (Former Ambassador), Mr. VS. Verma (Former Ambassador), Mr. Rudrasen Arya (Philanthropist), Mr. H. S Grover (Social Activist), Dr. J. K. Jain (Former M.P), Mr. Rajat Sharma (TV Journalist), Dr. Lavlin Thadani (Film Maker), Smt. A1aka Madhok (Social Activist), Smt. Jalbala Vaidya (Theatre), Mr. Gopal Sharman (Film Director), Mr. Harsh (Software Engineer), Ms Uma Sharma (Artist), Ms Sonal Mansingh (Artist), Mr. Amzad AJi Khan (Artist), Ms. Uma Vasudev (Writer), Mr. Shyam Benegal (Film Maker), Mr. H.K. Dua (Journalist), Mr. V. Bhansali (Banker), Mr. SiddblJrth Kasyap (lndrustialist).

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