Making sense of the BJP's census gambit

The real intent of the caste census the government has announced becomes clear from the way BJP supporters are hailing it — not as a step for social justice, but as a political coup: ‘The BJP has snatched the Opposition’s biggest poll plank.’ One newspaper headline crowed: ‘BJP pulls the rug from under Rahul Gandhi’s feet’.

The Opposition, meanwhile, has claimed victory, pointing out that this is the very BJP that called the caste census a conspiracy to divide Hindus.

Many observers noted that the announcement came in the midst of a communal . Across India, that violence triggered a wave of anti-Muslim hatred. But , it was Kashmiri Hindus and Muslims who found themselves under public scrutiny and attack.

Slowly, though, a new question began to gain traction — a question even mainstream media couldn’t suppress: ‘How could the BJP, after five years of total control over Kashmir, still fail to protect tourists?’ The bereaved families of the victims were asking it, and so were ordinary Hindus.

The latest ‘masterstroke’ was to deflect public attention from this dangerous question. Sure enough, newspapers and news channels had a new headline, and the national conversation had shifted. Observers saw the move for what it was — a time-tested BJP strategy of changing the story to escape critical attention. The BJP camp was giddy.

But the sudden pivot also stumped many in the BJP, especially those who had just circulated a poster in response to the Pahalgam attack. It read: ‘They asked our religion, not our caste.’ The slogan reeked of insensitivity and political opportunism. Even in the face of terror and the tragic deaths at Pahalgam, the BJP hadn’t forgotten to tell Hindus: ‘Your real identity is your religion, not caste, because your enemies ask your religion before attacking, not your caste.’

Yet, here we are: the now wants to ask every Indian their caste.

So what happens now to those lofty slogans? ‘Batenge to katenge’ (divided we fall), ‘ek hain to safe hain’ (united we’re safe) — the BJP’s old claim that caste identity weakens the Hindu community? What of the recent censorship in the film Phule, where words and visuals signifying caste had to be cut on orders? What about the 10-year effort to scrub caste-related content from schoolbooks? Delhi University’s curriculum has quietly axed large portions on caste.

And here’s the kicker: on the very day the caste census was announced, the Telegraph reported that NCERT textbooks now claim caste was never a rigid or oppressive system. According to these new textbooks, people could freely change professions; caste simply provided ‘social stability’; and the British were the real villains who made caste look bad.

This kind of doublespeak on caste from the BJP and its parent body, the RSS, is now plain to see. They know that no Hindu ever forgets their caste, that every big decision in the life of a Hindu is taken with caste in mind. But the RSS will never run a campaign to annihilate caste; it has neither the conviction of Ambedkar nor the courage of Gandhi, whose battle against untouchability, lest we forget, made him a target of assassination attempts.

The BJP understands the reality of caste, and to exploit it, it has crafted its own caste alliances among OBCs and Dalits. But it cannot afford to accept caste as an idea — because that would shatter the carefully constructed fiction of ‘Hindu unity’. The RSS insists that under its umbrella, ‘We’re all Hindus, caste doesn’t matter’. But read Bhanwar Meghwanshi’s searing account of his time in the RSS and you’ll know how hollow that claim is.

Still, thanks to Ambedkar, Gandhi, and many movements before and after them, the lived reality of caste can no longer be denied. The BJP knows better than to provoke the anger of caste groups who are now politically aware and assertive. These communities are now demanding their space in power through the ballot.

Yet even well-meaning critics outside the BJP circle raise a different concern: ‘Are we now doomed to forever define ourselves by caste?’ They worry a caste census will permanently freeze our identities on caste lines.

But the truth is that caste already determines every major political and social outcome in India. Whether we like it or not. You don’t need a caste census to divide Hindus. They are already divided — with very little meaningful solidarity between groups. Their only glue is the projection of a common enemy — the Muslim. That is what rallies divided caste groups into a temporary ‘Hindu’ unity — a unity forged in hatred.

Still, there is a larger question, one that goes beyond the caste census: has Ambedkar’s dream of annihilating caste been set aside forever?

That question is not linked to the caste census, but it’s pivotal nevertheless for Indian democracy. Because this casteist order has denied full personhood to the majority of Indian society — especially Dalits and extremely backward castes. Personhood won’t flow from a caste census. After all, Indian democracy has a vested interest in keeping caste alive. Because caste is a neat little unit that is easily mobilised and manipulated to manufacture electoral mandates.

Yet, if we are giving up the ambition to secure full personhood for all, our society and democracy are headed someplace dark.

Views are personal

Apoorvanand teaches at Delhi University. Translated from the Hindi original, first published in The Wire

More of his writings can be read