Articles

Religious minorities and caste census

Opinion | Articles | John Dayal | 22-May-2025

The 2025 Census is still some time away, but some unusual groups are looking at it with very mixed feelings. For Dalit Christians and Pasmanda Muslims, the question is if the Census, which this time will also enumerate the caste affiliations of citizens, will count them on its rolls with their double identity, or ignore their very existence. The absence of official Scheduled Caste status for Dalit Muslims and Christians since 1950 has sparked legal and political debates. Petitions before the Supreme Court seek to extend SC benefits to these groups, arguing that their exclusion is discriminatory.  These communities hope the Census will provide them additional arguments before the court in support of their call for the same constitutional rights, and protection, as given to Dalits from among the Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist communities.

The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India in 2015 released the data on Population by Religious Communities of the Census 2011 which counted a total population of 121.09 crores with Hindu at 96.63 crores (79.8%); Muslim at17.22 crores (14.2%); Christians at 2.78 crores (2.3%); Sikh at 2.08 crores (1.7%); Buddhist at 0.84 crores (0.7%); Jain at 0.45 crores (0.4%), “Other Religions & Persuasions” (ORP) at 0.79 crores (0.7%) and Religion Not Stated 0.29 crores (0.2%).] The 2025 Census will include comprehensive caste data for the first time since 1931, potentially reshaping affirmative action policies. This move, driven by demands for updated data on OBCs and other castes, could influence political representation and resource allocation, particularly in states like Bihar, where caste is a key electoral issue.

The 1950 Presidential Order, among the very first amendments to the Constitution, explicitly states, “No person who professes a religion different from the Hindu religion shall be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste,” a clause later amended to include Sikhs and Buddhists among Hindus, but not Muslims or Christians. This exclusion forces many Dalit converts, largely in the Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra, Pradesh, as also Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Punjab, to possibly hide their faith to retain benefits, undermining religious freedom. The 1931 census by the colonial British government did in a way count caste across all religions, though with varying degrees of consistency and clarity. It seems it recorded over 4,147 distinct castes, including over 300 castes identified among Christians and more than 500 among Muslims.

The British initially presumed caste was immutable and applied only to Hindus (by 1911, they began recording caste for Christians and Muslims if respondents provided such information. Identity was to be self-defined by the person and was not imposed by the state through the enumerator’s questions.

The basic presumption remains the name. A citizen has to speak out his parameters, data as it is now called, including name, age, gender, which is ordinarily but not always visible to the naked eye, religion, faith or belief, caste and presumably sub caste, or jati or whatever is the local name. Expectedly, it is a complicated exercise, involving perhaps even more people than are involved in a general election – barring the security personnel which are such an essential part of the national polling. The Census is a peaceful process.

The homework done by the Census Commissioner decides how accurate the census will be in various cultural or ethnic blocks in India with myriad regional names even for well-known communities such as Rajputs or Vaisyas, and the many other backward groups. Errors in enumeration, many because of the ill trained staff, usually recruited from government school teachers and government employees who can be spared for such work, beset the 1911 census, as in fact they have in all the census operations carried out meticulously like clockwork once every ten years till the rhythm was shattered by Covid, and then delayed inexplicably by the central government. The inclusion of caste across religions in 1931 was also driven by the recognition that social hierarchies akin to caste existed in other religious communities.

For example, among Muslims, distinctions such as Ashraf (noble or upper-caste Muslims) and Ajlaf / Arzal (backward or Dalit Muslims) were noted, reflecting social stratification based on descent and occupation irrespective of religion. Similarly, Christians, converts from ‘Hindu’ castes, often retained their caste identities, or suffered in society from the same atrocities and discrimination despite their new faith. Over 300 Christian castes recorded.  Sikhism, despite its theological rejection of caste hierarchy, exhibited caste-like practices through endogamy and social stratification.

In the 1911 census, the number of Buddhists counted in British India (excluding Burma) was approximately 336,000, which represented roughly 0.1% of the total population. The numbers increased radically after the 1956 mass conversion to Navayana Buddhists by B.R. Ambedkar in Nagpur, which continues. All these were noted by the Chief Justice Rangnath Misra Commission, which noted that caste crosses religious divides and is a reality in many parts of India. The Narendra Modi government has set up another commission under retired Chief justice of India Balakrishnan to reconsider the matter.

The Caste Census in 1931 which recorded 4,147 castes, a significant increase from 1,646 in 1901, faced resistance due to cultural objections. Some communities viewed questions about caste as intrusive, while others, particularly marginalized groups including nomads, feared further stigmatization or discrimination. Police forces even in Delhi still often characterise some peoples groups as former “criminal tribes’, as they were defined by the British in the Criminal Tribes Act, though they were de-notified in Independent India.

After 1931, independent India ceased comprehensive caste enumeration, citing concerns that it would exacerbate social divisions. The 1951 Census, the first post-independence census, limited caste data to SCs and STs, excluding other castes “to promote national unity”.  This decision left policymakers reliant on outdated 1931 data, as seen in the Mandal Commission’s 1980 estimate of OBCs based on assumptions of uniform population growth. The 2011 Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) attempted to revive caste enumeration but was marred by errors. To come back to the confusion, and angst, among Dalit Christians, and Pasmanda Muslims, is a very basic one: should they specify their caste identity which can be recorded only if they remain silent on their religious one. There are no indications from the office of the Census commissioner that they will accept hyphenated caste and religious identities, other than in states such as Tamil Nadu where some fishermen communities are listed as Backward or Most Backward caste or class.

For the present, only the Scheduled Tribes can list both their tribal status and their religious one, though even they are facing a pushback from extreme right-wing groups, some backed by powerful political groups.

 (The author is a Sr. Journalists, Right activist,and spokesman of the All India Catholic Union. Views expressed this article are personal.) 

Courtesy: O Heraldo Goa

---

---

Visitor comments

---

Leave a comment