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The Hindu
2 days ago
- The Hindu
Heritage gets a makeover at Patiala's Ran Baas The Palace
Outside Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, Chandigarh, spring's exuberance is fast fading. Dust devils dance like dervishes across a golden brown land as the hotel car speeds towards Patiala, an hour-and-a-half away. The car manoeuvres a warren of streets, and swings past a massive wooden, iron-studded door into the Qila Mubarak complex. Beats from a dholak rise to a crescendo, and staff in shell-pink sherwanis hold a phulkari chadar for me to pass under. As if on cue, a shower of petals descends from the latticed balcony above. A heavy door, with its green patina, swings open and Ran Baas The Palace reveals itself like an Andalusian dream — cupolas and arched corridors framing a sunken black-and-white tiled marble fountain. The heat feels like simmer coming to boil, but the fine mist from the fountain cools with the fragrance of a thousand roses. The 10-acre Qila Mubarak began life as a mud fort when the Sidhu Jat clan under Baba Ala Singh founded the Patiala royal house in 1763. Later maharajas added the interior Qila Androon, the Darbar Hall and Ran Baas, the guest house. During the heyday of princely India, Patiala was more than just a town one discovers when you journey elsewhere. The maharajas of Patiala, especially the last two, Bhupinder Singh and Yadavindra Singh, were known for their appetite for the good life — sport (Bhupinder helped found the BCCI and gave the world the concept of the famed Patiala peg after winning a game of polo; father and son were presidents of the Indian Olympic Association), hunt, education, food and jewellery (the many-layered Cartier necklace was commissioned by them). Post-Independence, the complex fell into disrepair until the State Government decided to restore it. And that is where Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels and well-known conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah stepped in. The renovation story of Ran Baas The Palace, once the abode of queens, is told through hand-written postcards left on my pillow by the guest relations executive, Pragati Gambhir, a Mughal miniature-style map of the complex on the writing desk and atte de biscuit that Patiala's bakeries have made since the Raj. 'Ran Baas has 25 suites with 10 more in the Gate Block,' says Deep Mohan Singh Arneja, general manager, as we sit for high tea on the terrace of what is arguably Punjab's first luxury palace hotel. A sea of cupolas, some with finials, others without, stretches as far as the eye can see. A Cessna aircraft drones past the purple-pink sky as the lights accentuate the alcoves. 'The Patiala Aviation Club was set up by Maharaja Bhupinder Singh for personal use,' says Arneja, adding: 'His larger-than-life persona defined life in Patiala. We have tried to recapture that grandeur.' Arneja has been on site along with Abha's team for nearly two years overseeing the palace's transformation. Some of the walls and roofs had caved in and fortifying the masonry took its time. The past unravels in room after room with araish work, as Subhash Antony, executive housekeeper, walks me through the Sikh-Mughal-Rajput inspired complex. 'Blue, teal, yellow and white dominate the rooms,' he says, showing the Heritage Suite, a spacious blue-and-white-themed room with parakeets in flight on the walls and windows that open to the Moulsari Garden. Chandeliers hang over the claw foot bathtub in the roomy bathroom. While this and the marble-bed Presidential Suite have a fair share of alcoves, the Shikarbagh and Naqqarkhana Suite have murals from another time that have been left untouched. 'No two rooms are the same. Jharokhas throw light from the outside during the day, at night it's the chandeliers from Klove Studio, designed like ear drops that light up the palace,' says Subhash of the chandeliers that complement the stairwell with a de Gournay miniature. Portraits of the maharajas — mustachioed, handsome and bejewelled, murals featuring leopards, framed phulkaris, jamavars and massive bathtubs appear as constants across the property as we take the buggy down to the Jhalau Khana, a banquet hall beyond a row of ancient cannon that supposedly housed the Kohinoor before it was shipped off to Britain. That evening, after a relaxing hour at the Aura spa, adjoining the swimming pool known as the Lassi Khana where once thousands were fed from the palace kitchens, dinner is a lamplit affair in the courtyard under the shade of the 200-year-old moulsari tree. The food is as luxurious as the rooms. 'We have tweaked Patiala's famed dishes, such as the chole bhature, so that it does not sit heavy,' says F&B manager, Aishwar Bhatia, although the palak patthe, a street-food classic with fried spinach leaves and yoghurt is a winner when paired with the Gulaabi Jaam cocktail (gin, lime, triple sec, Shiraz cabernet) made at the burgundy-midnight blue upholstered bar, The Patiala. The next morning's meal at Neel, the all-day dining restaurant, and barbeque dinner by Chef Pratham Swaroop at the many-mirrored Sheesh Mahal are reminders of why Punjabi cuisine has gone global. The itinerary for day two — taking in the sights of Patiala — has been decided for me by my assigned 'butler' Shaurya Kothari, a general management trainee. Shaurya has the efficiency of Downton Abbey's Mr Carson with none of his stuffy demeanour. We cross over to the Darbar Hall within the complex with its long Belgian chandeliers almost grazing the floor, portraits of British kings and queens and a vitrine full of matchlocks. Men and women exercise in the early morning sun. We journey on to the Gurudwara Dukh Niwaran Sahib (remover of all obstacles) and the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports housed in the old Motibagh Palace. Among the treasures here are the 1983 Sunridges bat of Kapil Dev's, Milkha Singh's spikes from the Rome Olympics and the music record of the Delhi Asian Games. That evening we travel to Nabha, one among the Phulkian princely states, for high tea. Meet Gurudev Singh, assistant to Preeti Singh, granddaughter-in-law of the last king of Nabha regales us with Nabha's place in the history of the Sikhs and its kings who rebelled against the Raj. The palace is undergoing a round of renovation and is styled like a many-tiered cake with beautiful wrought iron and woodwork under the eaves of which wedding shoots are on. Tea arrives from both the royal kitchen and the hotel's picnic hamper and is served in crockery with the palace insignia in a viceregal drawing room with silver frames and ebony-tipped walking canes. The market place in Patiala, outside the Qila doors, is where I buy yards of phulkari and boxes of pinni. When I return to the suite, a bubble bath has been drawn. Well rested I leave early, at dawn. In the distance, one can hear the azaan. As the car leaves the fort's shadow, it is as if I have turned the page on a lamp-lit, horse-drawn age. Rooms are priced ₹48,000 plus taxes upwards. The writer was at Ran Baas the Palace at the invitation of The Park.
The Hindu
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Supreme Court indicates mandatory registration of waqfs began in 1923, not 2025
The Supreme Court on Thursday said a requirement to mandatorily register waqfs dated back to 1923, and did not start with the Waqf (Amendment) Act of 2025. Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai, heading a Bench comprising Justice A.G. Masih, asked why waqfs across the country, including waqfs by user, had not bothered to register themselves all these years. The Centre had argued that registration had been made mandatory with the pre-Independence Mussalman Wakf Act of 1923. Post-Independence, the 1954 Waqf Act had retained the provision for mandatory registration of waqfs. The Waqf Enquiry Committee had noted the 'persistent issue' of unregistered waqfs and recommended stricter measures. Even the Waqf Act of 1995 had reiterated the mandatory registration policy, including for waqf by user. Section 4 had empowered State governments to conduct a 'comprehensive survey' of waqf properties to identify unregistered ones. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, leading the rejoinder for the petitioners, said the lack of registration till 2025 was due to the failure of the State governments to do their job. 'Now the community is going to be punished for the failure of the State governments? The onus was on the States to conduct a survey of waqf properties since 1954. So far only one State has completed the survey. Whose fault is this? So, will the community be deprived because State governments did not do their jobs?' Sibal asked the Court. He noted that, though the previous Waqf Acts had made registration mandatory, they had also statutorily recognised waqfs by user, which constitute roughly half of the more than eight lakh waqfs in the country. 'The government's argument that 'waqf by user' was created by legislative policy and can be taken away by legislative policy is wrong. The law cannot act like the Lord, giving and taking. The law had only recognised an essential Islamic concept like 'waqf by user'. The law did not create 'waqf by user', it only recognised this concept in Islam,' senior advocate A.M. Singhvi argued. The petitioners have argued that the 2025 Act will deprive unregistered waqfs of their status, including centuries-old waqfs by user such as mosques and burial grounds. CBI files chargesheet against former J&K Governor Satyapal Malik, 7 others in Kiru hydel corruption case The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a chargesheet against former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik and seven others in connection with alleged corruption in the award of ₹2,200-crore civil works for Kiru hydropower project, officials said Thursday. The agency has filed its chargesheet after three years of probe before a special court naming Malik and his two aides Virender Rana and Kanwar Singh Rana, they said. The other persons named in the chargesheet included the then Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Limited (CVPPPL) managing director M.S. Babu, its directors Arun Kumar Mishra and M.K. Mittal, managing director of construction firm Patel Engineering Limited Rupen Patel and private person Kanwaljeet Singh Duggal, the officials said. In a message on 'X' on Thursday, Malik said he was admitted in the hospital and not in a condition to talk to anyone. The former Governor said he was getting calls from many well-wishers which he was unable to take. The CBI had conducted searches at the premises of Malik and others in connection with the case in February last year. The case pertains to the alleged malpractices in the award of the contract worth about ₹2,200 crore of civil works of the Kiru Hydro Electric Power (HEP) Project to a private company in 2019, the CBI had said after the registration of the FIR in 2022. Malik, who was the governor of Jammu and Kashmir from August 23, 2018 to October 30, 2019, had claimed that he was offered a ₹300-crore bribe for clearing two files, including the one pertaining to the project. Malik said his residence was raided by the CBI instead of investigating the people he had complained about and who were involved in corruption. 'They will not get anything except four-five kurtas and pyjamas. The dictator is trying to scare me by misusing government agencies. I am a farmer's son, I will neither be afraid nor bow down,' he had posted online. 'Sindoor turned into barood': PM Modi's message to Pakistan in Rajasthan's Bikaner Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asserted that the country's enemies have learnt what happens when 'sindoor' becomes gunpowder, and lauded India's armed forces for creating such a trap that Pakistan was forced to go down on its knees. In his first public address in Rajasthan after Operation Sindoor that was launched in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, the Prime Minister slammed Pakistan, and said in response to the attack, 'we destroyed nine biggest terror hideouts in 22 minutes'. 'The world and the enemies of the country have seen what happens when 'sindoor' turns into 'barood' (gunpowder),' he said at the public meeting in Palana in Rajasthan, adding, 'Those out to wipe out 'sindoor' were reduced to dust'. 'Not blood but sindoor runs in my veins,' the Prime Minister said amid applause from the audience. In a strong message to Pakistan, PM Modi said that if India faces a terrorist attack, a strong retaliation will follow. 'The time and methods will be decided by our armed forces,' he said. PM Modi said India will not be intimidated by nuclear threats and will not see the perpetrators of terrorism and the state patronising terrorism separately. Lauding the armed forces for carrying out Operation Sindoor, he said 'Our government gave free hand to all three armed forces. Together they created such a trap that Pakistan was forced to go down on its knees'. Noting that Pakistan had tried to target the Nal air base in Bikaner but could not cause any damage to it, he said in contrast 'No one knows when Pakistan's Rahimyar Khan air base will open again. It is in ICU. The attack has destroyed it'. 'Pakistan can never win a direct fight against India. Whenever there is a direct flight, Pakistan has to face defeat again and again. That is why Pakistan has made terrorism a weapon to fight against India,' he said. Supreme Court stays ED probe in TASMAC liquor 'scam' in Tamil Nadu The Supreme Court on Thursday orally criticised the Directorate of Enforcement for 'crossing limits' and stayed investigation conducted by the Central agency following raids on the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) offices. 'How can a corporation commit an offence? The ED is crossing all limits,' Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai addressed Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, appearing for the Central agency. Chief Justice Gavai said ED's actions against the State corporation had breached the federal structure of the country. 'You are totally violating the federal structure of the country,' CJI Gavai remarked. The court was hearing a petition filed by the State of Tamil Nadu and TASMAC against a Madras High Court order in April, rejecting to stay the ED investigation and raids on the corporation. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, for TASMAC, said the phones of the employees have been cloned. 'There is something called privacy,' Rohatgi submitted. Sibal, for Tamil Nadu, said the State itself had registered 41 FIRs against liquor outlet operators over allegations of corruption. The ED had entered the scene in 2025 and proceeded to raid the headquarters of TASMAC to confiscate the phones and devices found there. 'How can a criminal offence be made out against the corporation. You may register FIRs against the individuals, but against the corporation, in a criminal matter?' CJI asked. Raju defended that the investigation involved a fraud committed to the tune of ₹1000-crore. He said politicians were involved in the case. But the court asked why the ED had to intervene despite the State having filed multiple FIRs. The Bench queried about the predicate offence involved which had prompted the ED to swoop in. Raju sought time to file a detailed response. He was given a fortnight's time to file his reply. India-Pakistan understanding on cessation of hostilities reached bilaterally: Jaishankar The India-Pakistan understanding on cessation of hostilities was arrived at following direct negotiations between the two sides, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has said, against the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that Washington played a role in brokering the truce. In an interview to Dutch broadcaster NOS, he said that the government was very clear that 'if there is such an attack, there will be a response'. In his remarks, EAM Jaishankar said the arrangement on cessation of hostilities was firmed up by the Indian and the Pakistani sides. 'When two countries are engaged in a conflict, it is natural that countries in the world call up and try to sort of indicate their concern,' he said. EAM Jaishankar added: 'But the cessation of firing and military action was something which was negotiated directly between India and Pakistan.' 'We made one thing very clear to everybody who spoke to us, not just the U.S. but to everybody, saying if the Pakistanis want to stop fighting, they need to tell us. We need to hear it from them. Their general has to call up our general and say this. And that is what happened.' Following the cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan, Trump repeatedly claimed credit for it saying that he played a role in brokering the 'ceasefire' between the two sides. EAM Jaishankar also said that India will again hit terrorists in Pakistan in response to any future terror strikes like the one in Pahalgam, suggesting that it was the reason why Operation Sindoor has not been concluded. In his comments, EAM Jaishankar described the April 22 Pahalgam attack as 'barbaric' and said the terrorists 'murdered' the innocent civilians in front of their families after ascertaining their 'faith' with an aim to to create 'religious discord'. "It was imperative that we have a response because the lack of impossible in such a situation," he said. EAM Jaishankar said India is willing to hold talks with Pakistan on the return of the illegally occupied part of Kashmir by that country to New Delhi, and on terrorism. In brief: Indus Waters Treaty will remain in abeyance till Pakistan stops cross-border terrorism: India India on Thursday once again asserted that the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan will remain in 'abeyance' until Islamabad 'credibly and irrevocably' abjures support to cross-border terrorism as 'water and blood' cannot flow together. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that any bilateral talks with Islamabad will only be on vacation of illegally occupied territories of Kashmir by Pakistan. 'It will remain in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism. As our prime minister has said, 'Water and blood cannot flow together',' he added. Kishtwar encounter: One soldier dead, operation continuing, says Army One Army soldier was killed on Thursday in an ongoing operation against terrorists in Kishtwar district in Jammu and Kashmir's Chenab Valley. 'During the ongoing operation, fierce gunfight is continuing. One of our Bravehearts sustained grievous injuries in the exchange of fire and has succumbed despite best medical efforts,' the Army said. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation on Thursday in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district after an exchange of fire with suspected terrorists, officials said. Additional troops have been deployed, and the operation is ongoing to neutralise the terrorists, it added. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
The Hindu
11-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Why India must get the Caste Census right
The Narendra Modi government's decision to include caste enumeration in the next Census is one that is bold, transformative and commendable. Counting caste is not capitulation to identity politics. It is a mirror to the lived realities of millions. It marks a vital step towards evidence-based policymaking to build a more just and inclusive India. A nation that refuses to see itself cannot hope to heal itself. Post-Independence, India attempted to abolish caste while simultaneously pursuing social justice — a textbook example of policy schizophrenia, as the two goals are fundamentally incompatible. The refusal to count caste in the Census was a corollary of the policy of caste blindness. But the Constitution explicitly mandates the pursuit of social justice through reservations in education, public employment, and electoral constituencies — measures that require precise, disaggregated caste data. Although the Constitution uses the term 'class', the Supreme Court of India has repeatedly ruled that caste is a valid, and often necessary, proxy for identifying backwardness and has insisted on detailed caste-wise data to uphold reservation policies. In his 1955 essay, 'Thoughts on Linguistic States', Dr. B.R. Ambedkar denounced the omission of caste tables from the 1951 Census as an act of 'petty intelligence'. Visibility in data is the first step toward meaningful inclusion. Caste data collection across all major social groups is essential not only for administering reservations, but also for equity-driven planning, targeted policymaking, and tracking disparities over time. Not collecting it has rendered many of India's marginalised communities invisible in official statistics. Worse, a narrow elite of upper castes and dominant Other Backward Classes (OBCs) has entrenched its grip over wealth, opportunity and power behind the smokescreen of caste anonymity. In hindsight, this ranks among India's gravest policy failures. A legal and administrative necessity Since 1951, the Census has enumerated Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) but excluded OBCs, even though all three groups are constitutionally eligible for reservations in education and public employment. The usual justification, that OBCs lack reserved seats in Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies (that SC/ST have) collapsed with the 73rd and 74th Amendments, which mandated OBC reservation (in addition to SC/ST reservation) in electoral constituencies of panchayats and municipalities. Implementing these provisions requires granular, area-wise OBC data. With the introduction of reservations in education and public employment for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) among upper castes (2019), a comprehensive enumeration of all castes has now become a legal imperative. India's reservation policy currently operates in an evidence vacuum, leaving it vulnerable to arbitrary demands from powerful caste groups and politically expedient decisions by governments. With reliable caste data, the demands of the Marathas, Patidars, Jats, and others can be assessed transparently and on merit. The limited data we do have reveal deep inequities. According to submissions made by the Government of India to the Justice G. Rohini Commission, just 10 OBC castes cornered 25% of all public jobs and education seats reserved for OBCs, while a quarter of OBC castes secured 97% of the benefits. Shockingly, 38% of OBC castes received only 3% of the benefits, and another 37% got nothing at all. Hence, caste enumeration is also an administrative imperative — to prevent the elite capture, enable rational sub-categorisation within social groups, and allow a more precise definition of the 'creamy layer'. Collection of caste data must go beyond the decennial Census. All periodic government surveys should enumerate OBCs and upper castes alongside SCs and STs. The era of partial counting must end. Learning from failure and success In 2010, Parliament unanimously resolved to count caste in the 2011 Census. The 1931 Census had recorded 4,147 castes (excluding the then-called Depressed Classes). The Anthropological Survey of India has identified 6,325 castes. But the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) of 2011, conducted by the United Progressive Alliance-II government, was a debacle. It produced a ludicrous figure of 46 lakh castes and was never released. What went wrong? First, the SECC-2011 was not conducted under the Census Act, 1948 and lacked legal authority. Second, it was conducted through the Union Ministries of Rural Development and Urban Development with no expertise for handling a complex socio-anthropological survey. Third, its open-ended questions about caste created confusion. Undertrained enumerators conflated castes, aliases, sub-castes, gotras, clan names, surnames and broader caste groups. The result was a chaotic, unusable data set. Was it sabotage or incompetence? Either way, a historic opportunity was squandered. In contrast, in Bihar's caste survey, enumerators were given a vetted list of 214 castes specific to the State, with a 215th option for 'Other Castes'. The survey was well-planned, well-executed, and showed that a credible caste count is entirely feasible. Blueprint for a successful Caste Census To avoid repeating the SECC-2011 fiasco, here is what must be done. First, legal backing. Amend the Census Act, 1948 to explicitly mandate caste enumeration and insulate the process from shifting political agendas. Second, the right institution. Entrust the exercise solely to the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, and not Ministries that lack domain expertise. Third, a standardised questionnaire. Use closed-option questions with dropdown menus covering sub-caste, caste (including aliases), broader caste group, and caste-linked surname (optional). Having 'caste' alone as an option can lead to errors since some caste names such as Rao, Naik, Singh or Bhandari span multiple communities. Assign unique digital codes to avoid duplication and semantic confusion (e.g., grouping 'Iyer' and 'Aiyar' under one code). Fourth, State-specific caste lists. Develop draft lists in consultation with State governments, sociologists, and community leaders. Publish them online and invite public feedback before finalisation. Use a similar participatory approach for questionnaire design. Fifth, enumerator training. Conduct region-specific training sessions with mock examples, clear dos and don'ts, and guidance on local caste nuances. Sixth, digital tools. Equip enumerators with handheld devices that are preloaded with validated caste lists. Restrict data entry to predefined options to minimise human error. Seventh, representative staffing. To ensure data integrity, deploy enumerators from diverse communities and in areas where they have no conflict of interest. Eighth, independent oversight. Establish district-level committees to audit samples and monitor data integrity. Ninth, pilot testing. Run trials in diverse States such as Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Assam to refine methodology before nationwide rollout. In every Census since 1951, the Government has successfully enumerated nearly 2,000 castes and tribes under the SC/ST categories. Counting the remaining 4,000-odd OBCs and upper castes (most of them State-specific) is not only doable but also long overdue. The delayed 2021 Census offers a rare chance to finally close this data gap. The time for denial and delay is over. The time to get the Caste Census right is now. K. Ashok Vardhan Shetty is a former IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre and a former Vice-Chancellor of the Indian Maritime University, Chennai
Indian Express
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Opinion Caste census is not mere data collection — it will reshape social identities
The recent decision by the NDA government to reintroduce caste enumeration in the Census marks a significant shift in India's approach to identity politics and social equity. Post-Independence, the Indian state restricted caste-based data collection to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, adhering to constitutional mandates for affirmative action. The move away from counting caste was an attempt to distance itself from colonial statecraft. The mainstream political leadership believed that the colonial state had weaponised caste categorisation to institutionalise social fragmentation. It is precisely for this reason that early policymakers sought to dismantle this legacy by suppressing caste consciousness in public discourse. Yet, even during those formative years, dissenting voices such as Panjabrao Deshmukh, India's first agriculture minister, consistently emphasised the necessity of documenting all castes in the census to confront systemic inequalities. Ultimately, however, the idealistic vision of a unified nation envisioned by Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhai Patel prevailed, and information on caste was excluded from the Census data. Paradoxically, the government mandated the gathering of language and religious demographics, which have themselves fuelled enduring conflicts. The colonial Census, as historians have noted, was a double-edged sword. It seemed to have exacerbated Hindu-Muslim divides through communal categorisation and aggravated religious conflicts. On the other hand, it profoundly reshaped caste identities, transforming fluid social hierarchies into rigid administrative classifications. Scholarly critiques emphasise how colonial enumeration compartmentalised communities into enumerated boxes. Furthermore, it resulted in hardening religious and caste boundaries, laying the groundwork for divisive politics. However, what has been largely ignored is how this process inadvertently democratised political culture and expanded debates about political representation. For instance, marginalised groups leveraged Census data to demand equitable shares in resources and political rights. However, to attribute India's enduring caste inequities solely to colonial interventions risks obscuring a more profound truth. That is, caste hierarchies, codified over millennia through Brahminical norms and material dispossession, predate and outlast colonial rule. The push for caste enumeration today, then, must be understood as more than a bureaucratic exercise. It is a reckoning with both colonial legacies and deeper historical inequalities based on caste. By exposing disparities in land ownership, education, and employment, a caste census could dismantle the myth of a 'post-caste' India. It has the potential to empower marginalised voices to challenge systemic exclusion. Over the past seven decades, the absence of official caste data in the census has done little to erode its influence. Instead, caste has entrenched itself through informal yet potent channels. Caste associations have proliferated in urban areas to cater to the needs of their community members, such as matrimonial alliances and furthering religious and cultural practices. Further, these associations have also mobilised their communities to gain political clout and access to state patronage. At times, caste associations have taken violent forms, as seen in Bihar's Ranveer Sena, a group representing landed upper-caste interests. Political parties, irrespective of ideology, have meticulously mapped caste demographics to craft electoral strategies, distribute tickets, and cultivate patronage networks. Dominant castes have leveraged their numerical strength to corner a larger share of political power. They have utilised their position to corner a larger share of state resources. For instance, the Marathas, Jats, and Patidars have evolved into regionally influential capitalist blocs. These groups now control agrarian capital as well as the real estate sector. Interestingly, the economically weaker sections within these dominant castes have been at the forefront in demanding exclusive quotas in higher education and public employment. These claims, however, failed to stand judicial scrutiny due to a glaring absence of empirical evidence proving social and educational backwardness. The case of Maharashtra's Maratha community epitomises the fluidity and strategic manipulation of caste identity in pursuit of political and economic advantage. In recent years, the state government attempted to institutionalise Marathas' backwardness to justify separate reservation quotas. However, the Supreme Court struck down these quotas because of a lack of empirical evidence. Undeterred, Marathas have argued that the Marathas and the Kunbi caste are similar. They claimed that, as the Kunbis — historically an agrarian community — are classified as Other Backward Classes (OBC), Marathas should also benefit from the reservation. Despite the opposition from the Kunbi community and OBC groups, the Maharashtra government issued Kunbi certificates to Marathas in the Marathwada region. These developments starkly contrast the 1931 colonial Census, when Maratha-Kunbi elites encouraged Kunbis to self-identify as Marathas. These instances underscore that censuses are not neutral exercises in data collection but contested arenas where identities are actively reshaped. It also exposes the paradox of caste enumeration. While it risks entrenching divisions, its absence allows dominant groups to exploit ambiguities and perpetuate inequity under the guise of formal equality. Therefore, data on castes in the Census would provide an evidentiary foundation to confront castes not as a relic of the past but as a living structure of power, which demands targeted redressal and not erasure through silence.
Indian Express
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Daily Briefing: The (caste) numbers game
Big Story The last caste-wise data for India was taken in 1941, during the Second World War, but it was never published. Post-Independence, successive governments stuck to enumerating only Scheduled Castes and Tribes, leaving a yawning data gap. This led to a decades-long demand for caste enumeration in the national census. The reasoning was simple: the numbers are needed for welfare activities. Shyamlal Yadav traces the history in this explainer. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) remained cagey on the subject for long. It has routinely dismissed state-led caste surveys, most notably in Bihar, Telangana, and Karnataka—all under Opposition governments—as divisive stunts. But now, in a striking volte-face, the BJP seems ready to champion the cause it once derided. Why now? As my senior colleagues Vikas Pathak and Liz Mathew report, the timing is no accident. Post-Pahalgam attack, the government, enjoying public and the Opposition's support, is on its surest footing yet. The move also steals the thunder of the Opposition, mainly the Congress, which has long made it the mainstay of their demands, just in time for the Bihar elections. Questions: Hailing the move as a victory of their vision, the Leader of the Opposition and Congress MP, Rahul Gandhi, says it shows that they can pressure the government. His agenda now would be pushing the government to remove the 50 per cent quota cap. Gandhi said that while he welcomed the move, he also had a pertinent question: When will this exercise begin, given that the 2021 Census has already been delayed? Pahalgam aftermath 📌 Tensions have been flying high between India and Pakistan ever since the April 21 Pahalgam attack. The United States called upon the neighbours to 'de-escalate' the situation. Speaking to State Secretary Marco Rubio, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar asserted that the perpetrators must be brought to justice. 📌 In a routine weekly call between the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of India and Pakistan, the former strongly objected to multiple ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC. 📌 India has also closed its airspace to Pakistani aircraft, days after Islamabad made a similar move against Indian airlines. However, this may not amount to much, as Pakistan has a limited international footprint, unlike India's booming aviation sector. 🎧 You can also tune in to today's episode of the '3 Things' podcast for the latest updates on the hunt for the terrorists. Must Read Express Adda: 'I can stand up to my govt… I am in the alliance, but I am not with the BJP.' In the run-up to the Bihar elections, Chirag Paswan, Union Minister for Food Processing Industries and one of the youngest political leaders in Bihar, joined us for the latest edition of Express Adda. He discusses identity politics, alliance governments and why caste still matters in the state. Game of chicken: The halt in trade between the world's largest economies, China and the US, in the face of steep tariffs on both sides, is untenable in the long run. The trade war must end, but who will blink first? Amid inflation concerns and empty retail shelves, Washington seems to be the ripe candidate. And Finally… Eleven Bihar revenue officials have been camping in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur for months. They have an unusual task: to identify, measure, and meticulously record details of tracts of land in UP that belong to the Bettiah Raj, a zamindari estate dating back to the 17th century. The land, spread across the Champaran region, was once owned by Harendra Kishore Singh, the last king of Bettiah Raj, who died heirless in 1893. In this fascinating, long read, we trace how the land exchanged hands and finally ended up with the Bihar government.
