Congress Working Committee (CWC) member K. Raju has called for a caste census in India to eradicate social evils like untouchability.
Speaking after inaugurating the two-day History Congress organised under the aegis of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) here on Tuesday, the Congress leader added the country’s history and cultural diversity were facing threats from fascist elements.
Mr. Raju, who is also the national coordinator of the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC) and minorities department of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), said the party viewed the census as an “X-ray” for understanding the socio-economic conditions of various caste groups in order to redesign national affirmative policy. The CWC had passed a resolution in this regard in October.
Citing another resolution that paved the way for the Vaikom Satyagraha and the movement to eradicate untouchability hundred years ago, Mr. Raju said both resolutions passed by the Congress reflect its resolve to challenge the ideology of the ancient Sanskrit text Manusmriti.
The Congress leader was critical of the “exclusion hiding behind the pretence of inclusion” in the society’s attempts to make amends for the wrong done to Dalits. “Caste today has survived not only socially, but its manifestation also can be seen in every institutional framework. If one denies the existence of caste, then they too contribute to be discriminatory systems which have thrived on the denial of identity and expression to the Dalits. What India needs today is an all-round attack on caste and its manifestations,” Mr. Raju pointed out.
Admitting to have been a victim of caste discrimination at a young age, KPCC president K. Sudhakaran in his presidential address lamented the lack of knowledge that existed among the younger generations on the dark past during which large sections in Kerala were ostracised in the name of such differences.
Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan, United Democratic Front (UDF) convener M.M. Hassan, District Congress Committee president Palode Ravi, KPCC vice president N. Sakthan, political affairs committee member Shanimol Usman, Satyagraha Centennial Celebrations Committee chairman V.P. Sajeendran and general convener M. Liju also spoke on the occasion.
