In a sign that the Congress wants to pursue a more caste-centered political line on Jammu and Kashmir, its Legislature Party leader Ghulam Ahmed Mir on Tuesday made a strong case for conducting a caste census in Jammu and Kashmir. Speaking in the J&K Assembly, Mir said that the J&K should also carry out caste-based surveys as several other states had already done so. He stressed that while multiple caste-based categories exist, there was no clear data on the actual numbers of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs), and other groups, making the current reservation system ineffective in addressing social inequalities.
Congress leader rightly highlighted discrepancies in the present system, where individuals obtained multiple caste certificates—such as OBC, Scheduled Tribe (ST), and other reserved category documents—allowing them to claim benefits under different quotas whenever convenient. He urged Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to initiate a comprehensive caste census as a long-term policy measure to remove ambiguity and streamline welfare programs.
By raising the issue in the Assembly, the Congress may be trying to tap into the grievance among several caste groups about being denied their due share in the government jobs. This grievance is endemic in the country, so the Congress has homed in on this as its main political issue to take on the BJP. The issue did resonate for it somewhat in the general election last year but since then it has received little support as the party’s successive losses in state elections prove.
But this doesn’t mean that the issue won’t strike a chord in the upcoming elections. More so, in a society rife with a deep caste-based injustice and the consequent resentment and grievance. Many blame the Congress and the wider opposition for its inability to articulate caste-based discrimination in an idiom that makes the concerned groups relate to it. As the things stand, the opposition is still struggling with a proper articulation of what has emerged as one of its main talking points over the last two years.
At the same time, while reservations for the weaker sections of the society are good, the temptation to use this for politics should be restrained. Reservations should serve the purpose they were essentially envisaged for in the first place: the social upliftment of the communities who have suffered discrimination and injustice over centuries. In J&K too, there’s a case for the various ethnic and caste groups being treated justly by the system. But it’s an end that should be pursued for its own sake, not to score political mileage over rivals.
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