Academic and activist Anand Teltumbde has launched a provocative critique against the prevailing political consensus supporting a nationwide caste census. In his new book, The Caste Con Census, Teltumbde merges rigorous scholarship with accessible political rhetoric to challenge the idea that counting castes is a step towards social justice.
Questioning the Census Consensus
Teltumbde directly confronts the widespread agreement, spanning political parties and ideologies, that the impending all-India caste census—the first since 1931—marks a new beginning. He argues this consensus is a "con," a clever ploy that distracts from the ultimate goal of caste annihilation, a term famously used by B.R. Ambedkar in his 1936 speech. The author refutes the notion that merely identifying castes through a census can resolve India's deep-seated social inequalities.
The book provides a sweeping historical analysis, tracing the seeds of jati in ancient India, the impacts of Brahminism, Buddhism, and Islam, and the colonial construction of caste. It moves to post-1947 developments, including the creation of "constitutional caste," the B.P. Mandal Commission, and the expansion of reservations in government jobs and education, even touching on the contentious issue of private sector quotas.
The Politics of Data and Power
A significant portion of the critique focuses on "data politics." Teltumbde scrutinizes the journey of the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) conducted in 2011. While the socioeconomic data was made public in 2015, the granular caste data collected remains unreleased by the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which inherited the raw data upon coming to power in 2014.
The author points out a staggering increase in identified castes—from 4,147 during British rule to over ten times that number in the SECC. He contends that caste, by its very nature, divides, and its proliferation in numbers only reinforces this division. Unlike many social justice advocates, Teltumbde believes that counting and categorizing castes will not redress economic and social inequalities.
He is particularly critical of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) sudden agreement to a national caste census just months before the Bihar assembly elections, after previously opposing it as divisive. Teltumbde suggests the census, like reservations, could become another tool for managing caste rather than dismantling it.
A Broader Critique and a Warning
Teltumbde's criticism is not reserved for the BJP alone; he is even-handed in assessing other political formations. He notes the historical failure of the Left and the Congress to adequately address caste, contributing to their political marginalization. He warns that the current discourse is "narrowly framed" and risks becoming a technocratic exercise to recalibrate reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
"The discourse is rarely seen as a tool to expose the full spectrum of caste-based inequality, particularly the domination of elite castes," he writes. In this limited form, the census may only moderate "petty squabbles over leftovers among the lower orders."
The author also links the delay of the general census—postponed for over four years citing the pandemic—to an "ulterior motive" related to delimitation that could benefit the ruling regime. He cautions political opponents against underestimating the BJP's ability to retain support among backward castes.
In conclusion, Teltumbde asserts that a caste census doesn't just reflect society; it reshapes it. While it may be a "pragmatic measure" at this juncture, the politics that follow must be guided by, and not replace, the ultimate goal: the annihilation of caste.
